West Seattle, Washington
29 Tuesday
Make sure nothing’s left in your mailbox overnight; Jay sent this porch-camera clip as a reminder: “Our doorbell camera caught this mail prowler at 6:30 this morning in the North Admiral area (California & Atlantic). Just thought I’d spread the word!”
Earlier this month, we reported that all three teenagers arrested after the September 2017 Westcrest Park murder of 15-year-old Derek Juarez-Lopez had pleaded guilty, and that two had been sentenced. That left 17-year-old Diego Carballo-Oliveros, eventually identified as the one who had fatally stabbed the victim while robbing him. He had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder but his hearing had to be delayed. It was finally held earlier this week and court documents show he was sentenced to a total of 21 years, including a two-year “enhancement” for deadly-weapon use. That’s one year less than prosecutors had recommended. The plea agreement and sentence incorporate an earlier robbery case against the defendant, for which he was still awaiting trial at the time of the murder.
Three reader reports and a reminder:
SUSPECTED LURING ATTEMPT: An employee in a business near Gatewood Elementary shared this via a parent who stopped in the store:
A white male of 5’5, wearing a plaid shirt and khaki pants, tried to lure two children off the bus to his car. He was showing muffins and goodies to get the kids to come with him. They did not go with him and notified their school immediately.
We haven’t found a police-report number yet. 6:28 PM UPDATE: See comments for more info – including the report #, 19-092718, if you have any info for police.
BURGLARY: From Annie, word of a burglary just after noon Thursday near 49th SW and SW Dawson. She shared security video showing two people:
They walk past the camera out front twice at exactly before the break-in happened and when they ran out of the house. They broke in around noon, knocked on the door and waited til my roommate didn’t answer to come in. They continued to try to get into her room when they found out she was locked in there before running out of the house without grabbing anything.
Police report # is 19-091345.
CAR BREAK-IN: From Shawn:
Just letting you know our car window was broken and appears car was prowled, likely last night at Holly & Fauntleroy. … Never had anything like this in 5+ years at our house!! We never leave anything important in it, so I have no idea what they were trying to get.
REMINDER: Your next chance to bring crime/safety concerns to local police is at next Tuesday’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, 7 pm March 19th, Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster), with a guest speaker from the SPD 911 center.
(WSB photo)
8:51 PM: Police are investigating gunfire in The Junction. First they got a report three men were seen “firing a gun” near 44th/Edmunds; now they’re investigating gunshot damage reported to a car. One suspect is reported to have been seen running north on 44th. More to come.
8:56 PM: Police have found a gun in a dumpster behind the west side of the 4700 block of California after a tip. … Now there’s a report one person might be injured “by shrapnel.” Also, Guardian One is helping with the search, and police say they’ve found shell casings. … Police have been told that some suspects might have left the area in a “gray sedan with a burned-out headlight.” They’re also going to block traffic at California/Edmunds.
9:08 PM: Police have told dispatch they’ve found “nine .40 millimeter casings” so far.
9:15 PM: A K9 team is helping search.
9:29 PM: Our crew says police are about to reopen the streets. The air and K9 searches have both dead-ended.
10:21 PM: No further information so far. We’ll be requesting the incident report tomorrow.
ADDED 12:24 PM FRIDAY: Here’s what we’ve learned from police: A 17-year-old saw a car circling his Junction-area house with occupants he suspected were involved in a recent robbery of a relative. He went out and drove after them. He then noticed “a group of males” standing on the corner of 44th/Edmunds and he said someone in that group fired at the car – he reported seeing the muzzle flash, though not the gun, and said bullets hit the driver-side door. Police later found four bullet holes in that door, and nine shell casings in the street at 44th/Edmunds. The group ran northbound; he described them as “five to eight high-school-aged black males, 5’10” to 6″, all but one wearing black hoodies.” He said he suspected they were associated with the vehicle he had been following, described as “a silver sedan with a left taillight out.” A nearby resident, meantime, reported seeing “three or four males” running in the alley between California and 44th; while that witness had no further description information, they saw someone throw something under a dumpster, and that’s where police subsequently found a semi-automatic handgun. A records check showed the gun had been reported stolen in Tacoma. SFD tells us the teen was treated by medics but did not require hospitalization.
Three notes in West Seattle Crime Watch:
TIRE TAKEN: The photo and report are from Brendan:
Came out to my new 2018 Honda Accord on my fifth day of ownership to find it had been hoisted up on cinder blocks overnight and the front passenger tire was gone. Delridge & Trenton. Spoke with a neighbor and they mentioned they actually caught a group of people attempting this on their car in the same area last week – cinder blocks and all – and thwarted it. I was not so lucky.
MAILBOX BREAK-IN VIDEO: This is a followup to Carolyn‘s report from Tuesday, about Highland Park mailbox break-ins. She has since posted and shared this video:
No police-report number yet.
911 AT WSCPC: Community meetings with Southwest Precinct police often include questions about 911 – how it works, why calltakers/dispatchers ask what they do, and more. Bring your questions to next Tuesday’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, 7 pm (March 19th) at the precinct (2300 SW Webster) – a 911 center rep will be the special guest.
In West Seattle Crime Watch today:
BURGLARY INVESTIGATION: Police were out in the 9200 block of 12th SW this morning, looking for a burglar whose loot included a handgun. SPD tells us the burglary was detected by an alarm trip; the resident showed up just as the burglar was running out the door.
MAILBOXES BROKEN INTO: Reader report, received today from Carolyn:
Last night or early this morning, several if not all mailboxes were broke into on 8th Ave SW, between Elmgrove and Thistle. Probably a lot more than just that, but that is all I could confirm on my way out this morning. Also a neighbor in the same vicinity had their car window smashed in. Since 2009, this is the hardest-hit this street has been. I have cameras I will be checking this evening. I want to do my part to get the word out to neighbors, as we have to look out for ourselves.
Carolyn says at least one neighbor has filed a police report; we’ll add the number if/when we get it.
From Norman:
Thursday night or last night, our son’s matte black BMX bike was stolen off our porch. It has been reported to the police. It has whitewall tires and no brakes; he took them off – it’s a bike for doing tricks; we had it shipped from Europe. This happened on the 5600 block of 25th Ave SW.
Please be on the lookout for it.
From Michelle: “My dad’s car was stolen last night/early this morning from the street in front of his house in the Alaska Junction area. It is a 1989 maroon Nissan king cab pickup truck with license plate number B17456G.” She says it looks a lot like the one in this photo. If you see it, call 911.
From Robyn:
I stopped by Our Lady of Guadalupe this morning to attend Ash Wednesday mass on my way to work and unfortunately left my work bag in my car. Car was parked by water towers (SW Myrtle/35th Ave SW). Sometime between 9:05 am and 10 am my car window was smashed and purse taken with laptop and wallet inside. It was a gray canvas tote bag with leather strap. Just thought I’d alert the neighborhood in case anyone finds it dumped somewhere. Police have been notified.
A year and a half after 15-year-old Derek “Peachy” Juarez-Lopez was stabbed to death in Westcrest Park, the case is one hearing away from resolution. We discovered while checking on court files that all three teenagers arrested after the murder have pleaded guilty – though the murder charge was dropped for one who subsequently pleaded guilty to robbery. That’s the motive investigators cite in the murder, saying that the victim was lured into the wooded park so that marijuana could be stolen from him. Here’s what has happened to the three people arrested and charged a month and a half after the murder, all originally charged with first-degree murder:
–Diego Carballo-Oliveros, now 17: He has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He is expected to be sentenced next week; prosecutors are recommending 20 years plus a two-year sentence to follow for deadly-weapon use.
–Elizabeth Cabrera-Aparicio, now 18: She pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, under juvenile prosecution, and has been sentenced to remain in custody until she is 21, another two and a half years.
–Jonatan Islas-Martinez, now 19: The murder charge against him was dropped and he pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery with use of a deadly weapon. This past Monday, at a hearing that court documents say was attended by family and friends of the victim, he was sentenced to five years and five months, the last two years as the “deadly-weapon enhancement.”
The victim was killed one day before he was to start his sophomore year at Chief Sealth International High School, where he was remembered at a vigil less than two weeks later.
The photo and report are from Trevor:
My 2003 Ford Excursion was stolen off 42nd Ave SW between Genesee and Oregon early yesterday morning.
The vehicle is silver, has roof racks with a Thule cargo box, and a decal on the rear window that reads “Santiago Cyclery.”
It’s been reported to police. We’re checking with Trevor for the plate # and will add that when we get it.
Two notes in West Seattle Crime Watch this afternoon:
ADMIRAL ARREST: Multiple inquiries about an arrest near 45th SW/SW Stevens this morning. We don’t have incident details but the Southwest Precinct says it started with a burglary attempt and ended with a suspect being taken into custody. (added) Here are the details via SPD Blotter:
Police took a man into custody after a woman called 911 to report someone was trying to break into her West Seattle home.
A woman called 911 at 8 a.m. Tuesday to report an unknown man had attempted to enter into her home in the 3000 block of 45th Avenue Southwest.
While officers were responding to the address, the woman updated dispatchers and told them the suspect had run down a nearby alley. Officers converged on the address and following a brief foot pursuit, took the 25-year-old suspect into custody.
Officers later booked the suspect into King County Jail for investigation of burglary.
YOUNGSTOWN THEFT: From a reader:
I captured this propane thief on video around noon (Monday). Hoping you can post in case anyone recognizes her. This is the third tank I’ve had stolen in the last year.
10:53 PM: Police including a K9 team are searching in the area of 35th and Raymond. The call started as a reported hit-run crash, with the driver and at least one passenger leaving the scene on foot; then police reported via radio to dispatch that a passenger left behind told them the incident included an “attempted drive-by shooting.” So now police are also looking for those possible suspects in what was described only as a white Buick.
11:01 PM: Via radio – the search is focused on that white Buick, as officers believe the people who left the scene were trying to escape danger. The white Buick is also now described as having dark-tinted windows and one burned-out headlight.
Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:
‘HATEFUL GRAFFITI’: That’s how Lindsay described what she found by Seola Pond over the weekend:
We cropped the photo; the post/box is defaced with a swastika and a word/name that contains “white.” That area is on the city/county line so Lindsay was looking into reporting it to both jurisdictions: “Very disturbing in our family-friendly little neighborhood.”
CAR/CARPORT PROWLS: Also in Arbor Heights, as reported by James:
We had thefts from our cars and our carports, as did our neighbors who live right behind us. Our cars are parked off the street but were not locked (I know, we learned our lesson).
The contents taken: several jackets (north face, etc), boots, a bike from our neighbors, a few other items (and we’re still trying to figure out if there’s more). Just a good reminder for people in our area. … It could have been worse – they were nice thieves – they left all of the jackets/gloves of our 2-year-old son. So there’s that positive to take from this.
Something to share via West Seattle Crime Watch? Once it’s reported to police, email us at we*************@***il.com – thank you!
The photo is from Nancy, reporting that another of the 25+-year-old murals in The Junction has been vandalized: “I wake up each morning to look at this awesome mural and this morning when I pulled up the blinds, this is what I saw. How disappointing.” The mural on the parking-lot-facing north side of the building at 4520 44th SW depicts a scene at the swimming hole that preceded Colman Pool on the shore at Lincoln Park; the vandalism is tagging done in white paint on the swimming-hole midsection of the mural. This is one of the murals that community volunteers hope to be able to restore, with an ongoing fundraising campaign. Meantime, the West Seattle Junction Association has been made aware of the vandalism, and we will follow up next week.
Thanks to the readers who messaged us, wondering about a police response in High Point. They mentioned seeing officers in multiple locations, so we went looking around and found police near 34th/Graham. They told us this was related to a stolen car and suspects being taken into custody who might be linked to robbery cases. That’s all we have in the early going; we will have to follow up tomorrow to get full details.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 9:34 AM: Thanks for the tips. Gatewood Elementary briefly sheltered in place this morning – it was over before we even could confirm it, and now we have details. Seattle Public Schools spokesperson Tim Robinson tells WSB, “Around 7:45 am today, a crossing guard was parking her car in the school parking lot. A woman jumped in and said she had a gun. The crossing guard jumped out, the woman who made the threat took off in the car. Police came and took a report. Just as a precaution, the school was put into shelter-in-place (a step below “lockdown”) as the students and staff were arriving to school. The shelter-in-place was lifted at 8:10 am.” We’re following up with police.
11:56 AM: As is sometimes the case, now that some investigation has ensued, the story is different. The case number finally appeared, categorized as “harassment/threats,” so SPD media relations was able to look it up for us. The car was NOT taken, they say; a woman did threaten to take the car, the victim ran away in fear for her safety, and at some point the person who threatened her left the area and was not found.
That’s some of the damage done by a hit-and-run driver in Highland Park. The photos and report are from Eric:
My car and 2 others were hit between 5 pm and 9 pm Saturday night on 9th Ave SW just south of Kenyon. Our car was the middle one, the Toyota Highlander. Still having trouble grasping how they hit the three cars how they did. Looks like there is white paint rubbed off on our car. Hit the red car first and somehow popped both tires. Then hit our car hard enough to push it up on the curb. Then the back corner of the Lexus.
Police incident # is 2019-068679.
2:20 PM: We’re at the King County Courthouse, where 40-year-old Ryan J. Cox has just been sentenced to 5 years in prison for stabbing a man in Gatewood in August 2017.
(August 2017 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Superior Court Judge Susan Amini presided at the sentencing. Though the victim could not be at the hearing, a victims’ advocate read a lengthy letter he had written, saying Cox “should never be able to be free” after trying to kill him. The judge mentioned receiving a number of other letters from the victim’s family and friends.
Cox pleaded guilty last month to an enhanced version of the original second-degree-assault charge. The sentence ordered by Judge Amini is what prosecutors recommended, categorized in court documents as an “exceptional sentence” – four years in prison, plus one year after that for using a deadly weapon. Cox’s lawyer, meantime, filed a brief just before today’s sentencing, asking for a six-month sentence, the low end of the “standard” range, saying Cox “is trying to overcome his past difficulties and to better prepare himself to deal with these challenges in his future.” At the hearing, Cox contended the stabbing was in self-defense and expressed anger after the judge announced her decision.
As detailed in this WSB followup in 2017, Cox has a high-profile criminal history in the community, but mostly misdemeanors, which is what made this sentence “exceptional.” We recorded this afternoon’s hearing and will add video and details later.
5:15 PM: Video now added atop this story.
ADDED 9:04 PM: Here is our recap of the hearing:
Two notes in Crime Watch this midday:
1ST AVENUE S. BRIDGE SHOOTING: Reported this morning via SPD Blotter:
Gang Unit Detectives are investigating after a man was shot in the leg while driving over the 1st Avenue South bridge.
Officers were approached by an 18-year-old man in the 2600 block of South Holly Street at 1:20 a.m. Friday where he showed them a gunshot wound to his calf. The victim said he had been driving when he heard several shots and a single round entered the vehicle through the driver’s side door striking him in the leg. The victim was unable to provide any suspect description to officers.
Seattle Fire Department Medics transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Gang Unit Detectives are now investigating and are asking anyone with information to please call the tip line at 206-233-5000.
No indication if there’s any suspected link to earlier shootings reported further south on Highway 509.
CAR PROWLER ON CAMERA: The video and report are from Alex in Sunrise Heights:
We live near 32nd and Kenyon and have had our car prowled twice in the last couple weeks; one happened early at 930 pm. Both of these happened in our alley way. Wanted to … warn people and remind them to be safe and be on the lookout!
As reported here in West Seattle Crime Watch coverage, police investigated two armed robberies over the weekend. Today, we obtained the police-report narratives with details on both, while confirming that no one’s been arrested yet in either robbery:
SOUTH DELRIDGE: This holdup on Sunday night was a street robbery, according to the police report. The victim approached an officer in the 9000 block of Delridge Way SW around 10:42 pm Sunday night to say he had been robbed at gunpoint “a block or so south.” The officer drove south and spotted a suspect at 20th/Cambridge who refused to stop and kept his hand in a position that had police suspecting he was holding a gun. Eventually this turned into a foot pursuit but officers lost track of the suspect around 17th/Cambridge, and the ensuing K9-included search didn’t lead to an arrest. The victim told police that the robber got away with his iPhone.
(Saturday night photo by WSB’s Christopher Boffoli)
35TH/AVALON SALON: You might recall the description we published after this Saturday night holdup included an umbrella. The narrative adds one more detail – the 40ish robber held that umbrella in front of his face. The officer who wrote the report began by noting Salon Maison (4435 35th SW) “did not appear to have been robbed as patrons were still getting their hair styled” but then spoke with a witness who described herself as “in shock.” She told police the robber -who came in around 5:30 pm – showed a “silver handgun with brown or wood grip” and said, “I’m sorry to do this but I need all your money.” He took all the cash in the register except what police noted were “several $1 bills.” At least one surveillance camera caught an image that appeared to be the robber – umbrella and all.
That’s Sascha‘s teal-color 1993 Honda Accord wagon, stolen sometime Sunday night/Monday morning near Alki Avenue SW/60th Avenue SW. Plate number BDJ4620, bumper stickers for The Beer Junction and Lake Chelan Mountain View. If you see it, call 911.
10:48 PM: Big police response in, and headed toward, South Delridge, after a reported armed robbery. We haven’t heard who was robbed or exactly where but the 9000 block of Delridge Way SW was mentioned. An officer who at one point had a suspect in sight described him via radio communication as a black male teenager, 5’11”, 180, hoodie, bright-orange beanie, handgun. A K9 team is joining the search.
10:59 PM: The description has changed the suspect’s estimated weight from 180 to 130 and honed the age to around 17 years old.
11:21 PM: Still searching.
12:11 AM: Still an active search, and it’s ranged quite a distance from the original scene. By the way, if you wondered about the bursts of sirens, here’s an explanation from an incident a few months ago.
1:01 AM: The search has wound down, no one reported in custody. We’ll follow up on incident details when the written report is available, which probably won’t be before Tuesday.
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