West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
One Saturday night in July of last year, a pickup truck sped through a red light on southbound Delridge Way at Kenyon, hit an SUV (its wreckage is at right), and rolled. 43-year-old Michael Fisher was thrown from the truck and died at the scene; another passenger was hurt, as was the SUV’s driver. The pickup’s under-the-influence driver, 44-year-old William Edmon, was arrested that night and has since pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment. We just discovered it in a periodic check of ongoing case files; the plea was entered in late May. Edmon has a long record, as reported here when he was charged last year, including 13 instances of driving with a suspended license, three DUI cases, and cases including inattentive driving, ignition-interlock violation, reckless driving, property destruction, harassment, hit-and-run, malicious mischief, plus several “failure to appear” charges along the way. Because of his record, prosecutors are recommending a prison sentence that would total 160 months – just over 13 years – with 72 of those months as a “DUI enhancement.” The sentencing is scheduled for July 25th, postponed from a date last month so the victim’s relatives can be present.
Four months after regional media first reported allegations that three people – including two off-duty Seattle firefighters – attacked a homeless man downtown, the City Attorney’s Office has filed criminal charges, and court documents confirm that one defendant is a West Seattle resident.
The incident happened in March at the Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Occidental Park downtown.
(Photo added – SPD still investigating as of just before 5 pm)
2:36 PM: Police are investigating a report of shots fired in the 9400 block of 15th SW (map). No reports of anyone being hit/injured; radio communication monitored via scanner says it’s believed to have involved some kind of argument between people in a car and people on foot – we haven’t heard whether the shots came from the former or latter.
3:23 PM: Police reported finding at least one shell casing.
4:13 PM: Now there’s word someone WAS hit and wound up at Valley Medical Center – just tweeted by SPD, which says the victim has non-life-threatening injuries.
4:56 PM: Just talked to police at the scene. The man previously reported as hit was in the car involved in the incident, which took him directly to a hospital, and that’s why there was no medic callout. Separately, a stray bullet hit a parked van behind a local business (The Live Butcher – photo added below).
No one was in the van and no one was hurt by that bullet, nor was the business itself affected. And as we write this update, an SPD Blotter post has just been published, saying a woman in the car was “grazed” by a bullet in addition to the man who was shot in the leg. Police are still on the scene looking for witnesses.
12:18 PM: We don’t have an official count – and probably won’t be able to get one before Monday – but multiple people have reported multiple tire-slashings along 48th SW in the Seaview area overnight. Heading over just now for a look, we found the vehicle above – a neighbor, figuring out what to do about his own tire-slashed vehicle, said the SUV’s owner was off making arrangements; Doug had sent a photo earlier of that same SUV before the vandalized tires were removed, and said he saw four others plus a police officer talking to someone. This was near 48th/Juneau; a commenter reported being hit near 48th/Findlay. Even if some have already reported it, the more individual reports in the system, the better, so if it happened to you, please do file a report – you can even do it online.
3:01 PM UPDATE: We’ve heard estimates of more than 30 cars vandalized in this incident. Some neighbors are starting up a fund with a reward for information leading to the person(s) who did it. Several neighbors also have responded to our request for additional photos – this one just in, with the tipster noting, “Our poor neighbor’s car – all 4 tires”:
Chris sent several pictures, including his own Mustang and, below right, a vehicle you can’t help but notice any time you drive that stretch of 48th, which is a minor arterial:
4:17 PM UPDATE: And more:
Here’s the e-mail set up for reward-fund contributions and tips on who did it:
paybackforpunks@gmail.com
The neighbor who set it up says, “Anonymity will be respected. If we get a link to or screenshots of someone tweeting about the deed, I think that will be sufficient evidence. I’m hoping the punks posted some bragging-rights pics of their handiwork.” Note that police have taken reports, so you can contact them too.
ADDED: There’s now a GoFundMe account for reward-fund donations – find it here.
P.S. A reminder from police – if you live ANYWHERE in this area and have a security/surveillance camera, please check it if you haven’t already – it might have recorded a clue, if not an actual crime, but some cameras don’t store images for long.
Two strong-arm robberies this week in West Seattle both ended with the victims reported being assaulted and being robbed of their smartphones. Both happened in local parks; we obtained police reports for both:
HAMILTON VIEWPOINT PARK, MONDAY NIGHT: Police were called to the park in North Admiral at 10 pm Monday night. The two victims told police they were in the grassy area of the park, kicking around a soccer ball, when three people approached them and asked if they could play too. They did, for about 10 minutes, and the victims decided to sit down to rest. At that point, the report says, one of the other three yelled “You’re getting robbed!” and all three attacked the first two, punching and kicking them, and then stealing personal belongings that had been on the ground nearby. As they got away, the three attacker/robbers dropped everything but one victim’s iPhone. The report says they left in what looked like a blue late ’90s or early ’00s blue BMW. The three were described as males – one white, 6 feet tall, 170 pounds, medium-length blonde hair, baggy clothing; another dark-skinned, “possibly East African,” 5’11”, 150 pounds, with a flat-top haircut; the other black with a medium complexion, 6’3″, 230 pounds, short shaved hair. Seattle Fire was called to check out the victims’ injuries; one was described as having a swelling on his jaw “the size of a golf ball.” Police did not find the robbers.
ROXHILL PARK, TUESDAY NIGHT: This call came in to police at about 10:41 pm Tuesday. The victim said he was jumped while walking southbound on the north-south trail in Roxhill Park, just south of the bus stop in the 2700 block of SW Barton. Both robbers hit and kicked him before taking two smartphones from him, an iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy. He told police he recognized the two because they had been riding the bus with him from downtown all the way to Westwood, and that he had seen them often on Route 120 and on RapidRide Line C. Police did not find these robbers either; the victim described them as black, about 16 years old, both wearing black T-shirts and sweatpants (one orange, one black).
Remember the car stolen from Queen Anne, found upside down in the water off Emma Schmitz Overlook?
(Photo republished with permission of Beach Drive Blog)
That’s the photo from Beach Drive Blog‘s original report early Sunday morning, June 22nd. We followed up with Seattle Police and Parks the next day and published this story. Right after the crarsh, Parks didn’t find noticeable seawall damage, but on second look, that assessment has changed. Update today from Parks spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad:
The crews who maintain the parks couldn’t tell if there was damage, but when our engineers went out there, they definitely found some. Please see attached pictures.
We are going to truss up the wall with structural steel as a temporary measure as we await a full replacement. We have been working with the Army Corps of Engineers for some time on a replacement project, and we expect that the replacement will happen sometime within the next two to three years.
BDB reported on the replacement plans back in April.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Exactly one week has now passed since one of the four “Walking on Logs” sculptures was discovered missing, but there’s still no word of breakthroughs in the case.
The theft was discovered when volunteers from the Walking on Logs Landscape Restoration Group and Kiwanis Club of West Seattle arrived at the site alongside the Fauntleroy end of the West Seattle Bridge last Saturday morning for cleanup and weeding. (Here’s our first report, from last Saturday night.) The sculpture was severed above the foot that had balanced atop a “log,” as shown in our top photo (from Friday), leaving behind these three:
It’s not the first public-art theft in West Seattle; the Rotary Viewpoint Park totem-pole heist of 2009 comes to mind, as do years of vandalism/theft incidents targeting the original Alki Statue of Liberty.
But the Dancing on Logs site has had other challenges. First, some history: The four bronze “dancing children” by renowned artist Phillip Levine of Burien were installed in 1996. Following up on the installation’s history and context over the past week, we learned that Clay Eals, executive director of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, interviewed Levine on video just last month, out at the sculpture site, with traffic whizzing by. He and Levine agreed that this unedited interview could be published as part of our followup:
He talks about location as well as the inspiration for the “sheer joy” exuded by the sculptures’ pose. (You can see more of Levine’s work here.) Eals also recorded video of each of the sculptures – starting with the one that is now gone (also visible behind Levine during much of the interview above):
Eals then photographed Levine with Earl Cruzen, who made the Murals of West Seattle project happen – that’s what the statue was part of, confirmed Calandra Childers of the city Office of Arts and Culture, noting that “the whole project was funded from matching-fund grants from both King County and from Department of Neighborhoods. SDOT allowed the artwork in the right of way with the understanding that the community would maintain the artwork.”
In Eals’ May photo below, that’s Levine at left, Cruzen at right, and the now-stolen sculpture at top left:
Cruzen, now 93, took care of the sculptures’ site often singlehandedly until four years ago, when Nancy Driver of Fairmount spearheaded the organization of what became the Walking on Logs Landscape Restoration Group, as reported here in March 2010. Volunteer cleanups organized since then have not drawn much response. Driver got a few volunteers from the Kiwanis Club for the one last Saturday.
The theft of one of the sculptures might lead to renewed attention for the site’s plight. The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce has long been accountable for giving permission for nonprofits to display messages there, and board president Nancy Woodland tells WSB:
The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce has been calendaring the Walking on Logs decorations for years. Local non-profits schedule time to dress the statues to promote activities that support the local community. The Chamber is now committed to stepping up that involvement to help support the dedicated work of others including Nancy Driver, the Department of Neighborhoods, SDOT, and SPU to maintain the site. We’re exploring all options for involvement but are hopeful that our membership of business owners will step in to help with clean-up efforts bi-annually at a minimum. This is a first impression of our amazing community and we want to help make it a good one.
Right now, though, the search is still on for the missing sculpture. Here’s another look:
(WSB file photo by Christopher Boffoli)
If you have any information about what happened to it and/or where it is, you can call 911 – mention case number 14-198308 – or contact the Southwest Precinct at 206-733-9800. Its burglary/theft detectives are handling the case, according to the SPD spokesperson with whom we last checked.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
This edition of our periodic feature The WSBeat contains summaries written from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers – generally cases that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block?” Or on the bridge, or the beach, or …
*On the afternoon of the 20th, firefighters asked for a “fast backup” from officers as they dealt with a patient in the 7500 block of 32nd SW. Officers found the 38-year-old lying on his back, yelling and growling, with “about half a dozen medics and officers holding him down.” The man had fought with firefighters and injured one by grabbing and crushing his upper arm, breaking the skin in three places. The suspect, who has a history of drug-induced “excited delirium” incidents, was transported to Harborview. Officers are recommending that the suspect be charged with assault.
*On the 18th, in the 2800 block of 36th SW, a man took up residence inside a small cabinet discarded {“Free!”) on a corner. He provided incoherent answers to officers’ questions, and they felt it was best he be taken to Harborview for a mental evaluation–plus, they were concerned he might die (from “positional asphyxiation”) if he accidentally fell asleep inside the cramped quarters.
*On the 16th, Arbor Heights residents asked that officers check on the wellbeing of an elderly neighbor whom they had not seen for about a week. Officers noticed a full mailbox and papers on the porch. Getting no response to knocks, they decided to make a forced entry. They found the 77-year-old woman in the bathtub — alive — but gasping and unable to speak. It appeared she had been stuck for several days. She was transported to Harborview for care.
Ahead, eight more summaries, starting with two cases of predatory behavior:
(WSB photos by Christopher Boffoli)
11:30 PM: Police and fire are rushing to a report of a 20-year-old man stabbed at/near 61st/Alki. That’s all we know so far.
11:38 PM UPDATE: From the scanner (our crew is still en route), the victim is reported to have been stabbed in the thigh.
11:44 PM UPDATE: In medical communications, the wound is described as to the “right flank” and the victim is now described as 23 years old.
12:08 AM UPDATE: Police at the scene told us the stabbing happened when two groups of people started fighting/arguing. One person is being held for questioning.
8:59 PM UPDATE: The comment discussion has included reports that 911 was called even before the stabbing and told that trouble was brewing, and concerns about the response time. We inquired this morning with SPD and received a response this evening from Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske, who has spoken at multiple community meetings recently (including the Block Watch Captains’ Network this past Tuesday) about the precinct’s Alki plan.
“We dispatched the call pretty quickly, but between travel time and getting the officers together to go in as a team it took about 8-10 minutes to get there and exert control over the event. They wanted to go in as a team due to the number of people involved in the fight. There was one subject who was stabbed in the abdomen; we did some interviews but we do not have a suspect in custody yet.
We did not have foot officers on scene [before the event]; they are currently working 1400 to 2200 Friday and Saturday [at Alki] as that is when we have experienced the largest crowds.”
No word on the condition of the victim in last night’s stabbing; without a name, the hospital won’t release information to the media.
Two cases in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight – first, a warrant arrest in a very public place:
ARREST AT IN MORGAN JUNCTION: A reader sent that photo, asking if we knew why police “swooped in” on a car by the Morgan Junction McDonald’s and arrested a man who was one of two people inside. We have confirmed it was 43-year-old Bryan Tiedeman, a repeat offender whose case came up briefly at last night’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting. Court records show a warrant out for his arrest since last Monday for failing to appear for a hearing that day. It’s the same case reported here last December, involving stolen-car-related charges; court documents said at the time that Tiedeman had been booked into the King County Jail 34 times, for 59 warrants, in 20 years. He also has been charged in another case since then, involving a car stolen in SeaTac and found in May near the house where the police report says Tiedeman lives, near Lincoln Park; after 17 days in jail related to that, court documents show, he was released to the day-reporting program known as CCAP. The warrant sets his bail at $75,075.
ALKI INCIDENT: An Alki-area woman wanted to sound the alarm about an incident that happened to someone she knows late last Thursday night. She says the victim, in her twenties, was walking on Alki Avenue by 61st SW around 11 pm when a man “lunged” at her and “chased her three blocks … yelling obscenities at her and telling her he was going to ‘get her’,” until she found a restaurant open near 59th/Alki and ducked inside for safety. The man is described only as 5-10, early 30s, African-American, shoulder-length black dreadlocks, and the victim thought she had seen him before in the area. She was not harmed but did file a report with police. Side note from the victim’s friend: “She tried to wave down two different cars that passed her in the street and neither car stopped, or even slowed to help.”
As promised, Mayor Murray convened the City Council this afternoon for a speech about public safety, and declared his intent for this to be a “Summer of Safety.” You can see video of his speech above, and read the full text (as prepared) here. The mayor acknowledged, “After years of fragmentation and disorganization, our city today faces a crisis of confidence in public safety,” while also asserting that “public safety is not something provided to the community by the government.” Among the action steps he promised were “creation of a joint enforcement team to ensure that across City departments we have a coordinated response to chronic nuisance businesses and property owners who create hotspots for crime and disorderly behavior – and who disrupt the quality of life in our neighborhoods.” He also announced plans for community walks to identify specific problems in such hotspots and get them fixed, starting in Central/Southeast Seattle. This document lists other points of the “Community Safety Strategy” he outlined, such as directing new Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole “to deliver a Community Safety Plan for every neighborhood.”
Continuing to followup on incidents that made news over the weekend – Seattle Police confirm the empty car that went into the water off Emma Schmitz Viewpoint on Beach Drive (map) was stolen. Beach Drive Blog not only reported the incident early Sunday (photo at right is republished with their permission) but also, based nearby, was on the scene before authorities, and checked in case anyone was in the car. According to the official SPD report, the car was stolen from a Queen Anne man who didn’t even know it was missing until an officer showed up at his house, but said he had left his keys inside it. The SPD report says the ignition key was found inside the car, which was locked with its windows rolled up when found upside down in a foot of water. Police believe the car was pushed off the embankment but haven’t found any witnesses yet. Later Sunday morning, BDB published aftermath photos and reported potential seawall damage; we have an inquiry out to Seattle Parks today to see if they have assessed the site yet to find out if repairs will be needed. (Earlier this year, BDB reported city plans for a new seawall there next year.)
(Photo republished with permission of Beach Drive Blog)
9:21 AM: If you heard and/or saw the early morning commotion off Beach Drive – a car went into the water, according to Beach Drive Blog, which reports nobody was inside. The BDB report says a concrete block was found in the car, possibly used to weigh down the gas pedal and “launch” the car into the water off the embankment. Stolen car? No word so far; we’ll follow up.
9:38 AM: Since no official police information is available so far, we asked the BDB team if the car had been towed from the water – Rhonda confirms it was (and has published a followup with dayilght aftermath photos).
When Nancy Driver and the Walking on Logs Landscape Restoration Group got out to the famous bridge-side sculptures for cleanup work this morning, they made a startling discovery – one of the sculptures is missing, apparently stolen, nothing left behind but its foot, the rest of the sculpture cleanly sawed off:
Nancy reported it to police, and is hoping someone saw something – perhaps a resident in one of the nearby homes on the other side of the fence, along the spur of Fauntleroy. She and the other volunteers who maintain the area hope to get the city to keep the area clearer for line-of-sight reasons too. But in the meantime, the question is – who stole one of the dancing-children sculptures by Phillip Levine that have been at the site for 18 years? Here’s a WSB file photo by Christopher Boffoli:
Call 911 if you think you’ve seen it.
6:28 PM: From Jessica via the WSB Facebook page:
Our 2002 Suzuki Hayabusa was just stolen in the last 3 hours from the back alley of 35th Ave between Andover and Dakota. License plate 0A5253. Waiting on officers now, please be on the lookout!
If you spot it, call 911.
7:27 PM: An update from Jessica – they found it:
My husband found it stashed on 34th Ave just a block from our house. It had been stolen, rolled, and parked right on the street, presumably until the thief could come back with a truck. Many thanks to Officer Nicholson for coming out so quickly and taking the report!
The King County Sheriff’s Office deputy jailed and charged Thursday with three felonies is a West Seattle resident. That’s according to the lengthy document charging 49-year-old Darrion Holiwell with promoting prostitution, theft, and a drug violation. The charges filed against him Thursday have been widely reported in regional media; we obtained the charging papers, which cite a Puget Ridge address for Holiwell, identified as a SWAT team member and as KCSO’s lead firearms instructor, as well as owner of a private business that “specializes in firearms training, tactical training, and the sale of tactical equipment.” That business, the charging documents say, took Holiwell and his wife to Las Vegas for a trade show in 2012, leading to a discussion of her possibly working there as an exotic dancer, something she had done elsewhere before. That in turn eventually led to her working from a South King County condo as an “escort,” it is alleged, even as the Holiwells’ marriage faltered, and that is what he is charged with helping facilitate, as a form of domestic violence against her. Some of the evidence on that charge came from Holiwell’s iPhone, seized when his Puget Ridge home was searched in mid-April as part of the investigation, the court documents say, while simultaneously another warrant was served at the KCSO gun range in Ravensdale, where he was at work.
Other items police say they found at his house in the April search included drugs, mostly steroids and substances used in conjunction with them. And the charging documents make note of what was not found during the search of Holiwell’s house: A “large gun safe” was empty, though that is where unnamed “witnesses” told police he stores his “high-quality personal firearms,” and searchers didn’t find a single gun or round of ammunition anywhere in the house. The theft charge, meantime, involves allegations that Holiwell sold KCSO ammunition and other property, mostly to create an unauthorized “slush fund” of sorts. You can read more about the case in this report from our partners at The Seattle Times, who covered Sheriff John Urquhart‘s Thursday afternoon briefing about this case and an investigation of whether others might be involved. Holiwell has been on leave since mid-April and is jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail, scheduled to answer the charges next month. He was taken into custody Thursday morning at the King County Courthouse downtown, according to the arrest report.
This might be the clue that solves the case of the bicycle rider hit by a driver last month near the east end of the “low bridge,” and left lying in the road, badly hurt. Seattle Police say the hit-run driver would have been in a metallic blue Saturn S series car similar to the one shown above:
After processing evidence found at the scene of a May 22nd crash on Harbor Island, investigators have the type of car driven by a suspect, who struck a cyclist and sped away.
Witnesses found the bloodied and seriously injured cyclist lying in the street at 11 Ave. SW and SW Spokane St around 8:20 PM and called 911.
Seattle Fire Department Medics responded and transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Traffic Collision Investigation (TCIS) detectives also responded to the scene and are investigating the case. Detectives believe the victim was struck while riding westbound along Spokane Street.
After painstaking work identifying vehicle fragments left at the scene, detectives have determined the suspect was driving a Saturn S series car. The car is painted metallic blue and after the crash was missing its passenger side mirror. A section of the bumper was also left at the scene of the crime.
Detectives are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crime or have seen a car matching the description to please call Detective Andrew Norton at (206) 684-8934.
To see more photos – go to the full post on SPD Blotter. Police had already said they believed a metallic-blue car was involved – but this is the first time they’ve publicized further details of the crash that sent 30-year-old John Macy to the hospital.
From the SPD Police Reports map, the icons show burglaries reported over the past week. As you can see, Highland Park had a cluster, Isaac wrote to mention, and we have heard from one of the victims, Chris:
I want to let folks know that our house near 15th and Trenton was broken into (Tuesday) sometime between 10 and 2 p.m. No one was home. Whoever it was gained access through a backyard window that we mistakenly left ajar. We have a dog that usually barks at strangers but it didn’t seem to matter. The thief or thieves took
two 5th generation Nano iPods (one blue and one green) but curiously left other relatively easy-to-steal items behind. They did ransack our bedroom, which included emptying our dressers and closet. It was apparent that they went through our entire house. The police officer felt that from his experience these were kids who were looking for something specific (cash and drugs). Please remind people to make sure all windows and doors are locked.
In addition to the break-in at Chris’s house, here are the reported burglaries to which the icons on the map screengrab refer, north to south:
*Tuesday night, 1600 block of 46th SW
*Sunday afternoon, 4100 block of 52nd SW
*Reported Sunday but happened June 3rd, 3400 block SW Genesee (old substation building)
*2 break-ins early Sunday and early Tuesday, 2600 block SW Andover (WS Athletic Club)
*Tuesday afternoon, 5300 block Beach Drive SW
*Early Tuesday, 7700 block 10th SW
*Sunday evening, 8600 block Delridge Way SW
*Early Tuesday, 8600 block 12th SW
*Reported last Thursday but happened June 9th, 9200 block 2nd SW (unit at Public Storage)
*Saturday afternoon, 10200 block 47th SW
Ahead – stolen mail and stolen car, found:
Read More
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske has a plan for tomorrow – the last day of Seattle Public Schools classes – and he told the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council about it last night during the WSCPC meeting at Lincoln Park.
That and other toplines ahead:
We start with a followup that arrived via the comment section of a Crime Watch story from last weekend – a woman attacked and robbed while walking along Jacobsen Road (south of Me-Kwa-Mooks Park). The details we published last weekend came from her friend. The victim had a detailed description of the attackers’ car; WSB readers offered tips; and then today, a comment including this:
… I’m the one who was attacked by the girls. I want to say a big THANK YOU to whoever called in about the car. I got a call from the detective on the case last week, and he found the driver thanks to that tip. She’s only 17. She’s denying everything, unfortunately, but at least she’s seeing that there will be consequences to her actions. She never did the necessary paperwork when she bought the car, and therefore the police repossessed it. … I am so happy that the police have taken action on this and aren’t letting it go! I obviously won’t get my phone back, but am comforted in knowing that these girls won’t think they can just get away with things like this.
So, again, thank you so much to whoever called in (Jeanine?). Great work!! And I also want to say thank you to Steve and Aria who were both concerned citizens who stopped to help me. Thank God for good people!
Meantime – maybe another good person out there can find the World Cup flag stolen from Liesbet:
My beloved World Cup soccer Holland banner/flag was stolen off my front door railing sometime between 12:30 AM and 9:00 AM (today), in the 3600 block of Beach DR SW. It’s especially alarming as the banner was secured with much rope & knots & tape. Someone had to physically spend some time trying to get it off…right at my front door! It has great sentimental value. Here’s what it looks like:
I will report to police as well. Thank you for any help in finding it…maybe flying on someone else’s balcony??? :-(
11:38 PM UPDATE: Liesbet sent a note to say a neighbor found it heaped on their property. Returned or abandoned by culprits? Whatever the case, she has it back.
(back to original) One more reminder – the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets tonight, 7 pm, NOT in the usual spot; join them at Lincoln Park Shelter 1 (upper area, near the zipline, north of the south parking lot).
Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports. First one’s from Johnali:
Our Bob Revolution jogging stroller (black), was stolen from our secured building between 6:30 pm last night and 7:30am this morning. We live on Delridge and Trenton. Anything would be helpful as we are still hopeful we will find it.
Let police know if you do. Second, Lynn‘s hoping to find the hit-run driver who damaged her car and another one just south of The Junction:
The 2 cars that were hit were parked 1/2 block north of Rite Aid, near a telephone and across the street from a large apartment building construction site (west side of California Avenue, SW). My car is a 2013 gray 4 door Nissan Altima. I do not know the make of the other car that was hit, but its owner told me that her left-side mirror was bent backwards and was missing most of the mirror glass. I didn’t find any paint from the car that hit mine. However, I did find a side mirror on the ground near my car that may have been from the car that hit mine. It appears from the damage my car sustained that the offending car came from the north, which would mean that their car would be missing their right side mirror. I’ve kept the side mirror, just in case.
Third, Kezia wondered if anybody else woke up Sunday morning in the Westwood area to find out their car had been vandalized – a crude drawing in black paint on a white car, in her case.
REMINDER: Bring community concerns to the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council‘s meeting at Lincoln Park Shelter 1 tomorrow (Tuesday) night, 7 pm, map here.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports and an FYI: First, from Kevin, a prowler spotted early this morning:
I’ve called 911 to report it, but wanted to let you know as well in case anyone else in the neighborhood saw or heard anything.
About 6:45 this morning, I heard someone talking outside that seemed too loud to be coming from the street or sidewalk. I got up in time to see a guy just outside my window walking along the edge of the house to the side gate. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and backpack and carrying what appeared to be a metal rod of some sort.
Our house sits on an upslope. He had to climb the hill from the sidewalk to get that close to the house so it was deliberate. I saw him glance in the basement window which is covered by blinds and also check the gate but couldn’t tell if he tried to open it. He then headed to 29th where I lost sight of him but appeared to go south from there.
I did see a patrol car drive by less than 5 minutes after I called 911. This happened at 28th and Webster.
Next, Rich shared a quick video clip of suspected car prowlers in his neighborhood:
Having been a victim of mail theft 3 weeks ago, a car break-in, purse theft and expensive shopping spree 11 months ago, and a car theft 3 years ago, I finally got around to installing a security camera system on my home (6700 block of Murray Ave SW, a poorly lit street). Sunday afternoon, I noticed an empty Coors Light beer bottle in my driveway. I wondered who would have tossed it and checked to see what was recorded. (The) front camera captured images of 10 teen boys prowling cars on my street at 2:30 am Sunday. One is riding a bike and drinking a beer (which he later tosses in my yard). The bike in question appears to have a headlight on it, and looks an awful lot like John‘s stolen Townie Electra in (this WSB post).
I told my neighbor that I had film of her car being prowled, and was informed that it had in fact been broken into, contents rifled, and that the registration and other papers found in the bushes down the street. I would have figured it was a lone prowler or maybe two… but a pack of 10? Knowing this, readers could be on the lookout for suspiciously large packs of teens out late at night, and if they see this type of activity, call the police straight away to investigate.
The :11 above represents the only usable video Rich recovered, but he has since upgraded and tweaked the system so any future visuals will be more extensive.
Third, an FYI: Someone asked via text if repeat offender Ryan Cox is out of jail; they thought they had seen him at Lincoln Park. We checked the jail register and indeed, his most recent sentence expired on Thursday, and he was set free after almost four months. The circumstances were somewhat complicated, as detailed here.
(TOPLINE: Lovett “Cid” Chambers has been sentenced to 11 1/2 years for the shooting death of Travis Hood; as-it-happened coverage below)
2 PM: We are at the King County Courthouse, where the criminal-court judges preside over sentencings on Friday afternoons. This afternoon in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Theresa B. Doyle, the sentencing hearing is beginning for Lovett “Cid” Chambers, the 69-year-old Gatewood man (new photo from today at right) found guilty of manslaughter for the 
January 2012 shooting of 36-year-old Travis Hood (left) outside Morgan Junction Park. We covered every day of the six weeks of testimony in his trial (coverage links here), concluding April 8th with the jury’s verdict. According to a court document filed this week, prosecutors recommend a 13 1/2-year sentence (162 months) including the five mandatory years for use of a gun, with credit for time served (almost 2 1/2 years so far, since the night of the shooting). More than 25 people are in court for the hearing; we will add updates as the proceedings unfold. Two are holding up signs that say “No Jail for Self-Defense.”
(At tables, from left: prosecutors Margaret Nave & Mari Isaacson, SPD Det. Tim DeVore, defense lawyers Lauren McLane & Ben Goldsmith flanking Lovett Chambers)
Chambers is in jail orange – during the trial, he wore street clothes. Defense lawyer Ben Goldsmith begins by asking Judge Doyle to allow Chambers to be unshackled, and she grants the request. A brief moment of tension ensues – the deputies say they can’t do that without consulting a supervisor; they make a call, and say they are cleared.
2:46 PM: We are starting the sentencing coverage itself here – our chronicling of the previous 45 minutes of argument over whether to grant a new trial (a motion just denied by the judge) is now below the jump. The judge notes that she has received many, many letters in support of Chambers – she says she doesn’t believe she’s ever received so many letters in any case.
Prosecutor “Maggie” Nave speaks first, noting that Chambers spent most of 1966 through 1989 in prison for several major crimes, but they don’t count here for various reasons, so his “offender score is 0,” meaning a relatively light sentence, aside from the mandatory 5 years for use of a firearm.
As noted above, she says the state is asking for “high end of standard sentence,” 102 months for the manslaughter conviction, as “the defendant recklessly fired a .45-caliber handgun at the victim … repeatedly … three shots … It’s very likely the first shot was not a fatal shot … if the defendant had stopped at one shot, it’s likely Michael “Travis” Hood would be here today. … The defendant’s actions in this case were extremely reckless” even, she says, if you believe the defendant’s self-defense contention.
“The first thing is that he retrieved his handgun from (his car) … a handgun that he, a convicted felon, was not allowed to possess … (The second thing) is that he followed (the victim and his friend) up the street … when he had so many other options,” such as running into one of the two nearby bars, made a call for help, run down the street in the opposite direction. “He didn’t do any of those things.” And third, “he shot Travis repeatedly – if he had just stopped shooting, things would have been different. And (finally), he did this while (extremely drunk).” (Almost three times the legal limit, it was noted early in the trial.)
She says the facts of a case cited by the defense as grounds for a light sentence are not comparable to this one. She also says the defense is wrong to contend that a standard sentence would be “overly harsh” because of Chambers’ age and because he has been a law-abiding member of the community since the late ’80s. She acknowledges the circumstances the night of the shooting were “complicated.” Regarding the defendant having “precious few years when he gets out” even if only sentenced to 5 years, she says she wants to say on the record that Travis Hood “has no good years left,” and might have had 40 years left if he had not been shot dead. “He has a friend, a mother, a child … his mother and friends had to sit here in court day after die and endure the defense (portraying him as) a racist, violent person.”
3:04 PM: Brenda Hood, Travis’s mother, reads a letter from his daughter, Destiny Williams, 12 when he was killed. It speaks of crying, of counseling, of depression: “I miss my dad with all my heart. I dream about him a lot. I wake up crying. My world was taken away, and it doesn’t seem like anyone cares.” The letter speaks of never seeing her dad again, of not being able to have him walk her down the aisle someday. Brenda Hood now says that she bought her own plane ticket to Seattle twice and also paid tens of thousands for medical and funeral costs for her son. “While Travis won’t be back in this world, I would like to see justice for him. … I’d like to say the defendant showed no remorse throughout the whole trial … didn’t even show any sadness that the shooting had taken place.” She says she won’t forgive him – “only God can forgive him” – that she hopes he dies in jail and “rot(s) in hell.”
Next, Jodie Davis, a friend of Travis Hood’s, who along with the victim’s mother was in court daily throughout the trial.
She shows a photo of him as he prepared to leave Jacksonville for Seattle, and points out he was “the only white person in the photo.” Through tears, she said she thought that Seattle would be a great place for him, and she says she still has no idea what happened that night, and expresses her sadness that she will never see him again. At 3:11 pm, the judge calls for the afternoon recess. The hearing should reconvene by 3:30 pm.
3:29 PM, HEARING RESUMES: “The state wants Mr. Chambers to die in prison for defending himself,” opens defense lawyer Goldsmith. He gets to the point of the N word – and the variant on it that Hood’s friend Davis had used before the break, saying that it was just the way – as Hood’s friend Jamie Vause had testified during the trial – they referred to each other. Goldsmith contends that in any variant, if used by a white person, it is a slur against an African-American person, and a declaration that their life has no value. So, he says, when those words were used by Hood and Vause that night, “why wouldn’t Mr. Chambers panic? … Lord help any of us faced with a threat to their life and doesn’t behave the way (prosecutors) think they should.” He says the law allows an exceptional (low) sentence in this case. “Mr. Chambers is a kind, gentle, peaceful person, drunk or sober,” he says testimony showed. He speaks of Mr. Chambers’ wife Sara Chambers (who is here today) saying he “gets silly” when intoxicated. Even a prosecution witness, he says, described Chambers as “relaxed” that night. “He had love, friends, family, home, work, anything anybody could ever want. He had a gun that he wasn’t allowed to have. But in the two decades that he had it, he never pulled that gun in anger … Mr. Chambers told the court what happened, exactly what he was thinking, feeling, and he was consistent throughout.”
Goldsmith said even the prosecution witnesses did not describe Chambers’ actions as “following” them. He says even prosecution witness Vause’s description supports that Chambers was acting in self-defense – jumping back, shots close in time, “presence of a deadly weapon (shovel) in Mr. Hood’s hands … There’s no question that Mr. Chambers was in a fight for his life that night.”
Judge Doyle asks, “… when the jury rejected the self-defense theory,” how could the judge take that into account in sentencing?
Goldsmith says the court is entitled to make its sentencing decision separate from what was proven to the jury, and says that much of the testimony corroborated that Chambers could have and did perceive that he was in danger. But, he said, “I’m not asking the court to give him a significant sentence downward based on … that he is a good and peaceful person …” and again mentions that the court received letters of support from people who have known Chambers for “not only years, but decades.” He mentions a letter from someone whom Mr. Chambers helped deal with a threat, and said that he offered to that person that he would “help (her) work with police and courts.”
Regarding prosecutor’s Nave suggestion that he should have run away or could have taken some other action, Goldsmith mentions it happened within seconds, another sign it wasn’t reckless. Regarding his drunkenness, “it was tantamount to him being drunk in his own living room” because it was someplace he had been going for years. Finally “if nothing else, this case has demonstrated to me the living value of my talking because frankly I can’t imagine a world in which Mr. Chambers should have been convicted, and when I talk to people about this case, they are constantly shocked that he was convicted. .. There is not much I can do for Mr. Chambers but the law allows this court to do what is right.”
Chambers’ wife Sara now is coming up to speak.
“I’ve been married to him for more than 22 years. He’s always been a kind and gentle husband … has many friends .. I’ve seen him sober, I’ve seen him drunk, I’ve seen him happy and sad, and consistently he is an even-tempered man who thinks of other people as much as he thinks of himself …” He would only do something like this if he feels his life is threatened, she concludes.
Chambers himself declines the chance to speak.
Judge Doyle (left): “I don’t think this is an appropriate case for a sentence below the standard range.”
She says that his 20 years of law-abiding community life is not a criteria for that. She acknowledges the difficulty of the case and testimony – “imperfect self-defense.” She recaps the different versions of that January night’s events, told by Jamie Vause and by Lovett Chambers.
“It’s clear the jury didn’t believe the self-defense theory and … found him guilty of manslaughter, apparently finding that he recklessly caused the death of Mr. Hood. What wasn’t disputed was that Mr. Chambers had a .20 blood alcohol content many hours after (the shooting) … it may be that he doesn’t remember much of what happened.” She continues recapping what testimony said led up to “Mr. Hood picking up the shovel, Mr. Chambers shooting him three times. There really was no sensible explanation about why (he) would follow Mr. Hood and Mr. Vause up to the truck. That was the big gap. Why did he do that?” So, she said, she did not find a reason to impose a sentence below the 78 to 102-month standard range. “I do however find this an appropriate case for the bottom of the standard range and for all those same reasons – there was a very sharp division in what happened.”
3:54 PM: So, she summarizes, based on everything she’s heard, “the court thinks it’s appropriate to impose the bottom of the standard range – that’s 78 months.” And she notes there is no discretion in the additional 60-month firearm enhancement. 138 months total, with credit for time served (he has been in jail since shortly after the shooting 2 1/2 years ago).
Judge Doyle also orders the standard no-contact orders for witnesses and 36 months of community custody (probation); there also will be a restitution hearing at some point. Goldsmith asks for an “appeal bond” of $50,000. Judge Doyle says she would rather make that decision at another date, given that it’s already 4 pm. Nave says another hearing on a motion is pending and so they don’t want Chambers sent to state prison until that hearing, and the “appeal bond” hearing, can be held. The hearing is set for 8:30 am next Wednesday (June 18th).
We recorded video of the hearing and will upload upon return to HQ, adding here later tonight, along with more photos from the hearing.
(Added late Friday/early Saturday – the sentencing video in 2 parts, before and after the 3:11 pm break)
BELOW: THE FIRST 45 MINUTES OF THE HEARING, THE (DENIED) ‘NEW-TRIAL’ MOTION:
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