(Seattle Police investigators with the wrecked Buick on Sunday morning – rescuers had cut its top off)
Throughout the week, we’ve received notes from people living near the scene of the 47th/Charlestown crash that led to a major power outage early Sunday (original WSB coverage here), wondering how the two people in the car were doing. Though they originally were described as having life-threatening injuries, we have just learned from Harborview Medical Center that the passenger, a 31-year-old woman whose hometown is not listed in the police report, is out of the hospital. The driver, 23-year-old Mohammad Nema of Burien, is still at Harborview but is now in satisfactory condition – and he is charged with vehicular assault as well as domestic violence. According to the charging documents, the passenger was his estranged girlfriend, who had two protection orders against him linked to an assault allegation in early December. The charging papers don’t say why she was with him on Sunday morning, but they say:

… the defendant was speeding well in excess of the posted speed limit. He failed to maintain control of his car and crossed the centerline and began rotating clockwise as he skidded 133 feet. He then left the road and slammed broadside into a utility pole. The force was sufficient to break the pole which caused a power outage in the neighborhood. There was enough energy left to propel his car an additional 52 feet until the car eventually came to a stop. Both the defendant and (passenger) were unconscious. Both suffered at least fractured pelvises. …

A bottle of open, mostly empty tequila was found wedged between the defendant and his driver’s door. Blood alcohol results for him are pending. Preliminary collision reconstruction shows he was speeding at least 48 mph and that does not even take into consideration the energy to break the pole. The analysis indicates he was traveling freeway speeds when he lost control.

When Nema gets out of the hospital, he will be booked into the King County Jail, with bail set at $100,000, according to online records. Court documents say he has a record of citations and charges including driving the wrong way on a one-way street, possessing an open alcohol container in a car, speeding, and driving without liability insurance.

That shot from a West Seattle bank robbery last April (WSB coverage here) was one of the most-discussed bank-robber photos we’ve run … as the robber’s gender seemed to be in doubt. Today, Seattle FBI spokesperson Special Agent Frederick Gutt confirms to WSB that a suspect held for a bank holdup in Kent may be the so-called “Mrs. Doubtfire” robber, suspected in a string of stickups around the region. She is a 53-year-old resident of Des Moines, arrested for robbing an Alaska USA credit union branch in Kent two days ago, according to Special Agent Gutt. We reported last September that one suspect was likely responsible for 6 heists, 3 of them in West Seattle, starting with the April 2010 KeyBank robbery in The Junction (the others are listed here), though the list has now grown to 11, according to the FBI. (Hat tip to seattlepi.com for what appears to be the 1st report on the arrest.)

We’re continuing to follow the case of the four people charged with murdering 26-year-old Steve Bushaw in The Junction two years ago. On Monday, just as the trial was about to begin with pre-jury-selection proceedings, one of the two alleged triggermen, 29-year-old Danny O’Neal, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge, second-degree murder. The official document from Monday’s hearing is now available, and there’s an update to O’Neal’s potential sentence: After prosecutors recommend the low end of the 123-220-month “standard range,” whatever the judge decides will have 60 months added to it for the “firearm enhancement,” meaning he faces a minimum of 15 years.

Meantime, the remaining three defendants, Bryce Huber, John Sylve, and Brandon Chaney – all still charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder – returned to court this morning. No additional plea bargains so far, prosecutor James Konat told Judge Joan DuBuque, but they are still in negotiations, and the lawyers asked for a few more days to keep talking. The judge gave them until Tuesday morning, which is when the pretrial proceedings will resume if there is no resolution to the case this week (next Monday is a holiday). It’s alleged that O’Neal and Sylve shot Bushaw after talking with Huber, who met up with him at Talarico’s that night and went outside with him just before the shooting; Chaney is the alleged getaway-car driver. The motive: Huber allegedly suspected Bushaw of involvement in a home-invasion robbery targeting a friend; police have said there was no evidence linking Bushaw to that case.

He’s been with the Seattle Police Department more than 30 years – and now, he’s about to leave. “I’ve been around for a while,” Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow acknowledged, understated as always, while confirming to WSB that he’s decided to retire. His is a civilian position, not investigating crimes, but rather working with the community to help their crime-prevention effort – setting up Block Watches, registering Night Out parties, briefing community groups, offering crime-prevention advice. We talked with him this afternoon by phone; he says, “I can hardly imagine life without working” – but he expects to stay busy, with two grandchildren, volunteering activities, and potentially some “private-sector” interests. He also has words of thanks for WSB’ers who’ve taken an intense interest in crime prevention and information-sharing (including our ongoing Crime Watch reports). While the department cut some coordinator positions this year, and made changes last year that added a second precinct to Kinlow’s responsibilities, he stresses it was his own decision to retire. His last day will be March 15; we are checking with precinct leadership to find out how prevention will be handled after his departure.

We are at the King County Courthouse, in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Joan DuBuque. What was supposed to be a trial for the 4 people charged in the February 2009 murder of 26-year-old Steve Bushaw is suddenly a trial for 3: Danny O’Neal, one of the two alleged triggermen, pleaded guilty this morning. Prosecutors say he made a deal last Friday while also giving a videotaped statement about how he says it all played out. We’ll have a longer report later; in short, he says — as charged — he and John Nikimbe Sylve (known as “Nicky”) — shot Steve Bushaw, and O’Neal says that the next day, he took apart and threw away the 2 handguns that were used in the shooting. As part of the plea agreement, he is pleading guilty to second-degree murder, with a firearms enhancement, and the state will recommend the lower end of the sentencing range, at least 10 years (though the judge is not bound to honor that), plus 16 months for the firearms enhancement.

The three remaining defendants – Sylve, alleged getaway driver Brandon Chaney, and alleged mastermind Bryce Huber – were in court this afternoon, Chaney and Sylve in street clothes, Huber in a brick-red jail-issue jumpsuit. For the past hour or so, their lawyers talked with the judge, and among themselves, discussing what happens in the wake of the eleventh-hour plea: Court is in recess until at least Wednesday, while the three defendants’ lawyers review forthcoming copies of O’Neal’s new statement; their clients still have the opportunity to enter pleas rather than go to trial, and the lawyers told the judge they’ll make decisions on that by late tomorrow afternoon. Meantime, O’Neal’s sentencing is tentatively set for March 4th. (For backstory on the case, here’s the trial preview published here last night.)

ADDED MONDAY NIGHT: More details from today’s proceedings:Read More

ORIGINAL 2:40 AM REPORT: No arrests yet in a Sunday night break-in that left two people with minor injuries. It happened around 8:30 pm in the 8800 block of 16th SW (map), according to Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams. He says “initial reports” indicate two people wearing ski masks and armed with handguns forced their way into a house. They kicked one person – who declined medical assistance – and hit another with one of the guns; that person was taken to a hospital to have a facial injury checked out. A third person who was home apparently scared the attackers/would-be robbers away by running out of the house to call police; that, says Lt. Williams, led the attackers to run away too. Scanner traffic we heard at the time indicated a K-9 unit was used to try to find them, but searchers didn’t have any luck. Lt. Williams says detectives from the robbery division are now handling the case.

9:31 AM UPDATE: There’s now a story about this on SPDBlotter. Details are mostly the same, with a few additions: The ski-masked robbers are described as black men between 20 and 30; they are believed to have stolen a wallet; and police are asking the public for any information.

(February 2, 2009, sign outside Talarico’s, near the shooting scene)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Almost two full years after 26-year-old Steve Bushaw was shot and killed in The Junction, four suspects are about to go on trial.

Monday is the official start of the trial for Bryce Huber, Brandon Chaney, Danny O’Neal Jr., and John Sylve, arrested in December 2009, charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. But murder trials are complicated proceedings, even more so in a case like this with multiple defendants, so jury selection won’t start for at least another week, and testimony isn’t expected before late January.

For this look ahead, in addition to revisiting the WSB archives and King County court records, we have checked in with Steve Bushaw’s family, as well as the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Read More

Two car-crime reports to share tonight. First one’s from Siobhan:

Last year on New Year’s Day morning, my little red Dodge Neon was stolen from its parking spot under my apartment building. Got it back on January 6th, which just happened to also be my birthday. THIS January 6th, I went downstairs to go to work to find my car missing its passenger-side window, a pile of glass on the ground, a brick on the drivers side floor and the hood of my car propped up with the the cables from my battery removed. They rummaged through my glove box and the middle console, but didn’t take anything. I never leave anything in my car.

This happened in the 35th Ave SW/Morgan St. area. I filed a police report. The officer said that they more than likely disconnected the battery to disable a car alarm and that the same thing had happened to a few other cars in the last few days just down the hill towards Fauntleroy/California. Just wanted to leave a heads-up to my neighbors.

And from Sam:

Hi, just wanted to let your blog know that last night I had two aftermarket offroad bumpers stolen. One was stolen off of my 4runner and one off my tacoma. Both vehicles were parked near Morgan junction. I’ve also had both catalytic convertors stolen from both of these vehicles in the last few months. Getting sick of it. Keep an eye out if you live in the area. Also if anyone sees two black tube bumpers for sale please contact the police.

It happened shortly after midnight last night, but the scanner was so busy, we heard no followup; tonight, police confirm that Papa John’s Pizza in West Seattle was indeed robbed again. Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams says, “One male suspect entered, displayed a handgun, and demanded money. The suspect was wearing all black clothing with a black beanie cap and a black mask.” He got cash and took off. No one was hurt; no injuries reported. The restaurant at 5252 California SW was also robbed three months ago (WSB coverage here).

Two notes tonight (and stay tuned for this week’s WSBeat around 11 pm, barring breaking news): First, this didn’t turn out to be a crime, but we’ve received a couple of after-the-fact questions about police action earlier today at Fire Station 11 (map) in Highland Park, so in case anyone else is also wondering – when we checked with SFD spokesperson Lt. Sue Stangl to ask about a reader report of “police tape” up at the station, she explained: “The crew found a PVC pipe next to the fire station that looked suspicious. SPD checked it out and determined that it was filled with sand and was not criminal in intent.” Meantime, from Deb at 35th/Cambridge (map), another lesson sadly learned about not leaving ANYTHING in your car, ANYWHERE, ANY TIME – she says this happened between 3:30 and 4 pm Monday:

I left my convertible parked outside my garage … for less than 30 minutes. When I returned, someone had slashed the top to unlock the doors and rummage though my glove box. I had only left my car briefly as I had just replaced the wiper blades and was going to run some errands (we’re talking 15 minutes tops). I believe the garage door scared him off and the thief only made off with my iPod (thank heavens it was a really old one, can’t hold a charge, and locks up regularly…enjoy it, buddy) but he left my stereo and faceplate behind. When it dawned on me what had happened, I glanced out to the street to see someone standing there looking at me in a tan coat with a hood with a backpack, maybe 6 feet? May have been the guy, maybe not…best to be on the lookout and just a reminder that even 2 feet from my house, it’s not safe to leave anything in your car.

Just out of the WSB inbox from Jennifer, regarding a hit-run reported in The Junction:

We are looking for a burgundy VW van with black ski equipment on the roof – it just rear-ended my boss’s Toyota Camry at the corner of California and Erskine, just around 3:15pm today.

If anyone knows the license plate or saw what happened, we’d appreciate it if you could contact the Seattle PD…as you can imagine, my boss was a little shaken up and didn’t see the license plate number.

Much appreciated for any help!!

Crime takes no holiday. Well, there’s always hope for tomorrow. But tonight, we have two reports about one case of car vandalism – one from “k,” who drove by and noticed it; then came this direct report on behalf of the victim, from Martha:

My ex-husband, who is recovering from open heart surgery, had his new little Toyota vandalized two days after his return home from the hospital last week. The CD player was taken and glove compartment rummaged through. Last night the car was spray painted with black paint “this car is gay” along the entire passenger side. Two stripes of black and white left on the driver’s side rear panel. I just discovered this this afternoon when I was visiting. I have called the police and they are sending out an officer. This is particularly upsetting to our family at this time of year and with him in such frail health. Thanks to whoever did it for an extra kick in the teeth for Christmas!

This was one of two vandalized cars noticed by “k” in the south of Admiral area; she says it was near 45th/Spokane, while the other, near 48th/Hinds, also had black spray paint on it.

Just received from Rebecka, who wanted to get the word out fast:

My family just witnessed a man take off with a package from our neighbor’s porch.

My husband stepped out to confront him and he immediately took off. We are on the corner of 42nd and Brandon. The guy was heading south in the alley between 42nd and 41st. By the time he rounded the corner, the guy was out of sight. We called it in to the police, but they were not even interested in getting a description, said it was too late to do anything.

Apparently this has been going on quite a bit in our hood for the last week. The guy was in his mid to late thirties, dark hair and goatee, black leather jacket, jeans, dark shoes. He looked as if he hadn’t slept for days, SUPER SKETCHY.

Just thought people should be aware if they are expecting deliveries today. This took place at 8:40 this morning.

SPD Blotter reported this afternoon that police have arrested a man suspected in three pharmacy robberies, including one in West Seattle. The arrest happened today, with the help of citizens:

Since early October, a lone white male was believed to be responsible for three pharmacy robberies. The first two occurred at a chain pharmacy at locations in West Seattle and on Capitol Hill. The most recent occurred downtown on December 14th, in the 800 Block of 3rd Avenue. The suspect would usually imply a weapon and demand prescription drugs.

Today, December 21st, at approximately 11:40 AM, a white male armed with a knife attempted to rob a pharmacy located in the 900 Block of 4th Avenue. The suspect approached the pharmacist and demanded the drugs. Several employees and customers jumped on the suspect and held him until police arrived. He was immediately taken into custody. Robbery detectives responded and processed the scene. The 33 year old male was interviewed by detectives and admitted to the robberies. He was booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery. The Robbery detectives will continue with the followup investigation.

The only “chain pharmacy” robbery we’ve covered since early October is a holdup at Bartell Drugs in Jefferson Square on October 9th. We’ve got a message out to SPD to ask if that’s the one to which they say this suspect has confessed.