West Seattle, Washington
28 Monday
From Kate:
My friend’s 1999 Honda CRV was stolen last night in front of his house 3200 block of 44th Ave SW between midnight and 10 am. WA License BMA6382. Police report was made. These are pictures of the year/model/color of his car (but not his actual car.) Please call police if you see it. It has this decal on the driver’s side rear window.
Took a while to get the details on this but for everyone who asked why the Guardian One helicopter was looping over White Center and South Delridge for a while – it was part of a search for someone who robbed an employee of Proletariat Pizza (9622 16th SW) in the alley behind the business, says King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Abbott. He says a robber armed with a handgun took the employee’s wallet and cell phone “and fled northbound into Seattle on a bike.”
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports tonight, starting with a followup on last night’s Admiral incident:
ADMIRAL INVESTIGATION: The police photo above shows the gun found in a trash bin, mentioned in our coverage last night. Here’s what else SPD is now saying:
A plainclothes officer working in the 2300 block of California Avenue SW witnessed a fight in an alley and attempted to intervene. At least one of the participants in the fight drew a handgun and reportedly pointed it at the officer. The officer drew his own weapon and fired multiple rounds at the armed suspect. The group of assailants then fled the scene.
Officers detained several people at the scene, and continue to search for additional suspects. The CSI Unit recovered a firearm at the scene, believed to be dropped by one of the suspects. Detectives believe no one was struck by gunfire in the incident. The 45-year-old officer, a 5-year veteran of the department, has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
The officer was working a plainclothes assignment and was not equipped with a body-worn camera during the incident. However, detectives are canvassing businesses in the area to recover any surveillance video that may have captured the incident, and are asking anyone with footage or information about this case to please call 206-233-5000.
And from the inbox:
TWO BICYCLES STOLEN: Lauren sent the photos and report:
I wanted to write in to report the theft of two bikes from our apartment complex, Upton Flats. My husband had two bikes stolen from the secure bike room in the lobby of our building. We don’t know exactly when they were taken, as my husband hasn’t been riding recently due to injury. We think it was sometime in the last few weeks. The bikes were a Pinarello Dogma F10 and a Rodeo Trail Donkey. There were other bikes in the room that were not taken, suggesting the thief knew what they were taking (the two bikes are pretty high end). I’ve attached photos of each bike. We have filed a police report and listed on Bike Index.
Possibly of interest as well: the package room in our building was broken into on Monday. Someone gained access to the building, and then pried open the door to the room. Packages were opened, and I assume items were taken. Our items were left (not interesting enough, I guess).
(1st three photos by WSB’s Christopher Boffoli)
10:37 PM: Big emergency response headed for the area of the Admiral Pub after a gunfire report. One person is reported injured, one in custody, at least two suspects at large. Police are closing traffic in the area. Updates to come.
10:52 PM: From radio communication – the victim was shot in the head, behind the pub. K9 teams are helping search. A gun has been found in/near a trash can.
10:57 PM: WSB’s Christopher Boffoli reports that he’s heard from witnesses that the “shooting happened in the alley behind the Admiral Pub. The shooters exited through Admiral Pub, got into a truck and tore off to the east.” Police, however, are searching on the suspicion that the suspects might still be in the area.
(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
11:21 PM: New information from SFD. The person injured was NOT shot: “Update: patient is a 29 year old male with minor injuries and did not require transport to a hospital. Initial reports of a shooting are incorrect. Confirmed reports of an assault,” SFD spokesperson David Cuerpo told us via email. Police aren’t commenting further, but we’re told a public-information officer is on the way.
11:48 PM: Per scanner, police are reopening California SW in the area.
12:16 AM: The newest information from SPD spokesperson Det. Patrick Michaud (whose briefing we recorded on video and will update when our crew gets back here): They’re still sorting out what happened but – An officer happened onto people getting into a fight of some kind in the alley behind Admiral Pub/Yen Wor Village. Guns were drawn. The officer fired. Part of the investigative presence is because of that. More as soon as your editor here gets to listen to the briefing.
12:38 AM: Adding to those details: All the shots fired were from the officer’s gun. The two people in the alley fight who drew theirs “did not have the opportunity” to fire them. As we reported above, one gun was found. No one is in custody; police are still talking to the injured man to try to find out more about the circumstances – there’s a possibility the “fight” might have been a robbery. Meantime, the Force Investigation Team is on the case and the officer who fired will be on paid administrative leave. (Added – the video:)
(Karen Berge, Deb Greer receiving SPD community-service award last August)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Almost a decade after launching face-to-face meetings, the founders of the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network are “thinking we need to shake it up a bit.”
Karen Berge and Deb Greer told attendees at last night’s WSBWCN meeting that they’re ceasing monthly meetings. Over all these years, there have been some memorable meetings – touring a local home with an SPD officer explaining Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design – and even some tumultuous moments, like the protester-disrupted 2015 forum with then-Chief Kathleen O’Toole. But there also have been lightly attended meetings with well-trod topics, such as yet another explanation of how 911 works.
And it’s not just about the meetings themselves.
We start this West Seattle Crime Watch report with a search happening now:
DELRIDGE BURGLARY: We’re still collecting details on this but if you’re seeing/hearing the police search in Delridge – they’re looking for a burglar. We don’t have an address yet but the search, with K9, is ranging eastward from Delridge/Juneau, uphill into Puget Ridge. We’ve heard a partial description of the burglar as male, average build, blue and white striped stocking cap, black and white flowered wrap over pants, facial hair. We’ll update when we find out more.
10:43 AM UPDATE: Talked to police in the area. The burglary happened at a house being renovated near Delridge/Findlay. A work crew saw the intruder, who subsequently bolted.
10:50 AM UPDATE: A suspect is reported, via police radio, to be in custody.
LINCOLN PARK CAR PROWL: Lindsey just moved to our area from out of state a week ago. On Monday, a rude “welcome” at Lincoln Park:
My family parked at the lot across from SW Rose Street at Lincoln Park around 4 PM and left at 5:15 PM.
Around 6:45 PM my bank started notifying me of suspicious activity. I called to inquire and discovered someone was purchasing gift cards from stores at Westwood Village: Game Stop, Big Five, Marshall’s, Starbucks, Target, etc. My brother‘s credit cards we’re also stolen and used.
We were able to deduce that we left our wallets in the car during our hike and my husband probably inadvertently left the car unlocked. This person is likely a pro, they probably intentionally target park lots as patrons likely won’t be back at their cars for some time. They took only our credit and debit cards as well as cash and change. They left IDs and such. They only tried to purchase gift cards from the stores, as far as we’re currently aware.
48-year-old Michael J. Mullen is back in jail. Last June, he was arrested and charged with unlawfully possessing a “heavily altered” shotgun (photo in our coverage) that he was brandishing at people in the alley behind businesses on the west side of the 4700 block of California SW. He was released from jail two days after that arrest, and the case has continued slowly proceeding through the court system. Last Thursday morning, he was arrested for allegedly threatening his roommate at their house west of The Junction. Court documents say the roommate called police after Mullen had threatened to go get his gun, after hours of ranting about people allegedly refusing to provide him with information about a woman he was obsessed with. He’s been in jail since Thursday, charged with misdemeanor domestic-violence harassment, bail set at $50,000. He is scheduled for a mental-health evaluation and competency hearing next week, at his lawyer’s request.
We reported briefly Saturday night on a police search following a business robbery at 35th/Roxbury. Today we’ve obtained the report; here’s what police say happened at the Cheap Smokes and Beer store (9450 35th SW):
Around 9:15 pm, three people entered the store – described as males, all wearing masks and gloves. One, wearing a black jacket, black pants, and red mask, jumped over the counter and started hitting the clerk, at least eight times. The second robber, wearing a gray jacket, black pants, and white mask, also jumped over the counter and began stuffing cigarettes into a purple bag. He then took the register off the counter and gave it to the third robber. All three took off with the register, cigarettes, and the victim’s Galaxy S4 phone, in a case that also had his ID and other cards. They were last seen headed northbound; a subsequent K9 search suggested they had then gone into the alley east of the building, but the trail ended there, so it’s possible they got into a vehicle. The clerk had a “small lump on the right side of his forehead” but told officers he didn’t need medical attention
9:49 PM: Not a lot of details on this but in case you are seeing/hearing the police activity around 35th/Roxbury – a robbery was reported at the commercial building on the northeast corner. A K9 team is helping with the search. No other info so far.
12:05 AM: We haven’t heard anything further, aside from a description that this was a “strong-arm robbery” at one of the businesses; we’ll pursue the police report when available Monday.
If you happen to see a pickup truck with a Seattle Public Schools logo – take a closer look, because it might be the truck Derek has reported as stolen:
On the morning of 10-17-2019 between 4-7 AM, my work truck was stolen from the field of the Southwest Athletic Complex. The truck is a white late 1990s to early 2000s Chevy two-door with a Seattle School district logo and #319 on the back; the windshield is also smashed and the license plate number is 56489C.
Thanks all for your help in returning our work truck.
As always, police advise calling 911 ASAP if you find/see a stolen vehicle.
From Taylor Lowery, the Seattle University intern at the Southwest Precinct:
Seattle University is administering the 5th annual citywide Seattle Public Safety Survey. The purpose of the survey is to solicit feedback on public safety and security concerns from those who live and/or work in Seattle. A report on the survey results will be provided to the Seattle Police Department to assist them with making your neighborhood safer and more secure. The survey is accessible at publicsafetysurvey.org from October 15th through November 30th and is available in Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, English, Korean, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya and Vietnamese.
6,500* people citywide answered last year’s survey. Results toplines are here.
Two reports from the weekend in West Seattle Crime Watch:
ROBBERY ATTEMPT: Thanks for the tips about a police response at Lincoln Park Sunday evening. Police were gone by the time we heard, but we requested and received the report today. Two 17-year-old boys were arrested for allegedly trying to rob someone just outside Lincoln Park just after 5 pm. The report says the victim was “smoking a marijuana cigarette” while walking in the park with a friend. As they walked out of the park toward a bus stop near the north parking lot, the friend told police, they were approached by the two suspects who asked if they could buy marijuana from them. The victim said he didn’t have any more, but the suspects started threatening them, saying they would beat them up if they didn’t hand over their “weed.” They refused, said they were calling police, and “sought refuge” with someone in a parked car nearby. Police arrested the two 17-year-olds nearby and said they “admitted they asked … to buy marijuana” though it would have been illegal for them to possess. They were taken to the precinct and released into parental custody.
CAR PROWL: From PK: “Our vehicle was broken into between 10 pm (Saturday night) and 12 pm (Sunday) at the corner of 35th SW and SW Ida. Police report filed, fingerprints lifted and over $1500 in lost items from trunk, major damage to center console, and glove compartment rifled through.”
1:18 PM: There’s a big police response right now in the Luna Park area after a reported robbery, and a K9 team is joining the search. We are still getting details but there was a report of a car theft as part of this. More to come …
1:25 PM: The search has expanded to include the greenbelt northwest of Avalon/Spokane. Only a partial description of the suspects – “three unknown-race males in their 20s,” one in a gray hoodie, one in a black hoodie, one with a red jacket. Multiple K9 teams are involved now.
2 PM: No one reported in custody yet. Police are talking to various people involved and still trying to sort out exactly what happened and where.
2:08 PM: In our photo above, that’s the recovered stolen vehicle (stopped by a flat tire), uphill in the Avalon/Spokane area, about to be towed. Police tell us this all began in North Delridge; it’s now being described as having started as a “home invasion” robbery, but they continue to sort out the circumstances.
If you haven’t already seen Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner‘s latest newsletter, here it is, focusing on property crime:
As noted at the end of the newsletter, which you also can read here in PDF, you’re invited to several events ahead with local police involvement. First one is Tuesday, October 15, at 7 pm, when the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council convenes at the precinct (2300 SW Webster) for its next meeting, including a presentation on preventing home burglaries.
The photo and report are from Guy:
Our 2005 Escalade was stolen some time yesterday or overnight from the street in front of our
house on SW 45th Ave. SW, between Edmunds and Alaska. License plate 700 XYE. If anyone has seen it, please contact me at 206.819.6496.
But first, call 911.
Andre‘s blue 1990 Yamaha Zuma scooter was stolen from a condo parking lot in the 2300 block of 44th SW: “The scooter was probably stolen last night but I just noticed it was gone in the morning around 7 am. Someone probably just loaded the scooter in a truck and took off in the alley. They would need at least 2 people to lift the scooter in the truck.” If you see it, call 911.
Police are investigating whether two Wednesday afternoon robberies are connected. The victims in both cases were teenagers. We requested and obtained the reports for both; here are summaries of what police were told happened:
13-YEAR-OLD ROBBED NEAR SCHOOL: The first one happened near Madison Middle School around 3:40 pm. A 13-year-old boy was walking westbound on SW Hanford near 45th SW when a newer black Ford Explorer pulled up nearby. The driver and passenger got out and “approached him, demanding his belongings,” then one reached into his pocket and stole his iPhone. They got back in the car and left southbound on 45th. The victim described the robbers as: Black men, possibly in their 20s, one with a close-shaved head, gray Nike hoodie, black sweatpants, the other with a medium-length Afro, bright-red Nike jacket, black pants. This police report says a “similar” description was given for two suspects in the next robbery an hour later:
16-YEAR-OLD ROBBED AT WESTWOOD VILLAGE: Around 4:40 pm, a 16-year-old boy was robbed while walking near the east side of the Westwood Village Rite-Aid, the 9000 block of 25th SW. He said a “black-colored older SUV” pulled up near him and the front passenger called him over. He saw four people inside, described as: Black, male, 17 to 19 years old, three in black hoodies, one in a black jacket over a red hoodie. The front passenger, who had “a flat-top haircut,” stuck out his hand as i to shake the victim’s hand but then the victim noticed he was holding what appeared to be a handgun in his other hand in his lap. The victim started backing away; the front passenger got out and chased him, tackling him in a nearby “grassy area,” taking his Nike Airmax Plus shoes and iPhone. The victim then “ran home wearing only socks,” the report says.
The video and report were sent by Aran:
My motorcycle was stolen from the alleyway behind 3811 California Ave SW at 12:30 am on Friday, 10/4. It was a blue 2015 Yamaha R3 with license plate number 9F5851. The theft was caught on my neighbor’s Ring camera. Suspect appears to be a taller white male wearing a red baseball hat with a red logo, a gray hoodie, black vest, jeans, and black boots.
Call 911 if you see it.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports:
STOLEN PATHFINDER: The photo and report are from Paul:
My 2000 Pathfinder was stolen from in front of my house last night and I’m trying to get the word out. Pathfinder is black and the license reads ASL0042.
This happened near 14th/Roxbury. If you see it, call 911.
PACKAGE THIEF NABBED: We heard some of this play out over police radio yesterday. Hadn’t had time today to request the report, but it’s just turned up on SPD Blotter:
Officers arrested a 24-year-old man on Monday moments after he stole a brand-new soccer goal off the porch of a West Seattle home.
Around 2:15 PM, patrol officers spotted a man carrying a strange assortment of items — a sealed cardboard box, a gas can, a baby carrier and a metal chair — near the 2100 block of SW Roxbury Street.
The man disappeared around a corner, and when officers caught up to him he was no longer carrying the cardboard box but had loaded the other items into a shopping cart.
Officers contacted the man, who said he’d tossed the package over a nearby fence. As police were speaking with the man, they received notification from SPD’s 911 center that the resident of a home a few blocks away had just reported a package theft, which was captured on a porch surveillance camera.
Officers located the stolen package and arrested the 24-year-old for package theft. He struggled with officers during his arrest but was eventually taken into custody. Police found he was wanted on several warrants for theft.
Police returned the stolen package — the soccer goal – to the home where it had been taken.
The suspect remains in the King County Jail.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports:
GAS THEFT: That photo is from a reader near 42nd/Cloverdale, who reports:
Bad news, my car stalled (Sunday) on the West Seattle Bridge with “fuel empty” signal. I had filled it (Saturday). Heard that people have been drilling into gas tanks to siphon gas – looking under car at mine, looks like that was the case (see pic). Some time between 10:30 pm-6 am (Saturday night/Sunday morning). Apparently Tacomas (which is what I have) are common targets. I drove about 10 mins before light went off. Heads-up to people! Speaking to police, they said not much that can be done to prevent. Looking at parking space after I got home, remnants of the drilling were where the car was parked.
STOLEN BICYCLE RECOVERED: Published today on SPD Blotter:
Police recovered a stolen bike and arrested a 26-year-old man in West Seattle on Sunday following an undercover sting to buy back the bike.
On October 4th, a West Seattle resident called police and reported their garage had been burglarized. Two bikes, worth approximately $4,000, were taken.
The victim later found one of the bikes for sale online and contacted the Southwest Precinct’s Anti-Crime Team, which set up a meeting with the suspect. Undercover officers met the suspect at one location and followed him to a storage unit, where he showed off the victim’s bike.
Police arrested the 26-year-old man, returned the bike to the owner, and booked the suspect into the King County Jail for trafficking stolen property.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports:
BURGLAR ON VIDEO: The clip is from Peter, who reports that person broke into his home at 9:19 pm last night: “Intruder was aggressive and tried to knock down my bedroom door. Thankfully, no one got hurt.” Police incident #19-372516. It happened near 35th/Fauntleroy.
STOLEN BICYCLE: The photo and report are from Vincent:
I foolishly left my garage door open, which provided a convenient opportunity for a thief to make off with the bike in the attached picture. The bike is essentially brand new and completely stock. It was taken from the 2900 block of Walnut Ave. SW in the early morning of Sun., Oct. 6.
1:16 PM: Another stolen car to watch for – reported by Sarah:
My friend’s car was stolen some time after 9:30 (pm Friday) when she was staying with me. It was stolen out of the Delridge Library parking lot. It is a silver 1998 Honda Civic DX 4-door with a back window broken out. It was reported to the Seattle Police. If seen, you can email me at sa*********@***oo.com
(added) License AQS9052.
SUNDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Sarah reports the car’s been found.
ADDED 3:03 PM: And another auto-theft report, this one from Chris:
My vehicle (was) stolen overnight off Thistle and Delridge. It is a Silver 2014 Ford Fushion stolen some time after 8 pm last night, October 4th. No distinguishing features, although the bottom of the right from bumper is hanging a little loose. Inside there is a seat protector covering the entire back seats. License plate; ARU3618. Any information will be appreciated and can be sent to cm*********@***il.com.
But first – if you find or see any known stolen car – call 911.
Reader report just in:
My parents’ car was stolen today from the free Junction parking lot off 42nd (behind Matador) between 6-6:25 pm. It is a 2016 white Ford Escape with Louisiana plates. While they were making their statement to a police officer, another lady mentioned her car was broken into in the same lot earlier in the day.
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