West Seattle, Washington
23 Tuesday
Shane e-mailed on behalf of a friend whose SUV was stolen in the Delridge/Holden area:
It is a 1988 Chevy Suburban, WA Plates: WA7TZ (her ham call sign).
It is golden brown with a wide black stripe and has chrome wheels and dark tinted windows. It has roof and mirror mounted antennas. I’m kind of hoping it sticks out and someone has seen it. There was some ham radio equipment in it as well that I doubt is still there although likely useless to whomever stole it.
The owner is a real nice lady who gives a lot to the community and I’d like to see her get it back.
Please call 911 if you see it.
Just up on SPD Blotter: Police have arrested a suspect in last December’s holdup at the Super 24 (here’s our original coverage of the incident), after a tip resulting from a TV show. The arrest was made in the 5600 block of 21st SW. Full story here.
Four reports this morning in West Seattle Crime Watch:
(Wednesday afternoon photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
We took that photo yesterday afternoon on 39th just east of Fauntleroy, after tipsters told us police had converged on the area. All officers would tell us at the scene was that it involved an arrest warrant. This morning, SPD has announced they actually made two arrests, in connection with the armed robbery two weeks ago in the 9400 block of Delridge (WSB coverage here), the third and fourth suspects arrested in the case. More details via SPD Blotter.
Also this morning – three Crime Watch reader reports, a burglary and two thefts:Read More
This afternoon’s West Seattle Crime Watch notes include a “happy ending” to a car theft reported here, plus 4 other reader reports, all ahead:Read More
(From left, Melissa Chin from Seattle City Attorney’s Office, Cheryl Bishop from ATF, Jill Otake from U.S. Attorney’s Office)
From tonight’s meeting of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council at the Seattle Police Southwest Precinct, toplines on topics from the latest property-crime rate, to last fall’s White Center-area raids, to an impromptu primer on the criminal-justice system, with three guests (above), all ahead & more:Read More
Todd hopes you might be able to help him find his stolen truck:
This white Mazda B2600i 4×4 truck, with silver-gray canopy, was stolen from 4215 SW Myrtle st – one block east of California – sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning (2/19-2/20). The canopy rear window, shown in one picture, is now broken and covered with black plastic. In the other picture you can see a silver American Automobile Association sticker on the canopy front window. There are roof racks, with a bicycle holder on the passenger side, and on the rear of the truck is a towing insert, instead of a bumper. License plate is WA B89770H.
Call 911 if you see it.
1:46 PM: Police are searching right now for two armed men who are reported to have broken into a residence in the 4300 block of 30th SW. The only description they have of the intruders is, black men, late teens, with hoodies pulled up over their faces. More to come.
1:56 PM: Additional description information: The armed man had a silver .45 handgun, and was wearing a black windbreaker and blue jeans. (If you saw a helicopter in the area, by the way, it wasn’t a law-enforcement chopper – tipster Mary says it was a news chopper, though we’re not seeing it now.)
Out of the WSB inbox, a stolen-car report from Ken:
I live at 4800 Fauntleroy [multi-unit building], and my car was stolen this weekend. Silver 1993 Nissan Sentra with 250k+ miles, stolen from my assigned parking space between 9:00pm Saturday (2/18) and 3:00pm Sunday (2/19).
I’m a broke student and I loved that car. I would find a way to reward somebody for info about the car and/or who took it.
As Seattle Police request when they tweet about stolen cars (including this one), call 911 if you have seen it.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports – another case of hit-and-run damaging parked vehicles, and trespassing that appeared to be on the brink of theft. First, this photo from Darlene, with word of what happened early Friday:
The photo shows what [one of] our cars look like after a drunk couple slammed into them at 3:30 a.m. (Friday). The police have impounded the car that hit ours and we have photos of the offenders’ vehicle also. We have also submitted the offenders’ license plate to our insurance company. Our neighbors saw the couple walking away up 56th. Prior to them walking away one of our neighbors spoke to the female, who said “we’re fixing a flat tire”. I want to thank all our neighbors who called the police and described this couple. They had a baby seat in their car; no one saw them with a child. The car is registered to an address in Kirkland.
And received late last night from DG:
My son just found someone on our property (near 32nd SW and SW Cloverdale) about an hour ago. He went outside and heard a sneeze, then found a man hiding in shrubbery just off our carport. The man was next to the lawnmower which had the board used to weigh down the tarp removed, bungee cords loosened and the tarp pulled nearly off the mower. The man was about 30, 5’10”, about 170 lbs, probably Caucasian, and wore a red or orange jacket with a reflective stripe and dark pants. He ran off of our property and headed east as my son gave chase. The place where the man was hiding is about 25 feet from the street and surrounded by fencing and clearly private. The carport where the lawnmower is kept is brightly lit and the mower is chained to a post.
By the way, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets this coming Tuesday, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct (Holden/Delridge), with guests including new precinct liaison Melissa Chin of the City Attorney’s Office and Jill Otake of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The man charged with second-degree murder in last August’s White Center murder of 23-year-old Sweetheart Failautusi has struck a plea bargain. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells WSB that Anthony Haroldlee Smith pleaded guilty this morning to that same charge, acknowledging he is to blame for the deadly shooting at 15th and Roxbury in the early-morning hours of August 16th. Sentencing range is 134-234 months; KCPAO spokesperson Ian Goodhew says the “agreed recommendation” for sentencing will be 15 years. He adds, “Sweetheart’s family felt the agreement was the right thing to do to assure a conviction and have the certainty of the mid-range recommendation as opposed to him possibly receiving a lower sentence.” Smith is to be sentenced March 23rd at 1:45 pm by King County Superior Court Mary Yu.
Out of the WSB inbox, from Brittney:
Someone hit our parked camper van last night at the top of Erskine Way by the 7-Eleven (in the Junction). It was a pretty bad hit, with the entire front driver’s side being dented from the fender up and the driver’s side mirror being torn off. There must be significant damage to the car/truck that hit our vehicle. The van is an old 1987 GMC camper van, old but low mileage, very nice and very loved/used by our family. We do not insure it in the winter because we don’t drive it, so this damage hits hard. We would very much appreciate someone coming forward and taking responsibility, not necessarily to fix it to new but to at least make it driveable again.
Two more West Seattle Crime Watch items tonight:
First: Police say they arrested a driver for suspected DUI in The Junction early this evening. WSB contributor Katie Meyer talked with officers at the scene, and took the photo above. Katie reports that, according to police and witnesses, the driver was headed westbound on SW Edmunds from California and made a too-wide right turn onto Edmunds, hitting the front of an occupied vehicle waiting at the stop sign, then continuing up over the curb and grass into the parking lot on the south side of the TrueValue store. No serious injuries reported.
Tonight we also have an “alert neighbor calls 911” report. Though this one didn’t end like the one from Puget Ridge earlier today, the person who e-mailed us about it thought you might want to be on the lookout for the people, and MO, they saw:Read More
(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Thanks to everybody who e-mailed us about what turned out to be another case of a watchful neighbor tipping police to a burglary. It happened in the Puget Ridge area; police at the scene near 18th and Brandon told us they had five people in custody. Here’s how SPD says it unfolded: A neighbor called around quarter till noon to say two people who had arrived in a car were kicking in a door, then while police were on the way, the neighbor called back to say both suspects were in the house. Police got there and wound up taking five people into custody, all apparently headed to the precinct for questioning. Too soon to know if there’s any chance they are connected to other break-ins, but we’ll follow up.
ADDED 3:10 PM: A little more info from Lt. Pierre Davis at the Southwest Precinct, who declares this, “Our West Seattle community and police partnership at work again” – He says, “Our officers, upon getting the info via 911, was able to locate and make the stop of the suspect vehicle. Upon the stop of the vehicle, two of the suspects fled on foot but were later apprehended by investigating officers. The witness was able to ID the subjects and their vehicle.”
Maybe, like Ryan‘s car, this vehicle also will be found by a WSB’er. Just received from Tim:
Wanted to report that our 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport was stolen sometime last night, at SW Kenyon and 7th Ave SW. It’s maroon-colored, license plate 095-WMK; my wife has some work papers in the back that we’d like back asap. If you have any information or if you’ve seen the Jeep, please alert the SPD at 206-625-5011.
Don’t hesitate to call 911 about a stolen car if that number doesn’t work – it’s part of the standard boilerplate on the SPD stolen-vehicle Twitter feed (which has not tweeted this vehicle yet which *just* tweeted this, concurrent with an announcement over the police-radio airwaves, five minutes after we first published this).
ADDED: Per comments – found, in Burien.
While we hope for Just got good news in the missing/stolen dog case, and we have MORE good news tonight in West Seattle Crime Watch followups: Two thefts reported here last month are resolved – and one turned out not to have been a theft at all! One involved a sled, one involved a car, and we have details on both, ahead:Read More
4:05 PM: Two cars were broken into this afternoon after 1 pm outside the Walgreens at 35th and Morgan, according to Matt, and the only thing taken from his was the family’s Boston Terrier, seen in the photo above. He adds: “$500 reward. No question. He is like my wife’s child and she is inconsolable.”
8:13 PM: Matt reports in comments that their dog has been found! He adds to everyone who helped look and offered well-wishes, “THANK YOU ALL!”
Duane Starkenburg, the Gatewood man charged a year ago with attacking women joggers and then charged last fall in a years-old child rape case, was back in court today. The “omnibus hearing” this morning was to determine whether his case was ready to go to trial. Ian Goodhew from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells WSB that it was agreed Starkenburg will stand trial starting March 7th for the jogger attacks, but the child-rape case won’t go to trial till after that.
Another apparent case of crime prevention via vigilant residents/neighbors. We just heard from one who doesn’t want to be identified but does want to tell the tale of what just happened in his North Admiral neighborhood about an hour ago – read on for that plus a Beach Drive burglary:Read More
2:24 PM: Big police search under way right now for armed robbers: Southwest Precinct Lt. Pierre Davis confirms a “jewelry/pawn shop” in the 9400 block of 16th SW (map) was held up by four robbers wearing masks. He says officers are currently “conducting a search for evidence and suspects.” We also heard some potential description information on the scanner – a Crown Victoria car that “looks like an old green-over-red taxi” might be associated with the robbers. As always, call 911 if you think you see or hear something related.
2:37 PM UPDATE: There’s a sizable police presence off Roxbury that we are told is related to the search for the robbers and ‘evidence.’ And this is indeed why there was at least one TV helicopter over the area.
3:21 PM UPDATE: Police are still searching – right now we’re seeing some in Roxhill Park. We stopped by nearby Roxhill Elementary, too, after hearing it mentioned as part of scanner discussion; the staff told us the school “sheltered in place” for a short time.
4:15 PM UPDATE: Per scanner traffic, three vehicles, including a Crown Victoria, were being searched in connection with this investigation. But Lt. Davis says nobody’s been arrested yet.
8:33 PM UPDATE: From SPD Blotter, more details and descriptions:Read More
Two reader reports to share this afternoon. First, from Kevin:
I’m writing to let you know that my 1996 Honda Accord was stolen off the street from in front of my house last night between midnight and 7 AM. I live in the 6000 block of 46th AVE SW between SW Graham and SW Raymond streets. It’s a four door Accord LX model. Maroon/Burgandy color. WA license plate 865 TZD. If you see it or have any information, please call the Seattle Police Dept.
(SPD suggests 911 if you see a stolen car.) Meantime, Jenni – who is a Block Watch captain in Highland Park – says they’re not taking car prowlers lightly in her neighborhood. This happened early Wednesday:
I went to check why my dog was barking& noted white male late 40s with graying facial hair trying to break into my neighbors SUV. I asked what he was doing and he fled via silver/gray 2 door sedan possibly ford no plate number obtained. I called 911 and some of our block watch went out on foot to patrol the surrounding streets. So, just another note about neighborhood block watch and calling police immediately.
She hasn’t heard whether an arrest was made, but notes that police arrived within five minutes of the 911 call. Meantime, Highland Park and other south West Seattle neighborhoods might be interested in this White Center event tonight: In case you missed the notice in our morning preview or on White Center Now, gang-activity trends, Metro Transit safety, and other topics are all on the agenda for the first in a series of Public Safety Forums presented by the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, all welcome, 7 pm tonight at North Highline Fire District headquarters (1243 SW 112th – here’s a map).
If you were along 35th SW about two hours ago – as one WSB team member happened to be – you might have wondered why three police cars went roaring northbound with lights and sirens. They, and other units, were bound for a home on 47th SW in North Admiral, and we just got the details from Seattle Police Det. Mark Jamieson in media relations: Someone called 911 to report a suspected burglary, with a screen pried off a window. Officers and burglary detectives responded. They eventually surrounded the house and went inside. Nobody was there. The witness described seeing a white man, 25-30, 5’7″, green stocking cap, blue windbreaker, but no one fitting the description had been found as of our conversation with SPD, which at last report was working to contact the homeowner to see if they could come verify whether anything had been taken. (Coincidentally, as this unfolded, we also had someone at the Southwest Precinct, where its commander Capt. Steve Paulsen spoke to visiting WS Chamber of Commerce members; he talked about the importance of calling 911 when you see something suspicious. More on the lunch event a bit later.)
We’re at the King County Courthouse, where Lovett Chambers has just pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of (Michael) Travis Hood. His lawyer actually would not allow the suspect to confirm that to be his name (court documents have indicated multiple aliases); she also asked the judge to prohibit photography, contending that identity was still an issue, but – after the prosecutor pointed out that Chambers was identified by multiple witnesses and had the reputed murder weapon in his possession when arrested soon afterward – Judge Theresa Doyle denied that motion, so he was photographed by us and by the three TV news photojournalists who comprised the rest of the media corps today. Aside from the not-guilty plea, the only other action taken was to set February 29th as the next hearing in the case. It’s been two and a half weeks since Chambers’ arrest shortly after the January 21st shooting alongside Morgan Junction Park, two weeks since a first-degree-murder charge was filed. Chambers remains jailed in lieu of $5 million bail; we have video of the hearing and will add it when we’re back at HQ.
11:34 AM: Video added. Note that Chambers was not present for the first few moments of the hearing, while lawyers argued over the defense request to prohibit photography. Also note that the courtroom separates the gallery, media included, from the actual bench and tables where proceedings are held, with thick panes of glass.
Earlier today we got a call from a woman who said she had tipped police off to burglars in her neighborhood, after seeing people running through her neighbors’ yard with what seemed to be loot – even dropping an XBOX game console at one point. We headed to the area, couldn’t find any police, but were pursuing a followup; SPD Blotter beat us to it by publishing the tale of how it unfolded:
On 2-7-12, at approximately 10:56 a.m., officers responded to the 1200 block of SW Myrtle St, to investigate a burglary in progress where the three suspects had fled from the house.
The victim called 911 when she observed the three suspects flee out the back door of her residence. Officers quickly arrived in the area and began a search. One suspect was located within minutes, a few blocks from the scene. The other two suspects were quickly located and positively identified by the witness.
All three suspects are male and 18-years-old. The trio was processed and booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Auto Theft and Burglary.
The suspects drove a stolen Honda to the scene. The Honda was recovered and held for processing by detectives.
Another reason why police make the request over and over again – if you see something suspicious, please call 911!
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