West Seattle, Washington
17 Tuesday
A suspect who ran from a stolen car is in custody tonight, thanks to what Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith calls “great teamwork by the patrol units.” We asked Lt. Smith about the incident after hearing some attention-grabbing scanner traffic around 4 pm – a search of some kind in Highland Park, resulting in an arrest. Lt. Smith told us it started with the report of a car theft in the Westwood Village parking lot. Before police even talked with the victim in person, Lt. Smith says, “an officer observed a vehicle matching the stolen vehicle at 15th SW & SW Henderson. The officer pulled behind the suspected stolen vehicle, at which time the vehicle fled.” Then the driver got out, he says, and ran through several backyards. Officers set up “containment” in the area, and caught the suspect “attempting to climb a fence in an effort to flee.”
Finally got the bottom line on heavy police presence in the 51st/Waite (map) area. After a few calls/texts, we went over to check it out – more than half a dozen SPD cars along a couple of blocks, but no lights or sirens, no visible-from-street sense of urgency, no police tape, no one visible to approach with a question. The mystery was solved by Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams‘ reply to our inquiry: He says they arrested a misdemeanor domestic-violence suspect: “We needed some time to talk the adult male suspect out. He’s in custody.”
Two notes this afternoon: First, the explanation for an alarming sight at the closed Genesee Hill Elementary campus last night. We got calls, e-mails, and tweets from people who saw police tape, cars, and even what one person thought was a body. Absent any other indications of an actual crime, we were fairly sure it was training, which happens there from time to time, and finally, we got confirmation from Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Rasmussen that it was indeed a “training class.” We’ve received advance alerts before but didn’t this time. Meantime, we have a burglary report today – read on (also, added 4:31 pm, a vehicle-theft report):Read More
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
Back after a couple weeks’ hiatus: From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Four women were suspected of casing homes in the 4100 block of SW Frontenac Wednesday afternoon. One door-knocker fled after discovering one home was occupied, but the homeowner there kept an eye on her and called 911 when she went into the backyard of a neighbor. One woman, a Kent resident, was booked into King County Jail for criminal trespass. The others were investigated and released.
*Early Monday, a 28-year-old Kent resident was booked into King County Jail after verbally and physically harassing a number of people at the corner of 61st and Alki.
*Around noon on Thursday the 8th, a driver became enraged when he couldn’t pass through a construction site in the 3200 block of 61st SW. He yelled obscenities and threatened to come back and slit the tires on the construction vehicles. He drove off, but not before causing $150 worth of damage to two lighted construction barricades. The car he drove was registered to an address in the 6100 block of SW Spokane and was later spotted in the driveway there. The woman at the residence refused to provide any information and was uncooperative with officers.
Seven more summaries, including two armed robberies on the street, ahead:Read More
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
12:32 PM: Thanks to multiple tipsters who say the SWAT team’s in the 7900 block of 18th SW and the road’s blocked off. We’re on the way. It started as a domestic dispute, according to SPD’s Officer Renee Witt, just before noon. They’re looking for someone accused of sending death threats to a relative via text message, and possibly also vandalizing the house with an ax, but Officer Witt says they don’t know if the suspect is in the house they’re responding to – the call came from a house nearby.
(Photos showing officers were added after incident ended)
1:03 PM: Adding photo of police blocking 18th SW down the street (since it is a SWAT situation, we are not publishing any images that would show the positions of the officers around the house). As is usual in potentially volatile situations like this, our crew is being kept fairly far back. We are also monitoring the scanner here at HQ.
2:02 PM: We’re back at the scene after a side trip to the Westwood apartment fire. The situation hasn’t changed much; police are talking with the suspect, who can be heard yelling. Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen was at the scene for a while. So was a TV helicopter that police asked to back off because of noise interference. We’re adding a few more photos.
2:16 PM: Police have gone in; suspect is reported to be in custody, and is being taken to the precinct.
2:48 PM: Added photo of suspect being cuffed – we’ve blurred his face; he’s in the tank top. He was last heard observing loudly that “20,000” police cars were in the neighborhood.
The latest Seattle Police Aggressive Drivers Response Team report includes not only speeding citations from the West Seattle Bridge but also two West Seattle school zones – including 42 mph in the 20 zone by Roxhill Elementary – and a far-south stretch of 1st Avenue South. Details on SPD Blotter.
(THURSDAY NIGHT NOTE: We’re told event registration has maxed out now and is closed – sorry!)
This is National Preparedness Month – another chance to make sure you are ready for anything, even the things we all hope never will happen. In case you are having trouble with the cost of putting together an emergency kit, the Seattle Police Department and Target are joining forces for an event here in West Seattle later this month – but you have to sign up for it, ASAP. Here’s the announcement:
The Seattle Police Department’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is joining with Target to make that step easier for families in Seattle. Target has generously donated $10,000 to help families build emergency kits. Each participating family will receive a $100 gift card that they can use to build their own emergency kits. Seattle Police Department will be on hand to help people identify basic items for an emergency kit, as well as help them customize their kit to meet their specific needs. Participants must sign up for the event to be eligible. The event will be held at the West Seattle Target on September 29, 2011 at 9:00 AM. They will be given a map of the store with locations where items for emergency kits can be found highlighted and the gift card to make their purchases. Families with children are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity.
The number of available kits is limited so if you are interested in participating in this one of a kind event please e-mail the Seattle Office of Emergency Management at snap@seattle.gov or call us at 206-233-5076.
If you’re OK building a kit without financial assistance – but just need advice on what it should contain – find it here. And remember the incredible West Seattle-specific preparedness resources offered by West Seattle Be Prepared, particularly the neighborhood communication hubs – know yours and be ready to go there in case disaster strikes.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Around 3 pm Monday, a rude patron kept bothering other customers at a Junction bar and was asked to leave. He declined, threw a glass, and then launched a chair through a $2,000 flat-screen TV. He was taken to the ground, held for officers and was later booked into King County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault.
The files were a little threadbare (up until the past few days, too late for this roundup), so just three more summaries are ahead:Read More
(Reader video from Fritz – not much visible but you hear sirens and police loudspeaker, “It’s time to go home”)
After our brief “here’s what the sirens were about” report last night regarding a large police response to fighting at the Southwest Community Center, some asked for more details. The Seattle Police SPD Blotter website now has a summary of what police say happened:
On 8/26/11, at approximately 11:30 p.m., an officer was working at the late-night basketball tournament, at the Southwest Community Center. Minor fights were breaking out inside the gymnasium, and the officer requested several patrol units to assist with clearing the community center when the game ended.
Before the game ended, there were several reports of firearms being seen in the crowd, and a large-scale melee erupted inside the gym. Several people were struck with chairs, and reports continued of guns being present, although officers did not see any. Officers worked to move the hostile crowd of approximately 200 people out of the building and disperse them. South precinct and SWAT units responded to assist.
Fights continued in the parking lot for approximately 20 minutes. The crowd was eventually brought under control, some leaving in vehicles, others dispersing eastbound on Thistle toward Delridge. No officers were injured during the incident, although many were grabbed and pushed by the crowd.
No arrests are reported; we’re doublechecking on that.
11:16 PM FRIDAY: Lots of sirens in the past half-hour in south West Seattle – ultimately not a big incident but since it sounded like one, some are asking about it. According to scanner traffic, there was some kind of clash at Southwest Community Center (2800 SW Thistle), and police were called to help get it under control. Many units rushed that way. They cleared the center, staff closed it, and then for a while they were monitoring groups of people dispersing eastbound on Thistle and southbound on Delridge. No injuries reported.
SATURDAY UPDATE: Police have now released more information; we have that and a brief clip of reader video (most notable for its audio) in this followup report.
The Seattle Police website SPD Blotter has just published another of its occasional roundups on what the Aggressive Driver Response Team is up to, and it’s West Seattle-focused, like many in the past. The furthest-over-the-limit speeder noted this time is 73 mph on the 45 mph West Seattle Bridge; see the full SPD Blotter report here.
Besides meeting local police (that’s Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen at right, above), there are dozens of other reasons to come on over to the Picnic at the Precinct street party before it wraps up at 4 – including a bouncy house for kids, live music/dancing, ice cream and hot dogs.
The party’s on SW Webster west of Delridge.
3:59 PM: It’s just wrapped up – but in the meantime, we’ve seen Mayor McGinn, Police Chief John Diaz, city tech boss Bill Schrier (a West Seattleite), the Southwest Precinct lieutenants who so often help us get information, and lots of cool people who stopped by our table to say hi. The mayor posed with West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network honchos Deb Greer (left) and Karen Berge (right):
Here’s Lt. Alan Williams chatting with West Seattle Crime Prevention Council president Richard Miller (the council resumes meetings next month):
Someone you’ll also see at those meetings is Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon, who had lots of pamphlets and stickers to hand out today:
The city Department of Neighborhoods represented, too – that’s district coordinator Steve Louie at left in the next photo, with Community Police Team Officer Jon Kiehn:
P.S. In case you wondered – the precinct picnics around the city are presented by the nonprofit Seattle Police Foundation, which among other things also launched a campaign to save the budget-cut-threatened, West Seattle-based SPD Mounted Patrol Unit. Several of its horses visited, including Harvest – who posed with SPD Chief John Diaz:
And though this just might be the warmest day of the summer – the heat was on in the hot-dog “kitchen”:
Crime-fighting equipment was on display too – including the always-popular bomb robot.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*When a 17-year-old Burien resident decided to swipe $900 worth of clothes from an Alki business, it was her misfortune to do so just as an off-duty State Patrol officer walked by with his girlfriend. He chased the thief down while the girlfriend alerted the store owner to what was going on. When contacted, the suspect’s mom said, “Just take her to juvenile detention,” before hanging up on officers. But the Youth Service Center wouldn’t admit her, so she ended up going home after all.
*Late Monday a chronic 19-year-old offender, well known to officers, was spotted in a convenience store parking lot at 16th and Holden. Officers knew he was wanted on at least two warrants (it ended up being four with a bail total of $50,000) and they placed him under arrest without incident.
Seven more summaries ahead:Read More
After receiving notes about what appeared to be motorcades – law-enforcement motorcycle escorts and all – traveling on the West Seattle Bridge, we checked with the Southwest Precinct. As suspected, it’s multi-agency training, as has happened here in years past.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*A Genesee citizen heard sirens and then saw a man climb a tree in a nearby yard. Concerned that he might be trying to elude officers, she called 911. Though it turned out that the sirens were associated with a fire a mile away, the officers were still happy to collect the man from the tree and book him into King County Jail on a $20,000 felony burglary warrant.
*On Wednesday afternoon, an officer was approached by an intoxicated man walking with an open container in the 2500 block of Walnut SW. For safety purposes, the officer confiscated several weapons from him, including a folding knife with a longer-than-legal blade, a straight razor, and small black stun gun. He was also carrying a variety of tools commonly used in car prowls but told the officer he had been using them in a carpentry job. After being transported to the precinct, a check of his backpack showed additional hand tools, flashlights, a lock pick, dark clothing, and a toy smoke grenade. He was booked into King County Jail for investigation of weapons possession.
Seven more summaries ahead:Read More
From WSBeat reporter Megan Sheppard: An 18-year-old West Seattleite, wanted for a series of occupied burglaries in the community, was spotted at the 44th SW/SW Alaska bus stop today by an officer from the Southwest Precinct. Though he had long been a suspect, it was only this morning that probable cause existed to bring him in. The officer knows the young man from previous contacts, and — without telling him he was wanted — she stopped to engage him in some casual chit-chat. When she brought out the cuffs for arrest, he was reported to be both surprised and disappointed and let loose with an, “Awww, man……” He will be booked into King County Jail later today for investigation of burglary.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Returning to her Arbor Heights home Friday afternoon of last week, a woman encountered two people — described as a man in his 50s and a woman in her 60s — with their hands inside her mailbox. When they realized they had been spotted, the pair drove away northbound on 35th SW in a new green Chevy Blazer.
*Arriving home in the 8600 block of Fauntleroy SW, a woman encountered a stranger. when she asked what he was doing, he mumbled an excuse involving the names of people that didn’t live there. He walked out the front door as she noticed a brown or rust-colored “boxy” ’80s or ’90s sedan pull away from the neighbor’s driveway. It seems the suspect used a hidden key to get in the home and left behind a blue notebook that had references to Craigslist, pawn shops, and eBay. The suspect was a white male, approximately 25 years old, with brown hair and wearing a baseball cap turned backward.
And there’s more information on another intruder case, one previously covered on WSB, among the 12 summaries ahead:Read More
Thanks to the WSB’ers who reported a sizable police presence in the 1200 block of Alki (map) in the 4 pm hour and wondered what happened. We checked with Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith, who says a real-estate agent arrived at a condo unit and “discovered it occupied by an unknown person. The door was locked; the subject in the condo failed to respond to officers’ command to open the locked door and required a locksmith to make entry.” And then, the person “was uncooperative with officers and required officers to physically restrain the subject,” who has since been taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Four intruder incidents: Around 11:30 a.m. Saturday (last weekend), in the 7000 block of 14th SW, a man awoke from a nap and saw a stranger peering into the bedroom. When confronted, the suspect shut the door, ran out the front of the house, jumped on a mountain bike and rode off southbound. He was white, 22-29, with a heavy build and brown curly or permed hair. He wore basketball shorts. And just after midnight Wednesday, a resident of the 5200 block of 44th SW heard a loud crash, saw a figure in his backyard, and discovered that his back door had been forced open. A similar incident occurred Friday afternoon in the 5400 block of 44th SW, where a man kicked in the door of a residence and fled upon seeing the homeowner. Around 6 p.m. Saturday (last weekend), a woman awoke from a nap in the 6500 block of 35th SW and screamed when she saw three strangers in her bedroom. They jumped out the window and ran northbound. She said one appeared to be 10 years old or so. The other two were 18.
Six more summaries, including an update on last weekend’s Highland Park stabbing, ahead:Read More
If you have four or more unpaid parking tickets but you’re not taking the city’s “scofflaw” crackdown seriously yet – note that parking officers are apparently “booting” eligible vehicles found in parks, too. That’s the reminder Rob wanted to share along with the photo above (he also included a photo showing the notice left under the car’s windshield wiper). He spotted it in the north lot at Lincoln Park earlier this week: “I thought it was interesting because the car that patrols and boots cars with unpaid tickets is evidently patrolling the park’s lots too, not just the streets.” The city’s webpage for the “scofflaw” ordinance mentions only “city streets” – though parks, of course, are city facilities, so you might safely assume any parking place on city property/right-of-way is a place you might get caught.
8:58 PM: Another citation roundup on SPD Blotter tonight; at first glance, we thought, nah, we’ll skip this one, nothing particularly major. Then we took a second look, and noticed this SW Admiral Way stop:
1 bicycle at 42 mph
First time we’ve seen them mention a bicyclist.
ADDED 11:02 AM THURSDAY: Just talked to Sgt. Sean Whitcomb of the SPD media-response unit, to follow up on this. One point of clarification: The bicyclist received a “warning” ticket, not one with a price tag – as an opportunity for awareness-raising, according to Sgt. Whitcomb, who adds that the rider, an “adult male,” was “very surprised” – both at being stopped, and once he heard how fast he was going (indeed, detected by LIDAR). This isn’t the first time ADRT has stopped a bicyclist, notes the sergeant, but more commonly, it’s for “rules of the road” type violations.
3:07 PM THURSDAY: A comment just in from Kevin, who says he’s the cyclist that was “pulled over”:
As the cyclist involved… I figure I should give my 2 cents.
.
I was fine with being pulled over. I could have gotten a ticket and would have been OK with it; however, the SUV gaining on me from behind should have also been given a ticket. Going 42 (and by the way… why does everyone assume I was going downhill) on Admiral just keeps you with the flow of traffic. This morning, I was going about 30 mph and had a car zoom past on the right hand side and cut over right in front of me just before the merge to Spokane. Like it or not, it’s safer for a bike to break the speed limit and keep up with traffic (if possible) than to try to obey the law.
.
The officer was nice about the whole situation (and seemed to get a kick out of pulling over a bike). He said he had been looking for a bike to pull over for a while (apparently, I was the first going fast enough). He told me he was careful to write a neat contact report so that I could frame it. If only I had known I was going to be clocked…
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes this afternoon – two are followups from last night: First, we have finally tracked down what brought a large police response to North Admiral around 7 pm. Someone reported to police that a man with a gun was shooting at crows. It turned out to be a BB gun, according to SPD spokesperson Det. Mark Jamieson; the BB gun was taken into evidence, but there were no arrests. Also, we checked to see if the search in Arbor Heights, which related to a stolen car, had resulted in arrests; Det. Jamieson says no. Finally, a new report this afternoon – a car theft reported by Elizabeth:
Our Toyota Highlander was stolen out of our alley driveway last night. 38th and
Dakota. Just FYI for all our West Seattle neighbors.
P.S. For stats fans – SPD announced today that June crime stats have been added to its ongoing online tallies.
Three notes in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight. First, if you’re seeing police activity in Arbor Heights around 32nd and 106th, officers are searching right now for suspects who apparently fled a car that turned out to be stolen. Second, we’re still trying to track down information on an incident earlier tonight in the Admiral District that led to a brief, albeit reportedly sizable, response (will add whatever we find out). Third – two people e-mailed on behalf of neighbors who sadly can’t do it themselves because burglars stole their computer equipment. The break-in happened today near 44th/Cambridge, and one of the neighbors reports:
Burglars hit during the day, broke down the front door, stole computers, including a brand new Apple desktop computer just out of the box, and a Rolex. Left everything else. A burgundy car was seen yesterday, parked just down the hill, with a man inside it watching the neighborhood for quite awhile.
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