West Seattle, Washington
19 Thursday
Two incidents in West Seattle Crime Watch:
KEYBANK VANDALIZED AGAIN: For the second time in a month, somebody broke the glass at KeyBank in The Junction. We heard the dispatch on this one late last night; witnesses reported it and police responded quickly but on followup today tell us the vandal was not found. No attempt to break in was reported – the rock thrower walked away. One witness who called it in also emailed us and described the vandal as “white, male, 5′ 9″, small/medium build, 40ish, black shirt, tan pants, short haircut, w/ a necklace.” If you have any information, the SPD incident # is 2019-252988.
BIKE STOLEN AT SCHOOL: A reader sends this report and photo:
On Tuesday, July 9th, at 1:56 pm, a person walked into the Chief Sealth IHS main office and stole a bike. After review of security cameras, the person had been inside the building and watching the office for almost 15 minutes. They walked into the office, grabbed the bike and walked out. If you know who this person is, please call the Sealth main office, 206-252-8550. A police report has been filed.
The bike is a K2 ZED Mountain Bike, black with gold, gel seat.
Followups on two recent West Seattle Crime Watch cases involving burglary suspects arrested with weapons:
PUGET RIDGE SUSPECT CHARGED: Prosecutors have filed two felony charges against 36-year-old Jeremiah N. Fry, arrested Monday morning with a loaded shotgun. They also succeeded in having a judge raise his bail to $225,000, pointing to a 20-year criminal history. Fry is charged with one count of first-degree burglary and one count of unlawful gun possession. The charging documents say “the victim woke up to a nightmare in the form of this defendant standing outside her open window in the darkness of the night. The victim acted quickly, slamming the window shut and then instinctively ran to her daughter’s room to seal off the other access point to the residence. To the victim’s horror, when she went into her sleeping daughter’s bedroom, she became face-to-face with the defendant again as he had moved … to her daughter’s open window.” Police arrested him less than two blocks away and said he dropped the loaded 12-gauge shotgun as they approached. Most of his prior convictions were for property crimes, although as noted in our Monday report, he also has an assault conviction for violence involving his girlfriend and their baby. In that case he got a year-plus sentence under the Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative.
BEACH DRIVE SUSPECT OUT: 39-year-old Gabriel C. Putnam, the suspected would-be burglar arrested after being caught on video trying a Beach Drive door with one hand and holding a large knife with the other, is out of jail. As we reported June 19th, he was charged with attempted residential burglary and has no prior criminal record. At his arraignment a week ago, a judge granted the defense motion to release him into the CCAP program, which requires daily check-ins. Documents say he told the court he would be living at a downtown shelter. He’s due back in court next week.
(WSB photo, Tuesday night)
2:08 PM: Last night, we reported on a warrant operation in the 9200 block of 9th SW. Today, Seattle Police announced the results:
Detectives seized 13 pounds of meth and large quantities of heroin and oxycodone on Tuesday following a narcotics operation targeting a south-end drug dealer.
After purchasing narcotics from a 39-year-old South Seattle man over the last month, police arrested the dealer in Georgetown early Tuesday.
(Seattle Police photo)
Investigators searched his vehicle and recovered 334 grams of meth and 76 grams of heroin. They then served a warrant at a West Seattle home, in the 9200 block of 9th Avenue SW, in connection with the case, and seized a duffel bag containing over 13 pounds of methamphetamine, 53 grams of heroin, and 74 oxycodone pills from a trailer in the backyard. Police also arrested a 41-year-old man at the home in connection with the case. Both men were booked into the King County Jail for narcotics violations.
We’re checking now on the suspects’ status.
2:34 PM: Both remain in the King County Jail.
Recent reader reports:
LINCOLN PARK CAR BREAK-IN: Wendy reports this happened Monday morning: “Had my car window passenger side broken into between 7-7:15 am while dropping off my boys at YMCA summer camp – interrupted prowler so notbing was taken, reported to police. Had parked in south parking lot.”
HIT-RUN: From Alison:
My daughter went to Starbucks on Alki and parked our car – 2016 Mazda CR-X 5 Red – on 62nd SW between Stevens and Admiral (about 3018 62nd Ave SW). My car repair person believes a box truck or flat bed truck smashed into the front passenger corner and just kept going. This was major damage not just a scratch.
Any witnesses? Let us know and we’ll connect you.
PACKAGES TAKEN: Juan‘s Ring camera caught this video of someone taking packages from his porch on July 2nd. This happened on SW Holden near Riverview Playfield.
9:33 PM: Thanks for the tips: 9th SW is closed between Barton and Roxbury right now because of a police response. At the scene, SPD would tell us only that they’re attempting to serve a search warrant. As shown in the photo, SWAT team members are involved. At last report, they were asking everyone inside the residence to come out. We’ll be checking back. (In case you wondered, this is not far south of last Saturday’s response.)
9:42 PM: Radio communication indicates police have been able to get into the residence.
A 36-year-old man remains in the King County Jail this afternoon after an arrest on Puget Ridge early this morning. From SPD Blotter:
Southwest Precinct officers responded to a report of an attempted burglary in the Puget Ridge neighborhood early Monday morning. After checking the home, officers located a possible suspect one block away carrying a loaded shotgun.
At approximately 5:00 am, officers were checking the area after responding to the home in the 1800 block of SW Dawson Street for a report of an attempted burglary.
During the area check, an officer located a possible suspect one block away, carrying a shotgun. Police arrested the 36-year-old man, who is a convicted felon and unable to legally possess firearms. Officers booked him into the King County Jail on felony charges of burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm. Detectives will handle the follow-up investigation.
The jail register indicates the suspect spent a month in jail last year on a probation violation related to a 2014 assault case. That case, records show, involved domestic violence against his then-girlfriend and their baby at their residence in southeast West Seattle. Court documents say he also has a lengthy record involving nine other felonies and six misdemeanors.
4:56 PM: Police have blocked 9th SW between Trenton and Henderson as they try to get someone out of a residence there. We don’t know yet exactly what happened that led to the call but police are using a bullhorn to ask that someone come out so they can resolve a no-contact-order violation. avoid the area TFN.
5:28 PN: The suspect has emerged from the residence and is now in custody, per police radio.
5:37 PM: They’re now getting ready to reopen the road.
ADDED: The 60-year-old man taken into custody was booked into the King County Jail.
(June 2018 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office says it’s not filing charges “at this time” against 25-year-old Nickolas Osborne, arrested Monday in connection with the June 2018 Alki Avenue stabbing death of 28-year-old Jonathan Pecina. Here’s the KCPAO’s statement:
We appreciate that Seattle Police Department has worked hard on this investigation, taking extraordinary measures to identify the previously unknown participant in this fatal encounter. Since that arrest and over the past several days, this office has made a thorough review of available evidence trying to determine whether the state could disprove a claim of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt, as required by law. At this time we have concluded that we cannot file a charge.
A lengthy memo provided with the statement concludes in part:
In this case, the suspect has a plausible claim of self-defense. Even though Osborne disavows any memory of the incident, the evidence from independent, unconnected witnesses is that he was surrounded, taunted and baited by two men; that the men “kept pushing him and pushing him for a fight”; that the men were both using their belts as weapons; that they were assaulting Osborne with their belts, so much so that a witness commented “the guy is pretty tough because he’s taking some pretty good whacks”; that the assault went on for a while until Osborne “finally took a blow at them”; and that there was no doubt that the two men were the aggressors.
We’ll add the rest of the memo text once the names of witnesses can be redacted.
ADDED 4:27 PM: Below is the text of the KCPAO memo, with witnesses’ names redacted. Be aware that there are some graphic descriptions of the stabbing scene.
4th of July aftermath reports:
GUNFIRE, NOT FIREWORKS: We heard part of this call around 1:30 am but not enough until we could confirm with police. Now we have that confirmation. Near 9th SW & SW Henderson, a report of gunfire led police to discover that “a residence was struck several times” plus shell casings were found (at least 15, according to radio communication we heard at the time) in the intersection. No injuries reported.
FAIRMOUNT PLAYGROUND RESTROOM DAMAGED: Seattle Parks has just confirmed that the damage done to the comfort-station building at Fairmount Playground was the result of fireworks. It’s closed as a result:
(WSB photo, this morning)
Parks says it will put up fencing around the building while the interior damage is repaired.
The building is just a few years old, and cost more than $325,000.
LINCOLN PARK: Toward the south end of the beach, someone blew up a trash can:
That photo came in via text this morning.
BEACH DRIVE FIRE: No structure fires in West Seattle on the 4th or so far today. “Brush fire” is the most common categorization for open-area fireworks fires and this one around 6:30 pm at Beach Drive/Jacobsen Road was the only one:
The tipster who sent the photo said it was a fireworks-sparked fire.
One week ago, burglars broke into the nonprofit West Seattle Tool Library, which is co-housed with Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in North Delridge. Christina Hahs hopes you will be on the lookout for what was taken:
Someone broke in to the Tool Library’s Shop last Thursday evening, about midnight, and stole the following items. We’ve fixed the door, so hopefully this doesn’t happen again. We’ve also submitted a police report, and are providing security footage to them, but there may not be much they can do.
If you see any of the following items, with West Seattle Tool Library or WSTL written on them, on Craigslist or at any local pawn shops, please let us know so we can claim them. We’d just like to have our stuff back so it can be available for everyone in the community to use.
Makita Cordless Hex Driver Drill
Makita Reciprocating Saw
Makita Combo Cordless Driver and Drill Set
Makita Cordless Impact Driver
Craftsman 165 Piece Mechanics Tool Set
Custom Electronics Repair Kit – A Husky 22″ Black Tool Box containing soldering and wiring supplies
Cen-Tech Function Digital Multimeter
Master Dual Material Screw Driver Set – 20 piece
6-8 different drill and driver bit sets in Dewalt and Milwaukee boxes
Here are images of similar items.
(June 2018 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
11:04 AM: Some asked about an arrest Monday afternoon at the Morgan Junction Starbucks. Seattle Police have just announced that the person they took into custody is a suspect in last year’s murder on Alki Avenue SW near Anchor Park:
Seattle Police have arrested a 25-year-old man for the June 2nd, 2018 homicide on Alki Beach of stabbing victim Jonathan Pecina, age 28. Officers arrested the suspect in West Seattle.
Homicide detectives recently received DNA evidence from the WSP Crime Lab linking the suspect to an item left at the crime scene. This week, detectives coordinated with officers of the Southwest Precinct bicycle unit and the Southwest Precinct Anti-Crime Team in an attempt to locate and apprehend the suspect.
On Monday afternoon July 1st at about 4 pm, the suspect was located by those Southwest Precinct officers at a coffee shop at California Avenue SW and Fauntleroy Way SW. The suspect was taken into custody without incident.
Detectives interviewed the suspect and then booked him into King County Jail for investigation of murder. This remains an active and on-going investigation.
You’ll recall that SPD announced the DNA breakthrough back in January.
ADDED 1:27 PM: We asked SPD a followup question about how they found the suspect; Det. Mark Jamieson says the suspect “was known to frequent West Seattle. Officer spotted him at the coffee shop and came up with a quick plan to arrest him safely.” He is scheduled to appear before a judge this afternoon, and we’ll add any more information that emerges.
ADDED 4:16 PM: Though the suspect is not yet charged in this case, he has a high-profile West Seattle-related conviction on his record, so we are identifying him: Nickolas J. Osborne In March of last year, he set an SPD car on fire while Southwest Precinct officers were taking him to jail after arresting him for harassing Lincoln Park/Lowman Beach visitors. He pleaded guilty to malicious mischief in that case. Since then, records show, he also has served time for threatening people with a knife at a gym in Redmond – two incidents that happened just days after the West Seattle murder. Probable cause was found this afternoon to hold Osborne in lieu of $500,000 bail. We are reading the newest documents and will add any additional new details.
ADDED 4:54 PM: The probable-cause narrative begins by recounting the night of the murder, including “There were many 911 callers who reported seeing or hearing two Hispanic males and a white male yelling at each other on the inland sidewalk in front of the condominiums. One eyewitness heard the white male yell at the Hispanic male that that he hated people with saggy pants.” The three started fighting and it all ended with Jonathan Pecina being fatally stabbed. The other man with him was interviewed by police days later. He is reported to have told them:
They were confronted by a white male walking in the opposite direction. (The witness) would primarily refer to the man as a “Trump Supporter.” When asked what “Trump Supporter” meant, he claimed this person was racist against “Mexicans”. There was no further explanation of his use of the term “Trump supporter”. (The witness) said that the guy started saying “racial sh-t” including “I hate Mexicans”. Torres said they were going to walk off but “the guy kept saying sh-t”. The guy pulled out a knife. Jonathan took off his belt to use in self-defense. (The witness) said he was not wearing a belt (and) denied ever hitting the suspect. He said it all happened very fast but suddenly Pecina was stabbed.
While DNA from a knife sheath found at the scene did not bring up a match last year, this year it did, to Osborne. And, the probable-cause narrative continues, “Database research has revealed that Nickolas Osborne has been the subject of racially charged violent crimes and incidents before and since the murder of Jonathan Pecina.” They include the two we mention above; in the Lincoln Park/Lowman Beach harassment that preceded the poilce-car-torching arrest, Osborne is reported to have been saying he wanted to kill Mexicans and Black people (using a slur for the latter). In the Redmond case days after the Alki stabbing, police note, Osborne “used a knife to threaten a Hispanic male at a gym while muttering about the Illuminati, FBI, and MS-13.”
The document also says he was involved in two Alki incidents this year, a “disturbance” in March in which he was reported to be yelling racist and misogynist slurs both before and after police took him into custody, and one a little more than a week ago in which he allegedly had been pursuing “a Hispanic man” with a knife and was shot with a BB gun, later telling police “he was shot at by ‘border jumpers’ and ‘f—ing Mexicans’.”
Any of those items look familiar? From Julie: “Found these in a bag behind a bush near 21st and Delridge. Includes keys and fob. Contact at jules654 (at) gmail (dot) com if it’s yours.”
Kit reports a garage break-in at the 206 Apartments (California/College):
Wanted to let you know that someone entered the secure garage at my daughter‘s apartment building and ransacked her car. There was nothing valuable kept in the car but they took her garage door clicker. Police report filed, building management notified. Folks in the neighborhood should keep their cars and homes locked up, though. Prowler at work in the area.
From Andrew:
A pink Kent Terra 2.0 kids’ bike was sitting outside of our house (35th + Charlestown area) for a few days – I brought it in to get it out of the rain. I’d love to get this bike back to its owner if they want it.
It’s been abandoned at least a week – another reader reported a sighting last weekend. If it’s yours, let us know and we’ll connect you (as well as advising Andrew to check with police).
FRIDAY: Reader report just in from Lorrie: “Our black 2009 Pilot was stolen last night, sometime between 1-4 am. License plate 908ZRK. We are in the Seaview area, on Raymond St.. It has tinted windows. No bumper stickers or eye-catching identifying marks to make it more noticeable. It did have a Seahawk license plate frame. Please call the police if you see this abandoned anywhere. Thanks.”
SATURDAY: Lorrie reports it’s been found – in Renton, in bad shape.
Two reader reports so far today:
STOLEN CAR: The photo and report are from Joe: “2018 white Honda CR-V stolen in the vicinity of 37th and Findlay area last night (June 27th) between 10:00-11:00 pm. No distinct markings other than the WSU license plate frame.” Call 911 if you see it.
ANOTHER GATEWOOD CAR PROWL: From Alex, “Somebody broke into the car on the street sometime between 10 pm 6/27 & 7 am 6/28. … Went only for the ‘new’ car on the street with out of state plates (Nevada) – this happened to be a rental car because our car is in the shop due to a West Seattle driver blowing through a stop sign a couple of weeks ago. Police Officer did say there was another incident a block or so away.”
(WSB photo)
10 AM: That’s one of the police vehicles that drew a lot of attention (thanks for the tips!) in Arbor Heights this morning, near SW 98th and 41st SW. The operation was wrapping up when we got there and so far all we know is that it was Renton Police serving a warrant. We’re pursuing more details and will update if we get any.
10:26 AM: The Renton PD media liaison tells us all he knows so far is that it was a drug-related warrant.
Both of these reports came in within the past few hours, both from Gatewood:
BIKE BATTERY STOLEN: The crew at Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor) saw someone leap out of this truck, steal the battery off a Lime bike, and take off:
The plate started with C957. No police report # yet.
CAR BREAK-IN: A reader reports a car prowl in the 4300 block of SW Orchard. Preliminary tracking # from SPD online eport: T19002926.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch cases:
BUSINESS BURGLARY: A customer of West Seattle Nursery told us they were burglarized overnight, and we subsequently requested and obtained the police-report narrative. It says the break-in was discovered by an employee arriving early this morning. “Several areas of the nursery had been ransacked,” police wrote in the report, with the burglar(s) gaining entry to the buildings by drilling out/otherwise removing the locks. They left behind a mess, the report says, mentioning “several file cabinets and drawers had been tossed around the offices.” If you have any information for police, the case number is 19-231377.
And two reader reports of vandalized cars:
ADMIRAL: Kevin reports this happened last night:
Frustrated! While eating at Pizzeria 22 (California and College) with the car parked on the street nearby, we got keyed. Deep gouges in front quarter panel. Note on window from a kind witness: “Your car was keyed by blue Subaru YUX—-.” Why do people do this? SPD online report filed….and Mr Subaru— we’re looking for you!
NEAR LINCOLN PARK: Marie reported this last weekend: “The rear window on our SUV that was parked on Faumtleroy near Kenyon was smashed for no apparent reason (besides meanness!) on Sat night or Sunday morning. Car was locked…nothing of value inside…wasn’t even rifled through. Someone just got their jollies by destroying the window (and costing us $ and aggravation).”
One month ago today, Jan’s Beauty Supply in The Junction was burglarized. We didn’t hear about it until a customer mentioned it recently and encouraged them to tell the story, both as a warning and in case it brings in tips. Here’s what we received:
The incident occurred early morning 5/24/2019 between the hours of 3:30 am -5:30 am. (This is an ongoing investigation. Since we are a small business it really hit us hard.)
By use of surveillance cameras we were able to put together that there was a lockbox located in walk-through alcove (if your property management group has one on your building, be aware they can walk right into your building with a key) that was broken into with a rock. They entered the building and kicked in our back door. Proceeded to remove our entire safe.
Overall it was a two-hour process as we feel they knew what they were doing. They left the premises several times to see if a silent alarm was triggered.
Came back and it took them quite a while to remove the entire safe as it weighed over 300 lbs. and was located in an upstairs office which most people don’t even know we have. They used a cart we had in the storage area to wheel the safe out the door. And we ask if anyone who might have heard (because this had to have been very loud going out across the parking lot) to please contact the police if perhaps they saw a vehicle they were loading the entire cart and safe into. The retail portion of the store was untouched. However, with the holiday weekend and having to close bank accounts etc., it really put us behind with business.
We want to say thank you to everyone who was so supportive to us that following week. It took us some time but we are back up and running. We have been here 35 years and never had this happen before. Always a first time. So everyone needs to be aware. A final Thank you to Officer Ross from SPD for being so patient with Maile Hudson as she very slowly pieced together for them step by step what was missing etc. Was disturbing for all of us. All of SPD was great to respond and were so professional. Nice to know they were a phone call away.
If you have any potential tips in the case, refer to incident # 2019-186834.
10:31 AM: Thanks for the tips. West Seattle High School sheltered in place for a while this morning, less than an hour. Seattle Public Schools spokesperson Tim Robinson says it was because of a threat via social media. Seattle Police spokesperson Det. Mark Jamieson says police were initially called around 9 am and are investigating. No other details so far.
1:11 PM: WSHS principal Brian Vance sent this message to families:
I know that there have been a few incidents and media attention the past couple of weeks that have prompted communications home. Unfortunately, we had an incident this morning that I want to share information about. We are sending you this letter to update you on the facts and to assure you that we are doing everything we can to support our students.
This morning, it was reported that one of our students created a social media post with threatening content directed toward our school security team.
We quickly determined that the student who allegedly made the post was not in school at the time.
We worked with SPS security and the Seattle Police and decided to put the school in the shelter-in-place protocol. This happened just after first period began.
The student who allegedly made the threat was contacted by police and was taken into custody.
The shelter-in-place was lifted before the end of first period.
I continue to ask for your partnership in reminding students about safe and appropriate use of social media. Social media can take on a life of its own and comments that are perceived as threats or dangerous are taken seriously and investigated. The outcome and consequence of posts and comments can be unpredictable and has the potential to follow students for years.
Thanks to the parents who forwarded the note.
Join your neighbors to talk about crime prevention, safety, and emergency management at Tuesday’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network meeting, last one before summer hiatus. The agenda includes an update from and Q&A with SPD leaders from the Southwest Precinct, which is where the meeting will happen, 6:30 pm Tuesday (June 25th), 2300 SW Webster. All welcome – Block Watch involvement not required.
2:29 PM: If you’re wondering about the police search in North Delridge, officers are searching after a man reported being robbed while sitting in his car. We haven’t picked up radio communication on exactly where that happened but the robber was reported to have gotten away walking southbound on 26th, and a K-9 team is searching the Delridge Playfield vicinity. The only description we’ve heard for the robber so far is black, male, 17-19 years old, 5’11”, thin build, dark hoodie.
3:14 PM: Still searching.
MONDAY UPDATE: We obtained the report narrative from police. First, the location: It happened in the Delridge Community Center parking lot. The victim told them the robber put a knife to his neck and stole his tablet following what was supposed to be a meetup arranged via Offer Up to buy a speaker. The seller was late. The speaker didn’t work, so the victim refused to buy it. That’s when the seller pulled out a 2.5-inch pocket knife, held it to the victim’s neck, and demanded money. He went through the victim’s pockets, took his phone, then reached into the victim’s car and took the tablet and a speaker, and fled.
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