West Seattle, Washington
22 Sunday
(Added: WSB photo, police at scene where incident is reported to have begun)
9:56 PM: You might be hearing the sirens, and/or seeing the police vehicles – there’s a search on in Alki, with K-9 joining in. The 2700 block of 61st SW is where it’s reported to have begun, with suspects possibly heading east and south. We don’t know exactly what sparked the search, nor do we have suspect descriptions, but what’s been mentioned via radio so far includes a possible stolen car and discovery of ammunition. More as we get it.
10:19 PM: One person tells us via Twitter that the suspects fled after a suspected stolen vehicle was stopped on 61st just south of Alki, which would match the address we had heard.
11:24 PM: While as noted in comments one person is reported to have been taken into custody in the area, we don’t know yet whether the person is connected to this, but will be checking in the morning, by which time a report should be available. The search has scaled back somewhat and some police have been released to go to other West Seattle calls that had been on hold.
(K-9 unit’s vehicle)
ORIGINAL SATURDAY NIGHT REPORT: Thanks for the texts about a police search in North Delridge. Officers including a K-9 team are in the Delridge/Brandon/26th SW area. We talked with one officer who is part of “containment” – keeping watch on the periphery of the search area – he told us they are looking for someone who was arrested (for what, he didn’t know) and being treated by an ambulance crew and somehow got away. The only descriptive info he had was 6’1″ African American male – wearing handcuffs.
MONDAY UPDATE: We’re told the suspect is back in custody. Working to find out more.
We’re counting down to this year’s Night Out with the help of Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Burbridge. She reminds us that we’re now exactly two weeks away from the national celebration of neighborhood safety and solidarity – Tuesday, August 1st:
As of today, the Southwest Precinct has 154 registered events!
Here is the Seattle Police Department website about National Night Out Against Crime. On this website, there’s online registration and downloadable materials – including an invitation in 11 languages and a Night Out event map!
Registration is open until 5 pm on Monday, July 31st!
Registering gets you the right to close off your non-arterial residential street. It also potentially puts you on the radar for some of the Night Out visits that local police and fire personnel will be making.
P.S. And if you’re having a party and wouldn’t mind us possibly stopping by to take a photo for WSB coverage, please e-mail editor@wsb.blackfin.biz with the location and who to ask for – thanks!
If you are or have been a Block Watch captain in the Southwest Precinct area – West Seattle and South Park – you might have received e-mail from the precinct’s new Crime Prevention Coordinator, Jennifer Burbridge. Or not – which is why she asked if we would circulate this request too. From her e-mail, sent to 350 people who might or might not still be BW captains:
Part of my work in the SW Precinct includes helping to start new Block Watches and assisting existing Block Watches in whatever way that I can.
When I took over the position, a list of Block Watch Captains for the SW Precinct area was passed down to me … My intention for this email is to verify (which blocks still have) an active Block Watch and to determine who the current Block Watch Captain is. If you are not the current Block Watch Captain but have the current Captain’s email address, could you forward this email to him/her? That would be greatly appreciated.
If you feel comfortable doing so, please respond to this email with the following information:
-First name of Block Watch Captain (please no Last Names for privacy purposes)
-Email address of Block Watch Captain
-Block or area your Block Watch covers (For example: 2300 Block of Webster- from Delridge to 24th Ave SW)
-Approximate number of homes/residences in your Block WatchI hope to create a list of Block Watch Captains for the SW Precinct for a few purposes. First and foremost, to distribute information to the communities in an organized and efficient way. Secondly, I hope to have a running list so that when community members inquire about whether their area has a formal Block Watch- I can refer the Block Captain to the curious neighbor.
Please let me know in your response if you would like your information to be passed along to the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network. This community-based network provides many resources to Block Watch Captains in the SW Precinct. They offer monthly informational meetings, and have an online community where you can connect with other Block Watch Captains and benefit from their experience.
If this applies to you and you haven’t heard directly from Burbridge, her e-mail address is jennifer.burbridge@seattle.gov.
P.S. Speaking of neighborhood-based crime prevention/deterrence, we’re now less than three weeks from Night Out – the big annual night of neighborhood block parties – on August 1st. You don’t have to have a Block Watch to have a block party, but if you want to close your (non-arterial) street, you do have to register – here’s how.
(Reader photo, early Saturday afternoon – cropped just above where suspect was lying on ground, in custody)
As promised, we followed up today on Saturday’s bizarre and frightening Avalon Way incident involving a naked man running in the roadway, bolting into a business, and smashing windows on an occupied Metro bus before police got him under control.
(Photo from KD – bus windows smashed during rampage)
We had few details that day – most of the story was told by commenters – but we obtained the police report narrative today and have transcribed much of it. It begins:
At 11:52 (am) … numerous callers reported a naked male in the vicinity of SW Avalon Way/SW Andover Street acting erratically and armed with a hammer. Dispatch advised the following: “On Avalon, just north of intersection, naked male hitting vehicles and lying in the middle of the road. The subject was described as a white male, late twenties to forties, 5’8” to 6’, thin, bald, facial hair, and completely naked.
Three officers were sent, two who are described as having had Crisis Intervention Training, one described as from the SW Precinct Bicycle Squad. They were in the small bus that transports the bicycle squad, “which lacks emergency equipment or in-car video,” the report notes, continuing:
Prior to officers arriving, dispatch updated that the subject was unintelligibly yelling, striking vehicles with a hammer, appeared high, jumped onto a pickup truck, stopping traffic, lying in the street, dancing, broke a bus window, went into a pet-care business, and covered in blood, chasing people with a hammer.
(WSB photo: SPD car that was blocking 34th at Thistle)
Several people have asked about the police response near 34th SW and SW Elmgrove. Officers have safely resolved a situation involving a possibly armed person who was reported to be threatening self-harm. The person will be evaluated by medics, and the streets will be reopening, according to radio exchanges; we have just confirmed with SPD that no one was injured.
(WSB photos by Christopher Boffoli)
7:39 PM: Seattle Police were looking this past hour for the driver of the blue Prius involved in that crash at SW Walker and 47th SW [map], reports WSB’s Christopher Boffoli. The only description they had at the time was “white, male, about 5-10,” he says. No injuries reported.
9:46 PM: A little more info from Christopher: “Witnesses at the scene told me that the driver of the Prius got out after the crash and stuck around for a minute or two and then bolted. A neighbor who heard the crash followed him towards the south on 47th for a bit and then lost him. Another neighbor spotted the driver trying to hide in her backyard and then when he was discovered he continued on. Multiple SPD units searched the area but were unable to find him.” If you have any information for police, you can refer to incident # 2017-248257.
Three reader reports:
(Photo added, from KD – bus windows smashed during rampage)
POLICE RESPONSE IN LUNA PARK BUSINESS DISTRICT: Multiple reports about a naked man behaving bizarrely in the Luna Park business district – one person said he was jumping on cars, another said he was running around in the veterinary-clinic area. Police eventually got him under control outside the clinic, as shown in one photo sent to us (we can’t publish it without blurring, which we can’t do right now). We don’t know yet what happened from there; SFD was called for an “aid response” (low-level medical) but the call has closed. (Added 2:36 pm – photo sent by KD; see comments on damage done to vehicles including a bus)
SUSPICIOUS PERSON SOUTH OF THE JUNCTION: From a resident:
I just had a run-in at my apartment building around 1130. As I was leaving my apartment buildings’s back door a woman tried to push her way in, claiming her cousin lived here. She couldn’t remember her cousins last name or apartment and the first name she gave was not the name of anyone living in our small building. She said her phone was dead and couldn’t remember her cousin’s number. I let my neighbors and landlord know but she may still be around the neighborhood trying this at another building. She was African American, youngish (maybe 30s?) and dressed well. She was carrying an overnight bag and a cosmetic bag. Her hair was long and pulled back.
DUMPED STROLLER: Ray sent this photo of a stroller ditched between North Admiral and Alki – stolen, maybe?
If it’s yours, let us know and we’ll get you the location information.
Got a text (thank you!) about yellow “crime scene” tape and police activity at the 61st/Admiral site where 12 rowhouse units are scheduled to replace three duplexes. We hadn’t heard anything, so we went over to check, and found out that it’s training, as police and/or fire sometimes get permission to do in and around soon-to-be-demolished buildings. We’re told they’ll be there another hour or so.
Just published on SPD Blotter, word that three people were arrested last night after a street robbery was reported near 18th SW and SW Barton:
On Thursday night, just before 10:00 pm, officers responded to that area after a 58-year-old man called 911 to report he had just been robbed of his bicycle at gunpoint by three suspects. The suspects then fled and the victim was able to call police.
Officers responded and set up containment. A K-9 team responded and tracked to a nearby vacant house in the 9200 block of Delridge, where the victim’s bicycle was found abandoned in the tall grass. Officers heard voices inside the house and three individuals came out. The three individuals matched the suspect description provided by the victim. The victim was able to positively identify the suspects, all male, ages 17, 18, and 22. They were arrested without incident.
Officers checked the vacant house for additional suspects. During a check of the house, officers discovered an open window in a back bedroom. Thinking that was a little odd, the officer looked out the window and, using his flashlight, located a firearm in the tall grass. The gun was recovered with a fully loaded magazine. The victim confirmed that was the gun the suspects used in the robbery.
The 17-year-old suspect was later booked into the Youth Services Center, while the older suspects were booked into the King County Jail.
Juvenile detention rosters aren’t available online, but we’ve verified via the King County Jail register that the 18- and 22-year-old suspects are still in custody. Neither appears to have a felony record.
12:01 AM: Police are investigating multiple reports of possible gunshots – or fireworks – in North Delridge. We’ve heard from someone near Delridge/Genesee; via the scanner, dispatchers have told police about calls from areas including the Delridge Library and a few blocks northeast of there. Officers can’t confirm gunfire without finding casings and/or property damage and/or a victim – no word of any of that so far. But they reiterate that they want to hear from anyone who even thinks they heard gunfire, just in case, so if you do, call 911.
SIDE NOTE: The nights ahead are likely to be noisier. Though fireworks are illegal in Seattle, they are still legal in unincorporated King County, which includes White Center, and sales start in those areas at noon tomorrow, though they can’t be set off there legally until the 4th of July.
2:09 AM: We’re now hearing reports of suspected gunshots heard in South Delridge; might be related to an incident in White Center that King County Sheriff’s Office deputies are dealing with near 14th SW/SW 102nd (in which they are reported to have multiple suspects in custody).
(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Lots of questions about the police and fire response for an “assault with weapons” call in the 4500 block of 48th SW, near Ercolini Park. We have just talked to responders at the scene, and they tell us a person died by suicide inside a home.
As we always mention in coverage of suicide: If you or someone you know is contemplating self-harm, the Crisis Clinic‘s 24-hour hotline is 206-461-3222.
We heard it – and others saw it: A dozen-plus Seattle Police units (per three readers’ counts) pursuing a car southbound on West Marginal Way just after 2 pm on Saturday afternoon. And today we know why. We also know it started outside West Seattle, thanks to this video from Patrick O’Connor:
He sent that to us on Sunday, explaining that it was recorded on 1st Avenue South in Pioneer Square, but we suspected it was the same incident, given the ~2 pm time frame and proximity to West Seattle. At the time of the pursuit, we heard the sirens from Puget Ridge, where we were covering the Seattle Chinese Garden Kite Festival. We opened a scanner app just in time to hear that whatever it was, was ending, with the pursued vehicle apparently having crossed the city-county line.
We couldn’t find out anything more over the weekend, so today we followed up with SPD’s media-relations team. Det. Mark Jamieson tells WSB, “This was a pursuit of a stolen car involved in several robberies from different jurisdictions. The pursuit was called off as it went across the county line.” He also sent the narrative, which has these additional details:
The officer who wrote the report was on patrol with his partner at Rainier and Graham (map) when they saw a silver Nissan Sentra pull into a gas station. The officers noted that the car resembled one to which they had been alerted the day before, with information from Bellevue Police saying the car was stolen and linked to thefts and robberies in Bellevue and Kirkland. They started to follow the car and then sought authorization for a pursuit, which the report says was eventually ordered terminated by a sergeant.
The officer writing the report noted that he felt a pursuit was warranted because, “Based on recent crime statistics, there has been an increase in robberies (strong-armed and armed) and other violent crimes in the Seattle area. Based on my training, experience, and research of the recent calls, I know that robbery suspects are commonly armed or threaten to use weapons during the commission of these crimes. Knowing that this vehicle was stolen and used in prior robberies and thefts, I felt that if these suspects were not immediately apprehended, they would be a greater danger to the public than if we had let them drive away.” The officer also wrote that further research suggested the same vehicle was linked to four Seattle incidents too.
On Tuesday night, the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meets at the Southwest Precinct for the final time before summer break. The 6:30 pm meeting is another chance to hear about crime trends and bring up community concerns with local police. And this month’s special guest, as just announced by WSBWCN co-leaders Karen Berge and Deborah Greer, will talk about the impending return of SPD’s Community Service Officer program:
City Council set aside funding to re-implement the Community Service Officer program in 2018. Our guest speaker will be Angela Socci from the Finance and Planning Section of the Seattle Police Department. She’ll talk about the plans for reinventing the CSO program. They are in the early stages of the program development process, so we have an opportunity to offer feedback. How would you like to see the new program take shape?
You don’t have to be a Block Watch captain – or even a Block Watch member – to be there; all are welcome. The precinct is at 2300 SW Webster (east of Home Depot) and the meeting room is right off the public parking area by the entrance.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Crime trends, community Q & A, and a briefing you might call “Gangs 101” were all part of last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting at the Southwest Precinct.
CRIME TRENDS: Capt. Pierre Davis opened the meeting with the latest, saying the precinct is “putting out as many resources” as it can, since “things get a little bit more boisterous” in the summer around here. That includes pulling SWAT officers for extra patrols, the precinct’s Anti-Crime Team, and the full-time bicycle squad, “able to patrol our hot-spot areas.”
One bright spot: Non-residential burglaries are down 2 percent – “we’re arresting a ton of people out there.”
No other stats were mentioned as attendees jumped right to community Q & A: Read More
Just received more information on the police search we covered earlier this morning.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
That’s the arrest that ended the search around 7:45 am in the 5200 block of 17th SW on Puget Ridge. That’s not far from where the search began, after this 6:30 am car crash nearby, at 16th SW and SW Dawson:
As we reported, this was primarily a King County Sheriff’s Office case, with Seattle Police from the Southwest Precinct assisting in the search. The incident originated in White Center. KCSO spokesperson Det. Jessica Santos says it started when a “deputy sitting in his patrol car with his windows rolled down heard a gunshot near SW 107th and 15th Ave SW. The deputy then observed a suspicious vehicle in the area and drove behind it. The vehicle took off and the deputy activated his emergency vehicle equipment. The driver failed to stop for the deputy,” and a pursuit ensued. The crash scene is 3.5 miles from where the gunshot was heard (here’s a map). Det. Santos says “bullets were found on the suspect” and confirms that “a bomb dog is currently searching for evidence.” The suspect is reported to have suffered minor injuries and was treated before being booked into jail; no one else was hurt. We’ll be checking later on his status. Det. Santos’s report also mentions that nearby South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) was “in lockdown for safety” – as WSB commenters noted in discussion following our first story – and “has since been reopened.”
The 19-year-old Kent man arrested Saturday in High Point after allegedly bolting from a stolen car remains in jail tonight.
A judge set his bail at $25,000 this afternoon. We covered the arrest after hearing of the police search following the abandonment of the stolen Corolla at 35th and Morgan; the suspect was caught nearby after an extensive police search including a K-9 team. The probable-cause documents from this afternoon’s hearing say a police officer “on routine patrol” just happened to see the car and checked its plate, discovering it had been reported stolen earlier that same day in Tukwila. He then saw the stolen car’s driver take notice of the patrol car and pull into the 35th/Morgan gas station/minimart lot, with the patrol car following, its emergency lights activated. After stopping, the officer wrote, the driver started to get out; though the officer ordered him and his passenger to stop and put their hands up, they ran. The ensuing search found the suspect, hiding in a nearby Dumpster; he was in custody 19 minutes after police spotted him. His passenger was not found. We checked the suspect’s record; long list of misdemeanor cases, but no felony convictions. He was last booked into King County Jail in January for three warrants including an Eastside DUI case and a Kittitas County driving-with-suspended-license case.
2:20 PM: You’ll want to avoid 34th/35th/Morgan for a while – there’s a police search under way, K-9 included. We’re headed over to find out more.
2:32 PM: The intersection is not affected – police are in nearby parking lots including the gas station/minimart on the northeast corner. They tell us that two people bolted out of a stolen car that’s currently by the pumps, and that’s who they’re looking for. Adding a photo.
2:41 PM: One suspect has been taken into custody.
2:50 PM: Police tell us the suspect arrested is the person they believe was driving the stolen car.
Four West Seattle Crime Watch reports, plus some crime-prevention advice:
CAR-PROWL SUSPECT ARRESTED: From SPD Blotter, word of an arrest in the Luna Park area late last night:
Officers responded to a report of a man breaking into a red SUV near SW Avalon Way and SW Spokane Street just after 11 p.m. Thursday. Officers arrived in the area and found the 35-year-old suspect sitting inside rummaging through a gym bag. Officers ordered the man out of the vehicle and verified the suspect had already pocketed a GPS unit before he was found sifting through the bag. Officers arrested the suspect and booked him into King County Jail for theft.
STOLEN FROM WORK TRUCK: From Liz:
Overnight between Tuesday 6/6 and Wednesday 6/7 multiple items were taken from the bed of our work truck. The truck was parked on the parking strip just south of our home on 42nd SW & SW 104th. Items missing included a portable air compressor, a sawsall, a Makita drill with impact driver, a set of step drill bits, Channel locks, and a few other misc hand tools. This is a business vehicle and items missing hindered work being done on 6/7 for one of our customers in West Seattle. We are a home based, sole proprietor business that can struggle just to make ends meet during the slower times, as much of our work is seasonal, and we are currently in the slower months.
We’ve requested the police-report number and will add it if/when we get it, in case anyone has found any of the stolen items.
Two burglaries are among a handful of West Seattle incidents with report narratives posted in SPD’s online files – both happened last Sunday:
BUSINESS BREAK-IN: Someone passing a business in the 6500 block of 35th SW around noon called to report its door was open, though the business was usually closed Sundays. Officers discovered the door glass had been pushed out and its frame damaged. They called the owner, who arrived, checked around, and reported that the only thing missing was some change.
HOME BREAK-IN: A resident in the 8400 block of Delridge Way SW told police that a noise awakened him around 10 pm Sunday night but he didn’t think much of it until he discovered in the morning that someone had pried open his basement door, gone into the basement, and used a hammer to try to break into the rest of the house. Police found hammers and a crowbar; the only thing that kept the intruder from getting into the main living area was something pushed up against the door to the basement.
DETERRING BURGLARS: Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Burbridge shares this “bulletin” with home-burglary-deterring advice:
She also invites you to contact her for a free home- or business-safety assessment – jennifer.burbridge@seattle.gov – That’s also the e-mail you can use to get on her mailing list to directly receive bulletins like this one, as well as her monthly newsletter.
Making note again this early morning of multiple reports to 911 of suspected gunfire, and we heard directly from one of the people who reported it. She said she heard it a few minutes before midnight, south of 13th/14th/Henderson. Other areas that were mentioned as police were dispatched included 9th/Roxbury, 800 block of SW Trenton, 9200 block of 12th. We haven’t heard whether evidence of gunfire was found.
We’ve been out trying to find out more about a police investigation on the slope between Myers Way and Highway 509, and we’ve just learned that they’re looking into a death. Seattle Fire was called earlier, and tells us the person who died is a 25-year-old man. SPD says it was originally reported as an overdose “in a wooded area” that’s known as an unauthorized encampment. But the man’s cause of death will be determined by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. The SPD response on the shoulder of southbound Highway 509 – part of it is in our photo above – led to quite a slowdown for a while but some of the units have since left.
Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:
AUTO THEFT: Darlene‘s silver 2009 Chevy Traverse, personalized plate MGICIAN, was stolen Thursday night/Friday morning near 17th/Dawson. If you see it, call 911, and refer to police report #17-196428.
PREVENTION ADVICE: Auto theft is up in the Southwest Precinct this year – Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Burbridge says that 215 cases were reported in the SWP jurisdiction (West Seattle and South Park) January through April of this year, compared to 179 in the same period last year. Here’s a one-sheet with SPD advice for protecting your vehicle(s).
ROCK THROUGH WINDSHIELD: A texter reports this vandalism in Arbor Heights early today:
It happened near 42nd and 100th.
Also:
NEXT WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL MEETING: The special guest booked by WSCPC president Richard Miller will talk, and answer questions about, gangs – 7 pm June 20th at the precinct, 2300 SW Webster.
Via text and via scanner, we’re hearing about gunfire heard near 11th/12th/Barton [map]. Police were dispatched after multiple 911 reports; some reported a vehicle believed to be associated with what they heard, described as a “small compact with loud exhaust.” No reports of any victims so far, and we’re not hearing (yet) if police have found casings and/or property damage.
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