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.

Reader report from TD – a car break-in west of The Junction:

My Subaru Outback was gone through sometime last night. I thought I had locked it, but the battery is going out in my key fob and it might not have locked when pressed.
Nothing damaged and I don’t keep enough valuable stuff in the car for it to be much of a haul… a cheap cellphone auto charger, roll of dog poo bags, pair of cheap binoculars for bird watching and 1/2 book of stamps were the most valuable, along with some random papers, maps and a small notebook with non important information in it. The biggest concern is that they got my auto registration papers and owner’s manual, which I will have to replace.

This happened “in the alley between 46th and 47th, Oregon and Alaska,” and a police report has been filed.

Three notes in West Seattle Crime Watch:

CAR PROWLS: Two at one Fauntleroy home, according to this texted report: “Both of my cars were rummaged through in the early morning hours (Feb. 12). Doesn’t appear anything was taken. This was at 45th & Director.”

SUSPECTED PACKAGE THEFT: Another reader wanted to warn North Admiral neighbors about a suspected package thief. They were out shoveling snow when an older white Toyota pickup pulled up, with a “young woman … about 5’5″, long straight brown hair, with jeans tucked into her boots” got out, walked south, returned from the north a few minutes later with a package in hand, “and quickly got into her truck and drove off when she saw me. … I reported it to SPD.
Neighbors be on the lookout.”

Some court-case delays because of the snow, most notably:

RYAN COX SENTENCING RESCHEDULED: As reported here, Ryan J. Cox pleaded guilty last month to second-degree assault for stabbing a man in Gatewood in October 2017. His sentencing was originally set for last Friday, February 8th, but courts closed early because of the snow and he’s now scheduled to be sentenced on February 22nd.

Thanks to the texter who reported: “I’m having lunch at the Morgan Junction Subway and found out that they were (burglarized) last night. Broke through the back door, which was being repaired while I was there. Terrible to think thieves are taking advantage of businesses during the snowstorm.” We don’t have other details but the SPD Twitter log confirms the burglary report.

(1/26/2019 SDOT cam framegrab showing investigation scene)

ORIGINAL REPORT, 10:12 AM: A reader asked what ever happened in the case of the deadly shooting aboard a C Line bus while it was stopped in SODO two weeks ago. We found that the victim had been identified – 51-year-old Ronnie Tyler – but the status of the 88-year-old man accused of shooting him hadn’t been reported. So we checked with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and discovered that they have filed a charge of first-degree manslaughter, with use of a deadly weapon, against Roger Mize. Here’s what the court documents allege happened:

… (At 11:12 am Saturday, January 26) suspect Roger Mize and victim Ronnie Tyler boarded a northbound King County Metro bus at 4th Ave. S. and S. Walker … The bus was equipped with multiple video cameras. A review of the video recording shows the following:

Suspect Mize boarded the bus first, while victim Tyler was behind him. Tyler stood behind Mize, and began to walk up the stairs of the bus to board, as Mize put money into the pay box. Mize then proceeded to walk back past the driver, as Tyler stood behind him. Mize continued to walk toward the seating area, and was approximately three feet or so past the driver’s seat. At that point, Tyler attempted to move around, to the right of Mize.

As Tyler moved past Mize, Mize pushed Tyler with his right hand and stated “get away from me, you dumb m—– f—–.” Tyler turned his attention to Mize, as Mize began to back up toward the front of the bus. Tyler replied to Mize, “What’d you call me?” Tyler started to nudge and push Mize backward with his left forearm. As that was happening, Mize turned his back to Tyler while he reached inside his front left jacket pocket and retrieved his pistol. Tyler then gave Mize a harder push, which jolted Mize forward and toward the front steps of the bus. It should be noted that this occurred simultaneous to the bus moving forward. Mize did not fall or lose his footing, but stumbled forward. Mize turned around and faced Tyler and then there was an approximate 2- to 3-second pause where both men simply stared at each other.

Without further provocation from Tyler and without warning, Mize forcefully struck Tyler twice in the face and head with the pistol (pistol whipped). The bus stopped at this point and the bus driver attempted to verbally stop the altercation. After absorbing the second blow by Mize, Tyler began to reach toward Mize, in what appears to be an attempt to stop him from hitting him. At that time, Mize delivers a third blow with his pistol to Tyler’s face/head. After the third strike, Mize fired his pistol, striking Tyler in the lower right abdomen. Tyler continued toward Mize, and pushed him out of the front doors of the bus. As Mize fell backward out of the bus, he fired a second shot (a fired bullet was later recovered by police from the pay box of the bus). Tyler collapsed onto the stairs of the bus and onto the ground.

Tyler died at Harborview Medical Center, which is also where Mize was taken. Detectives interviewed him there the next day. The court documents say he alleged that the victim had been hostile toward someone else at the bus stop, and that once they clashed on the bus, he felt he had to shoot Tyler because he was much younger and bigger. After that, the court document notes that Mize was arrested in another shooting incident five years ago in which he shot another man in the abdomen after some kind of altercation. No charges were filed because of a lack of witnesses and “objective evidence”; the man he shot survived. (We found this Seattle Times report about the case.) As for this case, Mize is scheduled to be arraigned on February 14th; as of the filing earlier this week, he was described as “receiving inpatient rehabilitation services at a care facility”; prosecutors wrote that they were not requesting bail “(g)iven the defendant’s current physical condition and his age.”

7:46 PM: Since publishing the story this morning, we’ve learned that Seattle Police are seeking an Extreme Risk Protection Order to temporarily prevent Mize from possessing guns. (ERPOs were explained at last month’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting.) In the document seeking the order, police say he has a valid concealed-pistol license and at least one gun, a .38-caliber revolver bought last April. Besides the two cases mentioned above, they say that he was arrested in Everett – where he lives, according to what’s listed as his “last known address” – for pulling a gun on a man last November. A temporary ERPO was granted at a hearing this week and a permanent one will be considered at a hearing later this month.

We’ve published West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports before about gym-locker thefts. This one, reported by Linh, led to the theft of her car:

Be on the lookout for a silver 2007 Lexus RX. license #AOE7002, that was taken last night between 7 pm-9 pm at the gym [LA Fitness]. They got into my locker in the women’s locker room. Took my gym bag including my car keys inside. It was a nylon black North Face tote. I always carry it with me with my clothes. … Hopefully someone saw something last night in the parking garage or has any information. Thank you.

If you see the car, call 911.

From the “dumped and likely stolen” file. George sent the photo:

“In the alley between 37th and 38th SW just south of Morgan St.” is where George found it.

If you know whose basketball that is, EB would like to get it back to its owner. He sent the photos and reports, “My car was broken into last night. The thieves left behind a scarf and basketball with initials PIR. The car was parked in the alley driveway behind 36th Ave SW between Graham and Raymond.”

Nothing was stolen from him – but those items were left behind. Yours? Contact us.

(August 2017 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

Earlier this week, we reported that it appeared a plea bargain was in the works for Ryan Cox, the 40-year-old repeat offender who’s been in jail since his arrest for stabbing a man in Gatewood almost a year and a half ago. (Our report on the August 2017 charges details what the victim told police and what they found the night of the crime.) Today, court documents confirm a plea agreement, but with a twist: Cox has pleaded guilty to not a reduced charge, but an upgraded charge. He was originally charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. The amended version of that charge to which he pleaded guilty Thursday has an additional enhancement (“aggravating circumstance” under state law), that “… the injuries of the victim of the current offense substantially exceeded the level of bodily harm necessary to satisfy the elements of the crime.” While the documents note that the “standard” sentencing range for second-degree assault is six to 12 months, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is recommending what is categorized in court documents as an “exceptional sentence” – four years in prison, plus the 12-month consecutive sentence for use of a deadly weapon. Cox’s sentencing hearing is set for two weeks from today, 1 pm Friday, February 8th, before King County Superior Court Judge Susan Amini, who has final say on the sentence.

BACKSTORY: While Cox has a long criminal history, dating back to age 17, his convictions are almost all misdemeanors, including the homophobic-graffiti vandalism that first brought him to public attention in 2009. His only felony conviction was the result of a 2013 plea bargain in an assault/malicious harassment incident in 2012. The rest of his long involvement with the criminal-justice and mental-health systems is detailed in this WSB story from the day after the 2017 stabbing.

Almost a year and a half after repeat offender Ryan J. Cox was arrested and charged with stabbing a man in Gatewood, the case may again be on the verge of resolution. His omnibus (trial readiness) hearing has been postponed twice in the past week; the document filed today says, “Parties have a resolution with all terms finalized” and that Cox is expected to enter a plea Thursday. Nothing’s final, of course, until it actually happens: Last July, as reported here, there was also word of a “resolution” but it fell through; today’s document also notes, “Parties will be asking for a continuance if case does not resolve.” Cox has been in jail since the night of August 8, 2017, when he was arrested after allegedly stabbing another man, and himself. We detailed his criminal history in this followup the next day.