West Seattle, Washington
24 Wednesday
Criminal mistreatment is the charge filed in relation to the case of an 86 year-old Alki man who died after being found in such bad condition, he died days later. This happened in 2010; two of his sons have just been charged this month. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells WSB they are due in court the day before Thanksgiving to answer charges. 57-year-old Kenneth Shaw and 54-year-old Keith Shaw are charged with second-degree criminal mistreatment because of what happened to their father Kyle Shaw Jr.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports this afternoon. David’s car was stolen in North Delridge:
Could you please put up a notice to look out for a 1990 Jeep Wrangler, white, with a black hard top? License plate 465ZLU. It’s got a 3″ lift, a winch on the front, and a rear license plate frame that’s pink and reads “I Brake For Unicorns.” It was stolen last night from 28th Ave. SW at SW Adams St., right in front of Dragonfly Park, some time between 1930 last night and 0700 this morning.
Many stolen cars are found relatively close by, so keep an eye out for David’s car. Meantime, Akemi noticed an abandoned silver Redline bike on the west side of The Junction, Oregon/Glenn – we always suggest reporting these to police so they’re not re-stolen (if stolen at all), but as an FYI, she’s seen it there for a couple days.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports to share. First two are home burglaries. From Dana, who’s in Westwood, between 32nd and 34th on Barton:
Our house was broken into (Thursday) sometime between 9:30 am-3:45 pm. In bedroom window, out the back door. I think it was typical robbery: they got laptop, jewelry, prescription (expired) meds, and Wii controllers(?). Reported it to SPD, they filed report and took some fingerprints. Officer said (reminding all of us) this is the season for break-ins (before/around Christmas).
That indeed was the reminder we heard from a Community Police Team officer at this week’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting.
Bail is set at $45,000, according to the King County Jail register, for the 28-year-old man arrested in West Seattle last night for allegedly assaulting a Seattle Police officer and sergeant and the civilian who tried to help them, when a traffic stop turned into a tussle. The suspect is a Kent resident who is now in jail for the 10th time this year; he waived the right to be present in court for his bail hearing this afternoon. As we noted in an update earlier today, most of the jail stays relate to a burglary case in which he was charged one year ago today – accused of stealing from college dorm rooms elsewhere in Seattle and pawning stolen property – allegedly for money to support a heroin habit. He is under investigation for two counts of third-degree assault, one count of fourth-degree assault, and one drug charge; prosecutors have until Friday to decide on charges. We asked SPD how the officer and sergeant are doing; Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen tells us tonight that they are “sore, but OK.” More details on the incident are included in the documents from this afternoon’s bail hearing – read on:Read More
ORIGINAL REPORT, 5:54 PM: A helicopter’s been seen over south West Seattle, and we believe it’s linked to a stabbing reported at 13th/100th in White Center. According to King County Sheriff’s Office via Twitter, the suspect is the victim’s son. Headed that way.
6:24 PM UPDATE: The 69-year-old victim has died, and her 42-year-old son is in custody, KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West says. We’re continuing to cover this on our partner site White Center Now (where our coverage includes video of Sgt. West explaining what they know so far).
5:14 PM: Thanks to everyone who has messaged us about the big police response – we saw several of the lights/siren cars heading north ourselves. We’re at the scene of an incident involving a car at 42nd and Charlestown (we’ve counted eight SPD cars so far). Someone is believed to be hurt – there’s just been a Seattle Fire Department car to come help. Still sorting out details, and will add as we find out more.
5:20 PM UPDATE: We’ve learned this started as a “help the officer” call – and it appears medics are checking out an officer. This is all unfolding just east of the old Charlestown Café. (added) Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen confirms an officer was assaulted by a suspect after a traffic stop. He says the suspect is under arrest.
6:04 PM UPDATE: New information from Capt. Paulsen – two officers were hurt; he says, “the suspect was under arrest and tried to drive off as the officer was trying to bring him out of the car. The suspect was also in possession of suspected controlled substances.” The injured officers, he says, are at Harborview Medical Center.
8:47 PM UPDATE: More details from SPD Blotter – including word that a citizen who tried to help got hurt. Read on for the narrative:
FiveSix reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch – car prowls and vandalism, package and other theft, plus a bicycle sighting – (11:18 am update) and brazen break-in attempts – read on:Read More
This didn’t happen in West Seattle, but the choosing-to-be-anonymous victim – and the person who helped her – were both headed this way:
Last night I had the unfortunate experience of being robbed while waiting for the Rapid Ride C line downtown. I was at the stop on the corner of 3rd and Pike at 9 pm after my evening class let out when a man grabbed my iPhone right out of my hands and ran away with it before I could even get a good look at him.
I was shaken and upset and I want to warn other bus riders of this danger. The stop really didn’t feel unsafe, even at that time of night because the corner is so well-lit and there were LOTS of people around. The officer that took my report said that this crime is very common in that location.
A very nice young woman stepped up to loan me her phone to call 911. She missed her bus to West Seattle in order to let me place my call. I’m trying to focus my mental images of the night on her good deed rather than the jarring experience of being a crime victim.
Two notes this morning – one a crime, one something else that police handled overnight. First, from Chessa:
Our car was stolen in front of our house in Seaview (45th AVE between Juneau and Findlay) sometime between 10 pm and 6 am last night. It is a 1995 light brown (mocha?) Subaru Legacy wagon, license plate 704 YBN, WA plates. There’s a 2008 Obama-Biden on the left upper rear window corner, with some rust spots on the roof. We did, of course, file a police report. If any of your readers see it, we’d love to know!
Police ask that you call 911 if you spot a stolen car. Second note is not about a crime, but its appearance on SPD’s “Tweets by Beat” feed led one alarmed WSB’er to ask about it. Here’s the tweet:
Beat:W1, ANIMALS – INJURED, DEAD, DANGEROUS at W SEATTLE BR / DELRIDGE WY SW reported on 11/7/2012 5:42 AM
— SeattlePD William1 (@SeattlePDW1) November 7, 2012
This actually involved a case of police rescuing a lost dog, according to e-mail we received overnight from the dog’s owner, Betsy, who said her Siberian Husky broke out very early this morning but is home now:
Apparently she had made it from our house near Mount St. Vincent all the way to the high rise of the West Seattle Bridge. We are SO thankful for the Seattle police and a dog savvy citizen who was able to corral and catch her. We got a call from Officer Graham at about 5:30am while we were out combing the streets. He and his partner said they were both dog lovers and we are very, very thankful for everyone’s help. She immediately went to sleep when she got home.
When Seattle Police overhauled their website and launched a list of unsolved murders, some wondered why it did not include the December 2010 death of Jeremy Peck, who disappeared after a visit to the Admiral Pub early Christmas Eve morning that year, eventually sparking a search that ended when his body washing up on Bainbridge Island in January 2011. We noted at the time that SPD had not classified his death as a murder; when an unsealed search warrant revealed new information in July 2011, police had reiterated that it was being investigated as a “suspicious death.” However, SPD has just added Peck’s death to their “Catch a Killer” page, making an indirect announcement with this tweet a short time ago:
Do you have information about the death of Jeremy Peck or any of Seattle’s other unsolved homicides? #Catchakiller spdblotter.seattle.gov/catch-a-killer/
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) November 6, 2012
The July 2011 revelations included word of two men having been seen dumping something off the “low bridge” and a car testing positive for blood believed to have been Peck’s. But no arrests have been reported, and police’s addition of the case to the unsolved-murders list indicates a new bid to ask the public for tips.
Starting off this West Seattle Crime Watch report: Arbor Heights Elementary students are without several new computers because of a burglary. 
It was discovered early yesterday; we got a tip about it last night but weren’t able to get details until this morning. Det. Mark Jamieson with Seattle Police media relations says a school staffer discovered the burglary at 7:15 Monday morning and showed the responding officer how the burglar(s) had removed a louvered vent from the classroom door to get in – though the report says they’re not sure how the burglar(s) got into the school itself. The vent was taken as evidence in hopes it’ll yield fingerprints. The report lists the stolen items as four or five Apple computers that were new at the start of the school year (they were still taking inventory for followup paperwork when the officer filed his report); older computers in the same room were left behind.
We also checked with Seattle Public Schools, whose spokesperson Teresa Wippel says the school’s alarm was tripped at 3:53 am Sunday – “security responded immediately but didn’t find any signs of a break-in from the outside so left.” Then the staff discovered the missing computers when they arrived on Monday. SPS is still checking for us on how or whether the computers will be replaced.
Also in Crime Watch, three recent reader reports – all ahead:Read More
Just in via SPD Blotter – news of an arrest following an early-morning break-in:
The couple was asleep when they were awakened by the door alarm at about 2:45 this morning. The husband went downstairs to check the house when he saw an unknown male dressed in all black, inside the home on the first floor. The burglar apparently did not see the homeowner. The man went back upstairs and he and his wife locked themselves in an upstairs room and called 911.
Southwest Precinct officers arrived quickly and contained the house in the 9300 Block of Fauntleroy Way SW. Officers could see the suspect inside the house walking around. Officers gave the suspect verbal commands to give himself up. The suspect ran and hid inside the house. Officers entered the home and began clearing the house, and soon located the suspect hiding behind a couch in a downstairs room. He was taken into custody without incident. The suspect refused to cooperate with officers or provide any personal information. He was later booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary. Detectives will now handle the follow-up investigation.
The excerpt is from an SPD Blotter post that also reports an unrelated North Seattle burglary arrest.
Just in via SPD Blotter – two arrests early this morning:
The efforts of officers working an auto theft/car prowl emphasis patrol paid off early this morning when they responded to a report of a car prowl in progress and took into custody the two suspects.
At about 2:20 this morning radio broadcast a car prowl in progress in the 3800 Block of 45th Avenue SW. Several William Sector officers were in the area already on an assigned auto theft/car prowl emphasis patrol. Two officers located the described suspect vehicle one minute later, and stopped it at SW Spokane St. and 46th Avenue SW. The vehicle and one suspect were positively identified by a witness, and a large quantity of apparently stolen property, including at least 8 car stereos, was visible inside the car. These suspects are also likely responsible for a car prowl from earlier tonight, in which the suspects were seen leaving in a dark 2-door Honda.
Both suspects, a 26-year-old male and a 32-year-old female, were booked into the King County Jail for Car Prowl and the suspect vehicle, a green 1998 Honda Accord, was towed to the processing room, pending a warrant. Detectives will now handle the follow up investigation.
We’ll be checking to see if the helicopter reported briefly over The Junction a few hours earlier was related.
1:04 AM: Thanks for the texts and other messages – there’s an air/ground search in the Highland Park area. We’re checking on it.
1:20 AM: No info available from an official source at this point but we did hear a snippet of scanner traffic mentioning a burglary, and SPD’s Tweets by Beat – automated bits of information about police calls, delayed about an hour, sent out via Twitter – mentions a 12th/Holden burglary before midnight. (The full list of the latest “Tweets by Beat” for the West Seattle patrol sectors is available at all times, continuously updated, on our Crime Watch page.)
8:40 AM UPDATE: We now know what this was all about – talked with Det. Mark Jamieson in SPD Media Relations. He says a burglary was reported just before midnight in the 7000 block of 12th SW; while that was being investigated, another officer spotted three suspects “pushing a shopping cart full of apparently stolen property” in the 1200 block of SW Holden. When they saw police, they ran off in different directions. A K-9 team and additional officers came in to help search; the K-9 found one of them hiding under a bush at 13th and Webster. That suspect, 16 years old, was arrested and booked into the Youth Services Center. The Guardian One law-enforcement helicopter (which belongs to the King County Sheriff’s Office but is called in by other agencies as needed – SPD does NOT have its own helicopter) came in to help with the search for a while, but the other two suspects weren’t found. What officers DID find: Some stolen property, near where the arrest was made – including three large flatscreen TVs.
Following up on our Monday report about the latest arrest of 34-year-old Ryan Cox, who first made news for a wave of homophobic graffiti vandalism three years ago: The King County Prosecuting Attorney has filed two felony charges against Cox in connection with the baseball-bat attack on a man last Friday, saying the man was attacked because of Cox’s perception of the victim’s sexual orientation. That allegation led to the first charge, malicious harassment – the formal term for “hate crime” – and the second charge is third-degree assault.
The attack happened as Cox and the 31-year-old victim – a stranger to him – were leaving a Metro Route 21 bus in the Luna Park area around 2 pm Friday; police say the man reported being hit about four times, leaving him with fist-sized welts on his back, though he declined medical attention. Cox was arrested the next day after police were called about him screaming homophobic slurs at people in the Solstice Park tennis-courts vicinity, and he is reported to have then confessed to the Friday attack. The prosecution asked today that Cox’s bail remain set at $75,000, and cited a criminal record dating back to 1995, when he was still a juvenile, as well as the “dozens of additional recent property destruction and weapon charges that were dismissed for reasons related to the defendant’s mental health.” (Those are explained in our Monday story, which also noted, as did today’s charging papers, that Cox got out of jail less than two months ago after serving almost three months for violating probation related to a stalking case from last year.) He remains in King County Jail tonight and is scheduled to answer the new charges at arraignment in King County Superior Court on November 14th.
Think it’s less likely that you’ll be targeted by a car prowler if the weather is miserable? Think again. Three of the four most-recent West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports we’ve received are about car prowls on the first day of this rainy week. First, from Admiral:
My car was broken into (Monday morning) between midnight and 8am at 42nd Ave SW and Spokane. They took the entire center column that included an old Alpine stereo and the heating controls. They also took 2 iPods. According to the SPD it was a clean, professional job. They didn’t break any windows or damage the doors to get into the vehicle. Just want to left my neighbors in this area to be aware and avoid leaving valuables in their cars.
Next, two more car break-ins, both in Seaview, plus another case of mailbox tampering:Read More
In the neighborhood you might call south Morgan Junction or western Gatewood, neighbors are joining forces to take the most effective action in fighting crime – watching out for each other. They’ll be going around the neighborhood with invitations, but here’s an early alert, in case you’re in that neighborhood or know someone who is:
Our townhome complex has noticed increased suspicious behavior and crime in our neighborhood, so we are coming together to start a Block Watch. Join us for a kick-off meeting, where we can all meet each other and a Seattle Police Department Crime Prevention Coordinator will help us get organized and share crime prevention tips.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
7:00-8:30 pm
Gatewood Elementary’s Lunchroom (4320 SW Myrtle St)Being a part of the Block Watch will not require much work on your end – just a commitment to watching out for each other and reporting any suspicious activity. For more information, visit seattle.gov/police/blockwatch. Hope you can join us!
Your neighbors in the townhomes off California & Myrtle
c/o Kati Davich
Kati.Davich@gmail.com
Kati says the area they’re targeting is roughly “on California from Frontenac to Othello and on Myrtle from Fauntleroy,” but others in the vicinity are welcome too. (And to everyone who has or is forming a Block Watch – be sure to get involved with the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network, too!)
(UPDATED 5:11 PM with new information following bail hearing – see end of story)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
A repeat offender who gained regional infamy in 2009 for prolific West Seattle graffiti vandalism involving an anti-gay slur is back in jail right now, under investigation for an alleged hate crime.
While WSB policy is generally to not identify suspects until they are charged, the circumstances of this case and the history of the suspect have led us to make an exception. The suspect is 34-year-old Ryan J. Cox, arrested on Saturday and accused of hitting a man with a baseball bat on Friday as he and the victim were leaving a Metro bus in the Luna Park area. The man told police that he believed he was attacked because of his sexual orientation, and that Cox had been hurling insults at him on board the bus.
Though police could not find a suspect after the attack – in which the victim said he was hit four times, leaving raised welts on his back – they encountered Cox on Saturday at the Solstice Park tennis courts across from north Lincoln Park, an area he has been known to frequent, and the encounter led to the arrest. That part of the story was first told to WSB by a reader who asked for anonymity. He wrote on Saturday:
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers, incidents 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?”:
*Attempted break-ins galore early Monday: Someone tried to disable the alarm systems at three California Avenue businesses (two in the Alaska Junction; one in Morgan Junction). Suspects gained access to only one, where they ransacked the interior and stole a case of liquor.
*On Monday afternoon, a stranger went down the 3200 block of 44th SW, banging on doors and yelling, “Which neighbor reported on me?” One home on that street is well known to both officers and firefighters. Although the owner no longer lives at that residence — and the water and heat have been turned off — he is reported to be allowing others to camp out (which might explain the odd, “foul” odors that firefighters were sent to investigate recently). The angry stranger was a white male with a stocky build, and he drove off northbound in a silver pickup truck.
Seven more summaries ahead, including two involving for-sale homes:
Thanks to E for the tip that police were called early this morning to check out tagging vandalism on a water tower at Myrtle Reservoir. (We’ve blurred the tags in our photo at right.) The report came from a security officer just after 5 am, according to Det. Renee Witt in SPD media relations; the officer discovered the chain-link fence around the tower had been cut, and then noticed the tagging on the east side of the tower. We’re checking with Seattle Public Utilities to see how soon it’ll be painted over (ironically, they are a lead agency for the city’s graffiti-vandalism-fighting efforts), and will add that update when we get it.
ADDED 11:56 AM: And here’s the update from SPU spokesperson Ingrid Goodwin:
SPU crews are onsite now making repairs on the vandalized fence and tower. Weather permitting, the graffiti will be removed and the tower will be repainted today. If the rain becomes a problem, crews may need a few extra days to complete the work. We’ll know more later this afternoon on how quickly they are progressing on the repairs.
(back to original 11:38 am report) Another Crime Watch note:
MAILBOX PROWLING: From Becky:
We live in a complex in the 3600 block of Beach Drive SW. We have a locking mailbox and the postman has confirmed that it appears someone tried to pry it open. Please make other residents in the area aware of this recent mailbox prowl and to keep their eyes open for any strangers around their mailboxes.
P.S. Just added to the West Seattle Crime Watch page – a scrollable “widget” showing the latest tweets from the recently launched Seattle Police Tweets by Beat accounts that cover West Seattle (six accounts plus the main SPD Twitter account). These are short descriptions of location/type of incident, about an hour delayed (and note that SPD does not tweet certain types of responses). So now you can browse them without having a Twitter account or going to Twitter’s website, if you’re interested.
Six notes in today’s West Seattle Crime Watch roundup …
BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN: Last month, a new campaign to use billboards to spotlight unsolved murder cases was announced. We covered the event, and spoke there with Dwight K. Guy, widower of Greggette Guy, whose March murder along Beach Drive has gone unsolved for seven months. Organizers told us one of the billboards would highlight two West Seattle unsolved murders; we hadn’t photographed it yet but took that picture today along Harbor Avenue, across from ActivSpace, where it’s up with photos of Mrs. Guy and of Kaari Higgins, whose January 2011 death in Fauntlee Hills was classified as a homicide months later. No breaks reported yet in either case – call 911 if you know anything, or send an anonymous online tip.
STOLEN CAR: From Angela:
My 2004 Cadillac Escalade was stolen sometime between midnight and 7am this morning. I live at 47th Ave SW and Alaska street. Plate number AHR8062.
POSSIBLY STOLEN BICYCLE, FOUND: From Chris:
Early (Wednesday) morning I found a mountain bike in the alley at California and Graham. It was partially disassembled and its location seemed pretty suspicious. In the event that it was stolen, it is going to be turned over to the Seattle Police. It is a 14″ blue Jamis Ranger SX. If you happen to hear of a stolen bicycle with this description from other readers, please refer them to SPD.
HIT-AND-RUN – SEE ANYTHING? From Julie:
My car was sideswiped (Tuesday October 23, 2012) while parked in front of the West Seattle Christian Church on 42nd Ave SW between SW Oregon and SW Genesee. If you have any information on who could have hit it, please contact me at jconyne@hotmail.com. My car is a 2008 Charcoal Grey 4 door Jetta.
CAR BREAK-INS: From Steven:
This morning, around 3:15 am, my neighbors truck was broken into. The driver-side window was broken, but the alarm scared the bad people away. We live in the 6700 block of 39th Ave. SW.
Also, from Hilari:
Someone rifled through our car on 14th and Kenyon Monday night. Nothing was in there but some change in the ash tray, which was taken. They just left a mess of papers from our glove compartment.
Be sure to report such crimes even if nothing major was taken – you can even do it online.
Thanks to Mike for pointing us to this story on The Seattle Times (WSB partner) site: After more than a year on the run, Michael Mastro has been arrested. His numerous property holdings – before he was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2009 – had included two West Seattle development sites, one on Harbor Avenue which remains undeveloped, and one that was sold and is finally almost complete, under its new ownership, as The Residences at 3295 (southeast corner of 35th and Avalon). He also held a company involved in a canceled condo conversion south of Morgan Junction. The Times’ story says Mastro and his wife were arrested in France.
Tonight’s West Seattle Crime Watch roundup starts with another stolen car getting found – Carissa reported her Audi was stolen in early October; she e-mailed again to say it was found last Thursday night at Sea-Tac Airport. One odd detail from Carissa: “There were tools in the back with paperwork for Queen City Sheet Metal Company.” (Just to see what’s trending now, we checked the police-report map for the most recently reported car thefts in West Seattle: A truck was stolen late last night from the 3400 block of 40th SW; a car was stolen early yesterday from the 5200 block of 19th SW; and one was taken late Sunday night from the 6700 block of 12th SW. That’s the entirety of the detail available – which is why we welcome reader reports with more info.)
Ahead, six more reader reports – including a neighborhood where burglars seem to strike on a certain day of the week:Read More
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