West Seattle, Washington
12 Thursday
One of many West Seattle cases we’re tracking through the courts is that of Thomas Qualls, the 59-year-old Alki man shot September 3rd in what police say was an exchange of fire with officers at his home. He has been in jail, with bail set at $1 million, since getting out of the hospital less than a week after the incident. While downtown today, we were in King County Superior Court for Qualls’ latest appearance, even shorter than the last; it was slated to be a hearing on whether to set a trial date (or some other option, like a plea bargain) but his lawyer won a requested four-week delay, saying they are still in the middle of obtaining and studying some complex evidence. So he’s due back in court February 22nd. He’s charged with three counts of 2nd-degree assault, with firearms enhancement.
(Wednesday photo by Tristan Baurick/Kitsap Sun; used with permission)
3:07 PM: Following up on yesterday’s discovery of a body washing up on Bainbridge Island (WSB coverage here), drawing the interest of Seattle Police: Though the King County Medical Examiner told us a few minutes ago that they’re not formally identifying the body that washed up on Bainbridge yet – they just brought it to their facility today – other sources including KIRO-TV say the family has been told it’s 24-year-old Jeremy Peck. We just talked with Seattle Police Det. Mark Jamieson, who told WSB that while they also have not been officially notified it’s Jeremy, if and when they do get that notification, what they do next still depends on what the cause of death turns out to be – whether it was homicide, accidental, or suicide. It’s been exactly two weeks since our first story on Jeremy’s disappearance; family and friends say he was last seen early the morning of December 24th.
5:07 PM UPDATE: The Medical Examiner’s Office puts out a daily media update each afternoon; today’s update ends with a note that the “the body (found) in Puget Sound” will be examined tomorrow (Friday).
Once again this year, local law-enforcement leaders will be part of the Polar Plunge at Alki Beach, raising money for Special Olympics/Washington. WSB is proud to be co-sponsoring the Polar Plunge again in its second West Seattle year. Just got word from organizers today that Seattle Police Chief John Diaz will be taking the plunge again this time – and Southwest Precinct 
commander Capt. Steve Paulsen confirms to WSB that he will follow in his predecessor Capt. Joe Kessler‘s water-shoed-footsteps by doing the same. You can form a team or go it alone to be part of Polar Plunge on Saturday, January 29, plunging at noon, after awards at 11:15 am, and a pre-plunge performance from the Seahawks’ Blue Thunder drum line. If you register and raise the $50 minimum, you get a T-shirt and a cup of Ivar’s chowder – sign up now by going here; we’ll see you there!
If you’ve long been involved with the Block Watch program in West Seattle – or know someone who has – there’s a special call out for you tonight, from the WS Blockwatch Captains’ Network, looking ahead to its next meeting – which also extends a special invitation to those wanting to say farewell to retiring Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow (here’s our Tuesday report on his impending retirement):
What’s the History of Blockwatch in West Seattle? Are you part of the history? Do you know part of the history?
When: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 6:30-8
Where: SW Precinct 2300 S.W. Webster (Delridge & Webster)
Agenda: 6:00-6:30 Socializing and networking during setup
6:30-7:00 WSBWCN news and updates, crime prevention tip of the month
7:00-8:00 History of Blockwatch in West Seattle with Benjamin Kinlow
Open forum for sharing historical information, blockwatch stories and thanking Benjamin.
8:00-8:30 Socializing & networking during teardown.Featured speaker: Retiring Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow
The topic of our January meeting is focused on the history of block watch in West Seattle. Benjamin Kinlow who has many years of experience in blockwatch will regale us with his stories of how things used to be, how they have evolved and talk about some highlights of his career. We invite everyone in West Seattle who has participated in blockwatchs over the years to come say goodbye to Benjamin, hear about the history of blockwatch and bring their blockwatch stories to share. Especially if you have stories relating to working with Benjamin and how he has helped you with your blockwatch it would be great to send him off to retirement with a few stories he might have forgotten!
We are trying to round up historical memorabilia and/or photos of blockwatch history in West Seattle that we could scan and put in a slide show so if you have something please get in touch. E-mail: wsblockwatchnet@gmail.com or call 206-424-0040 and leave a message.
(Wednesday photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Following up on Wednesday’s 44th SW incident involving two dogs shot by police responding to a domestic-violence call, we had a few questions for the Seattle Animal Shelter. Regarding the dogs’ breed, SAS director Don Jordan told WSB, “DOA dog = Lab. Injured dog = Bulldog mix. These match the licenses we have on file.” Had his officers dealt with them before? “Slight history of welfare checks, leash-law violations, and menacing behavior,” replied Jordan: “Citation for LLV + Menacing in 2008. Eight impounds between these two dogs in 2008 and 2009.” We also asked about the condition of the surviving dog. According to Jordan, it was “stabilized at West Seattle Animal Hospital then transported to (a clinic) for overnight observation. We were putting the owner in contact with (the clinic) so they could determine what they wanted to do with the dogs leg – i.e. amputation, plates/screws or ultimately euthanasia.” The newest information from police, released last night, said the dogs were “on top of” the woman they ultimately arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, and that they charged the officer who opened fire.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Monday afternoon, officers were alerted to an auto theft in progress on Pigeon Point. The thief managed to drive off at high speed northbound on 18th SW. Moments later, a citizen called 911 to report that a pickup truck had crashed through his fence in the 4800 block of 18th and that the driver had fled into a neighboring ravine. Officers were able to recover some items of clothing, as well as several tools typically used by car thieves, but they didn’t find the thief. (The K-9 trail went cold at the 4800 block of Puget Way SW.) The crashed pickup truck, registered in Wyoming, was a stolen vehicle that had been reported to Seattle Police.
*One effect of recent rains proved tempting to a man in his twenties in the area of Fauntleroy and SW Concord. He has been seen loitering, hiding in bushes, and rocking signposts in the rain-softened ground, causing them to break and tilt at angles. Description: He is white, and on Saturday, he was seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, had a bandana covering his lower face, and rode a razor-type scooter.
Five more summaries ahead:Read More
Followup on the two incidents we were following late last night/early this morning: Police confirm the Beach Drive search was indeed the result of an interrupted car-prowl incident. Around 9:30 last night, in the 5400 block of Beach Drive (map), a vehicle owner looked outside his window and saw the vehicle doors open, then went outside and confronted a suspect, who displayed “a large knife.” Police say they stopped a possible suspect at one point during their extensive search, but the owner couldn’t confirm that was the would-be car prowler. Meantime, as for the Fairmount area shots-fired call, police did not find any damage or other evidence that it was definitely gunshots.
12:04 AM: We don’t have much information about either of these but we’re getting some inquiries, so we’ll make brief mention, and will add any information we do get – which might not be till morning: First, there’s been a police search under way on Beach Drive – including the beach itself – for a while, near Me-Kwa-Mooks and further south. We have not been able to find out what sparked the search; police seem to be looking for one person, and a K-9 team is part of the search. We have an inquiry out to the precinct. Meantime, there was an Admiral-area call about possible gunshots; scanner traffic indicates officers thought it might be fireworks, though one resident who heard it begs to differ.
12:45 AM UPDATE: No word back from the precinct but we’ve learned what was heard via scanner re: the origin of the first Beach Drive call that preceded this search – apparently an interrupted car prowl, with someone reportedly threatened with a knife when they confronted the suspect, who then bolted.
We’re at the King County Courthouse, where 59-year-old Thomas Qualls – the Alki resident accused of firing an assault rifle September 3rd at police who subsequently shot him (original WSB coverage here) – made a brief appearance this afternoon. It was meant to be an update on whether he would enter a plea or proceed to trial. He pleaded not guilty September 22nd to three counts of second-degree assault, with firearms enhancement. Lawyers told the judge today that they are still awaiting key reports, so a decision on what’s next is now pushed back a few more weeks. When last we saw Qualls in the same courtroom three months ago (WSB coverage here), he was in a wheelchair, as he recovered from a gunshot wound to the abdomen; today, Qualls was standing, with the assistance of a walker. He’s been in jail since leaving the hospital five days after the incident, held in lieu of $1 million bail. The proceedings today included a mention of “negotiations,” so it appears a plea bargain is still a possibility.
We promised a followup on a story first reported here last week – police shooting one of two loose dogs in Fauntleroy. The original report has generated 60 comments, including two from someone claiming to be the dogs’ owner, writing that one of the dogs later died (not the one that was shot). We have since confirmed that with police, who have provided other details of the incident, which unfolded in two encounters with officers over the course of New Year’s Eve morning/afternoon/evening – read on: (FRIDAY UPDATE: Photo at right, sent by dogs’ owner)Read More
Tonight we have details from police about an incident in Fauntleroy this morning (thanks to the two WSB’ers who e-mailed us to ask about it): Police were called about trouble involving two dogs, and shot one of them, according to Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith. He says officers were called to the 9600 block of 48th SW (map) just before 7:30 this morning. The caller said two “aggressive pit bull dogs not known to (the) complainant” were on the porch. According to Lt. Smith, here’s what happened when officers arrived:
The dogs quickly approached a responding officer who was standing on the street. The officer backed away and attempted to place a garbage can as a barrier between him and the dogs, but one of the dogs lunged at him. The officer discharged his duty handgun, striking the dog in the face/head area. The dog fell back, rolled on the ground, then both dogs fled northbound on 48th Av SW. Officers were unable to locate either dog.
Thanks to Marty and Lia for e-mail about an early-morning SWAT sighting near Anchor Park on Alki Avenue SW (map); traffic was blocked for a while but Marty says it IS now getting through, and that the officers had announced themselves on arrival as there to serve a warrant. He also says SWAT’s gone but other police vehicles remain. We’re checking with SPD for additional info.
Five Seattle Police officers served as international goodwill ambassadors at the Southwest Precinct this morning – including the entire 3-member SWP Community Police Team. Officers Hoang, Kiehn, Mazzuca, McDaniel, and Nguyen answered questions and served as tour guides for a high-ranking 20-member visiting group from Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security. The visit began with a Q/A session in the precinct’s community room; Officer Hoang, from the downtown-headquartered West Precinct, did most of the interpreting. The questions were mostly operational: How are officers hired? What are the ranks between officer and precinct commander? What are the differences between the precincts? We wish we could report the details in those answers as well as the questions – but most of the former were given directly in Vietnamese. The ministry is accountable for not only “regular” police operations, but
The Public Security Ministry is accountable for an internal-security army as well as regular law enforcers. Before moving on to tour the precinct building, the visitors presented their hosts with gifts – art in honor of the recent celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Vietnam’s capital:
And a plaque bearing the logo of their ministry.
The capital, Hanoi, is where most of the visitors are based, according to a South Seattle Community College liaison who was touring with them. According to Officer McDaniel, their Puget Sound visit included stops at Bellevue PD, Microsoft, Washington State Patrol, SeaTac Airport Security, Kent Correctional Facility, and the Seattle Emergency Preparedness Unit. They’re scheduled to leave this area on Thursday.
The Southwest Precinct sends holiday greetings and a wish for a (continued) low-crime season. Toward that end, precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen asked if we would share an SPD-provided list of holiday-specific crime-prevention tips with you. Even if you’re sure you’ve heard them all before – take another look. You’ll find the full list after the jump:
We are at the Seattle Police Department‘s West Precinct, where SPD has just officially announced its Twitter account to find stolen cars – @getyourcarback. More after the briefing.
2:45 PM UPDATE: After the briefing, media reps were ushered up to the 911 center to see 27-year SPD veteran communications supervisor Gary Raymond send out the first two tweets (that’s him in the photo above, added 2:56 pm). They will NOT include location information – media unit Sgt. Sean Whitcomb says that could dissuade people from being on the lookout, since a stolen vehicle could be taken far outside the theft area fairly quickly. The full news release announcing the program is on SPD Blotter. We’ll add the stream of tweets to the WSB Crime Watch page as soon as possible, so you can check them even if you don’t want to use Twitter. SPD says that if this works out, they’ll consider expanding their use of Twitter – it could provide instant information on a host of situations, including road closures resulting from police-involved incidents. Until now, the only tweeting that SPD was doing came from the media unit via @SeattlePD – usually links to SPD Blotter reports, with the occasional breaking-news note. The stolen-car tweets will NOT be repeated on @SeattlePD – so if you want to get them from Twitter, you need to follow @getyourcarback. 2 more notes: They will not tweet when a car’s been found – if you see one you saw on Twitter, just go ahead and call 911; if it turns out it’s no longer listed as stolen, they’ll be able to tell. And do not tweet back with information about sightings – CALL 911.
Seattle Police are about to add a new tactic to crack car-theft cases: This Wednesday, they’ll “unveil how social networking, specifically Twitter, will be employed to combat auto theft and reunite victims with their stolen cars,” promises their announcement inviting local media to attend the unveiling. Currently, most of SPD’s Twitter activity involves links to new updates on SPD Blotter, though they occasionally send updates on breaking news. The auto-theft announcement is set for Wednesday afternoon at the West Precinct; as with most major stories, we’ll tweet about it (with updates here too).
ADDED 6:36 PM: Another new anti-crime campaign, just reported by our friends at KING 5 – signs to put in your car to say “nothing to steal.” If you want to print one yourself, the link’s on the sidebar on this page.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Though some categories of crime are down, that doesn’t mean local police aren’t busy. This is the seventh weekly installment of this new WSB feature, and now it has a name. If nothing else, some of the summaries may answer questions you had about police responses you saw in the past week or so …
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Around 6 p.m. Saturday, a call came in to 911 about a man running near 35th and Juneau with a large knife. Officers quickly found the man, who was fairly easy to spot, seeing that he was dressed in fatigues and carrying a machete. He was handcuffed and taken to the SW Precinct. An investigation soon showed that he was part of a group of military aficionados engaged in a scavenger hunt through the neighborhood.
*After placing an online ad to sell her computer (a MacBook Pro), a woman agreed to meet a potential buyer on Saturday evening at a fast-food restaurant at 35th SW/Avalon. As she pulled the computer from her bag so that he could examine it, the “potential buyer” grabbed it from her grasp and fled in a large dark-colored sedan driven by a woman.
(8 more summaries ahead:)Read More
Thanks to West Seattle writer (and world-traveling volunteer!) Lori Hinton for sharing this photo taken this afternoon at the Westwood Village Bank of America. We’ve seen teams from the West Seattle-headquartered Seattle Police Mounted Patrol at Westwood before – Becky shared a photo last February; a year earlier, we caught a photo at Westwood’s then-WaMu. SPD has told us they bring the horses to areas like this to get used to working in traffic. But now, as reported here more than a month ago, the Mounted Patrol is slated to be disbanded as part of the new budget – and while not all the fine print is finalized, we haven’t seen/heard anything indicating the mayor’s original proposal will change.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the sixth weekly installment of this new WSB feature, and now it has a name! If you missed the explanation/introduction with which we prefaced the series, you can see it here.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*On Wednesday around 3 a.m., officers were dispatched to 26th SW and Hudson, where citizens reported that a man was driving up and down the street with a flat tire and repeatedly trying to start the already running vehicle. Officers found the abandoned car in the 7000 block of 21st SW (complete with a smoking engine, shredded tire and with fresh damage to a fender and door).
The registered owner lived a couple of blocks away, so officers went to the home to continue their investigation. Smelling strongly of alcohol, the owner insisted that his car was with friends: “I’m not supposed to be driving because of my three DUIs.” He denied he had been driving the vehicle, and went back inside.
A while later, the owner showed up as officers were arranging to have the car towed. (Interestingly, he knew just where to find the car, even though the officers hadn’t disclosed its location.) He demanded the officers’ badge numbers before leaving and then spent several minutes—to no avail—trying to persuade the tow truck driver to simply drop the vehicle off around the corner.
(Four more summaries, including the case of the sleeping suspect, after the jump:)Read More
One year after the murder of Seattle Police Officer Tim Brenton, Saturday night’s Seattle Police Foundation awards banquet honored the West Seattle High School graduate posthumously, as well as honoring the survivor of the deadly ambush and many SPD personnel who played a role in the response and the investigation. Other officers and SPD staff with West Seattle ties were honored in the annual awards event too – read on for photos and details:Read More
(WSB photos and video by Ellen Cedergreen)
Serious rock jam at Bamboo Bar and Grill last night as part of Dine Out to Remember Our Fallen. (Here’s our earlier report, after we met with organizers at Puerto Vallarta in The Junction.) Members of Queensryche, Candlebox and Lotus Crush took the stage – their instruments overwhelmed their vocals in our video, but you still get the idea:
We’re waiting this morning to hear the regional total for the benefit to raise money for the Lakewood Police Officers’ Memorial, in honor of the four officers murdered a year ago this month. At Bamboo, the turnout included Lakewood and Tukwila officers as well as SPD – the next photo includes the two we spoke with earlier in the evening, retired detective Frank Kampsen, director of the Behind the Badge Foundation, and Officer Raleigh Evans:
From the stage, musician Kelly Gray offered a toast to honor the four slain Lakewood officers.
He expressed appreciation for the work of police officers everywhere as well as gratitude for the fact that they “put their lives on the line for us every day.” If you couldn’t join in last night’s fundraiser, either at Bamboo or any of the participating restaurants, you can still donate to the Lakewood Police Independent Guild, which is raising money – there’s a PayPal button on the right sidebar.
Look for the red, white and blue balloons all over West Seattle tonight – like the ones outside Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) in our photo – they signify participation in the Dine Out to Remember Our Fallen fundraiser that’s under way right now. Here’s what it’s all about:
In the waiting area for Puerto Vallarta in The Junction, you’ll see that rendering of the police memorial planned for Lakewood, where four officers were gunned down almost a year ago. Tonight’s fundraiser is meant to raise money to bring it closer to reality. Helping lead local efforts, retired Seattle Police Detective Frank Kampsen, director of the Behind the Badge Foundation, and Southwest Precinct Officer Raleigh Evans:
They explained why West Seattle participation is so high:
Meantime, check out this list of participants – get out sometime tonight, and help make the memorial happen. The night’s biggest event will be emceed by Officer Evans: A rock ‘n’ roll jam at Bamboo Bar and Grill on Alki starting at 8 pm. Details here; more later!
Followup tonight on one of the cases summarized in WSB contributing reporter Megan Sheppard‘s police-files roundup published early today: Southwest Precinct detectives have arrested a suspect in the coffee-shop robbery/lewd conduct case; that’s the word from Detective Brian Ballew. The suspect is in the King County Jail; we’re looking for more information about him and will add anything we find.
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