West Seattle Crime Watch: Story behind smashed-up car, and more
In West Seattle Crime Watch this morning: Got two tips on the car you see at left, from Meredith (who sent the phone photo at left) and Cheryl, both wondering why a smashed-up car was just sitting alongside California SW at SW Manning (map), no police, no fire unit … The 911 log showed the crash happened around 7:30 am, and a call to the Seattle Police media unit revealed the backstory: Det. Mark Jamieson says a car hit a parked vehicle, and its driver walked away. Witnesses gave police a description, and officers arrested a suspect shortly afterward. They subsequently confirmed the car he was driving had been stolen earlier in the morning. This car (we’re not 100 percent sure whether it was the stolen car or the hit car) has been sitting alongside the road awaiting a tow truck. Meantime, two other Crime Watch reports, both involving car prowls – read on:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: Another graffiti arrest for Ryan Cox
ORIGINAL 12:13 PM REPORT: Ryan Cox, the 32-year-old man with multiple vandalism arrests in West Seattle in the past year and a half, is in jail again, and due in court today. We discovered this while checking the King County Jail Register for an unrelated case. Police confirm he was arrested for graffiti vandalism in the 7100 block of Fauntleroy SW (map) just after 10 am Saturday. He is scheduled for arraignment this afternoon in the Mental Health Court program of Seattle Municipal Court. 
What is most notable here is that after his last arrest in February, for a tire-slashing incident, he pleaded guilty and was given a suspended sentence of nearly a year in jail. John McGoodwin from the City Attorney’s Office later told the Morgan Community Association (covered in this WSB report) that if Cox got into trouble again anytime “soon,” that sentence could be reinstated. After his previous arrests, for multiple incidents of graffiti vandalism (often involving a profane slur linking homosexuality with pedophilia, and police say this case involved “homophobic” graffiti as well), Cox was twice found incompetent to stand trial, with charges dismissed as a result, and sent to Western State Hospital for evaluation both times, but not committed. (The above photo was released by police while Cox was being sought in the cases for which he was arrested last December; we’ll let you know what happens today in court.)
2:03 PM UPDATE: We’re at the downtown city courthouse, where Cox’s brief hearing has just concluded. Read on for details:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: Another Admiral smash-grab break-in
For the second morning in a row, an Admiral District business has been hit by a smash-and-grab burglary. Early Sunday, as reported here, it was Luciano’s Pizza; around 2:40 am today, it was Admiral Shoe Repair (on the south side of Admiral just east of California), where the covered-over door was a telltale sign. Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James confirms that both are the type of break-in that has hit West Seattle now at least 10 times in less than a month (plus areas to the south handled by the King County Sheriff’s Office); he says detectives are out right now “looking at video” and checking on other evidence. (Thanks to Katie for the tip.)
West Seattle Crime Watch: Another business broken into
Less than a week after police confirmed to WSB that they are investigating the recent spate of broken-glass business break-ins as an official “burglary pattern,” there’s been another one. Luciano’s Pizza next to Admiral Theater confirms someone broke their window – it’s hard to tell from the photo because new glass is already in – and took their tip jar. (Thanks to the folks at nearby Mission for the tip; they say police were going around checking with other businesses.)
West Seattle Crime Watch: Hit-and-run leaves crucial clue
“C” shared this story, saying it happened about 5:30 pm Friday:
I witnessed a hit and run accident at the corner of California and Myrtle. A red sedan rear-ended a SUV. He then proceeded to back away from the SUV and take off down California! (For the record, there did not appear to be any serious injuries). I pulled over, as did a few other awesome West Seattle-ites, and called 911. As I was describing the event to the 911 operator I realized that the license plate of the sedan had pulled off the car when the criminal pulled away from the SUV! The perpetrator’s plate was lying in the middle of the road! My neighbors and I gave our story to the SPD officers that arrived and hopefully they will be able to catch the guy!
We’ll do our best to find out if they actually did.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Sentimental sculpture stolen; 4 more
Five West Seattle Crime Watch reports this afternoon – starting with a theft that netted loot whose owners are hoping they’ll somehow get it back. They signed themselves “Disappointed in Alki“:
We live in Alki on Halleck Ave. SW just off 53 Avenue [map]. Sometime in the past 24 hours we had a few things stolen from the steps of our front porch. Now, it may sound insignificant but along with a few pots with herbs in them a small Indian statue was stole which has HUGE sentimental value to us. I’m guessing it was just kids being stupid but the fact that someone walked up our steps, were literally at our front door and stole something that that is very special to us and cannot be replaced feels awful and breaks our hearts. If this is posted and by chance the person who took is reading this post, can you do the right thing? Can you please bring back our little Indian sculpture… no questions asked, we promise, you would not believe how important it is to us. We have always felt so safe and comfortable in our little home on a dead end road, this is a sad wake-up call.
(In case you see something – we verified, that’s “Indian” as in South Asia, not as in Native American.) Four more reports ahead:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: Man stabbed, but not seriously hurt
Just got a little more information on a police/fire “assault with weapons” call early this morning in the 8800 block of 16th SW (map). Scanner traffic at the time, just before 2 am, did not suggest a suspect on the loose, and no details were available then, but we have some now: Det. Mark Jamieson in the SPD media unit tells WSB that police were called about a “disturbance” described as a “loud verbal argument”; then a second call mentioned an “intoxicated” man with a knife outside, “screaming.” Turned out one man had been stabbed in the upper back and arm, resulting in what were called “superficial wounds,” and the suspect was quickly arrested; scanner traffic during the call suggested the suspect might also have had some kind of injury, but Det. Jamieson is still checking on that. 9:54 AM UPDATE: A few more details – the victim is 46; the suspect, 28, and was indeed taken to the hospital for “facial and head wounds” – he is under guard there but once released, Det. Jamieson says, will be booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault and harassment.
Update: West Seattle garage fire was arson, no arrest(s) yet
(Photo shared by anonymous contributor)
Just in from Dana Vander Houwen at the Seattle Fire Department, regarding the fire that destroyed a garage in the 5100 block of SW 98th (map) this morning (WSB coverage here):
Fire investigators determined that the garage fire that occurred this morning was intentionally set. They estimated that the damage totaled $52,000. The fire extended to a vehicle and also caused some damage to several nearby structures.
Seattle Fire Department Investigators are working with the Seattle Police Arson Bomb Squad, who will take the investigation from here. We ask that anyone who may have information related to this incident call the Arson Alarm Hotline at 1-800-55-ARSON. If people see any suspicious activity taking place they should call 911 immediately.
No one was hurt, but the smoke could be seen from miles away, and the flames burned so high, they were seen from the Vashon ferry (see the video clip in our first report).
West Seattle Crime Watch: 8 smash-and-grabs in ‘burglary pattern’
(WSB photo showing Zebra burglary damage, just after police arrived on July 19th)
We promised a followup on the broken-glass burglaries we’ve been covering in the past two weeks – starting with one at The Swinery on July 16 – so here’s the newest information from Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James. He confirms:
We do indeed have a commercial burglary pattern in West Seattle. To date, we’ve had 8 confirmed smash and grab burglaries that fit within our pattern since the middle of July. The burglar typically breaks a window to gain entry, grabs a cash register/vending machine, then flees.
Lt. James says another common point is that they’re happening in the early morning hours. He says King County Sheriff’s Office detectives also are investigating similar cases, and working with SPD counterparts “to coordinate the investigation.” Meantime, the Southwest Precinct is checking to see if any other SPD precincts have noticed similar trends. As for what else is being done about this new “burglary pattern,” Lt. James continues:
We have advised businesses to try to make it inconvenient for burglars to access cash registers/vending machines. We are also putting out directed patrols in the areas of these burglaries. As always, we ask for the community’s assistance in reporting suspicious people and activities. At this time we’ve been asking businesses with cameras focusing on the exterior of their buildings (to) review those tapes every 24 hours and report suspicious activity.
The most recent smash-and-grab was early Saturday at the liquor store in The Junction (WSB coverage here – our story also lists the previous ones we covered, and has a comment that adds to the list).
Got your block party signed up yet? ‘Night Out’ deadline tomorrow
Tuesday’s the night – all over the peninsula (and the rest of the city), you’ll see “STREET CLOSED” signs marking the spot for block parties in honor of “Night Out” (formerly National Night Out Against Crime), celebrating neighborhoods taking a stand against crime. According to the Seattle Police “Night Out” webpage, the deadline to sign up your neighborhood – and therefore get the right to close off (non-arterial) streets for block parties – is 9 am tomorrow, so you’d better get busy now if you haven’t gotten around to it yet. And we’ll repeat our pitch – we traditionally spend Night Out visiting West Seattle parties for as-it-happens coverage, so if a WSB photojournalist would be welcome to stop by, please let us know where and when your party’s happening (the official Tuesday night time frame is 6-10 pm, but in past years we’ve noticed some neighborhoods don’t really get going till a bit later). Thanks! (Here’s some of our coverage from last year.)
West Seattle Crime Watch: Another broken-glass business burglary
Thanks to the tipster who called to tell us about what is apparently the latest broken-glass business burglary case in West Seattle, at the state liquor store in The Junction. A glass company was there fixing the rear door just about an hour ago. We haven’t reached police about the case yet, but the online “911 incident report” map confirms a “commercial burglary” in the 4500 block of California SW, reported to 911 at 3:36 am today. Previously reported cases include Northwest Art and Frame (reported here – a commenter on that story also mentioned break-ins at Uptown and Allstar), Zebra Print and Copy in The Triangle and Freshy’s Coffee in South Admiral (reported here), and The Swinery (mentioned here). ADDED SUNDAY NIGHT: We heard from a witness to the liquor-store burglary who wants to be anonymous:
The robbery happened at 2:30 am Saturday morning. It woke me up; the suspect took one bottle from the place as far as i can tell. He ran through the parking lot going west bound. They brought in a k-9 unit along with the fire department to secure the broken door. A person from the liquor store was brought in and stayed until around 4 am until the fire department completed the boarding up.
We hope to find out more from police Monday about whether this is considered an official “pattern” of break-ins, and what the status of the investigation is.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Man charged in Highland Park attack
A 19-year-old man is in King County Jail, charged in what court documents call “a violent, random sexual assault on a complete stranger.” In the case (first reported at seattlepi.com; we obtained the court documents online today), Arjay D. Caraang is accused of approaching a 17-year-old girl who was walking in the 9200 block of 8th SW (near Westcrest Park) around 9 pm on July 21st, trying to talk to her, then grabbing her, groping her, and pulling her clothes off. The court documents say she broke away and ran; her screams brought help from passersby who chased the suspect, subsequently arrested by police. According to the court documents, Caraang has four felony convictions dating back as far as six years – three are “taking a motor vehicle without permission,” one is “attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle” – and five misdemeanor convictions, one for theft and four for driving-related offenses. The address listed for Caraang is near Roxhill Park; his bail is set at $77,500.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Junction robbery, burglary reports
Three reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this afternoon: First, info on the reason for a police search early this morning in The Junction. Police confirm a man reported being robbed at gunpoint at California/Alaska at 2:15 am. According to Det. Jeff Kappel in the media unit, here’s the description he gave officers: Black man in his mid-20s, 5-7, 180 pounds, short hair, mustache, black T-shirt, black cutoff-jeans shorts, black handgun, took off on foot headed westbound. A K-9 team joined the search, but the reported robber wasn’t found. (Hat tip to Lisa at CAPERS, who says the man who reported the robbery came into her store this afternoon; 
he told her it happened in the alley behind the west side of the Alaska-to-Oregon block. Also in The Junction, Katie e-mailed to ask what happened to the window at Northwest Art and Frame (right). Turns out a would-be burglar smashed it early Tuesday. The online police report says they did not enter the business; a staffer we talked to this afternoon said it didn’t appear anything had been taken. That would be at least the fourth case of business-window-smashing in West Seattle in the past few weeks (after Zebra Print and Copy in The Triangle and Freshy’s Coffee and The Swinery in South Admiral).
West Seattle Crime Watch followup: The Arbor Heights search
As noted last night, Seattle Police told us they couldn’t comment on the incident that brought so many officers to Arbor Heights in the 5:30 pm vicinity, because it was a King County Sheriff’s Office case. We have just heard back from KCSO’s media liaison Sgt. John Urquhart, who explains what it was about:
This was a stolen car in the driveway at a house in the 3500 block of SW 97th [map]. Our detectives saw a man in the driveway who took off running when we approached. A foot pursuit ensued. SPD was called to help out. The car had been stolen from Tukwila. The person who ran was not found, but one other man associated was booked on charges unrelated to the stolen car.
West Seattle Crime Watch: 26th scare; plus, ‘popular apartment’
Two items in West Seattle Crime Watch. FIRST: A scare in the 5400 block of 26th SW (map) just before noon. A man claimed he had been shot. Police and fire responded, and determined he had not been shot, nor assaulted, though he was “scratched up.” According to Det. Mark Jamieson in the SPD media unit, investigators are still trying to sort it out, but the initial belief is that the man was either under the influence, or having psychological problems, leading him to make the false claim. SECOND: A wild night at a Fauntleroy/Raymond (map) apartment building, according to the couple who wrote with kudos for police, and an account of what happened – read on:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: North Admiral car break-in
Before you lock up for the night, a reminder in this report from Kris:
Hi there, I wanted to report that my parents’ car on 47th Street SW (by Sunset) [map] was broken into last night and it looks like others might have been hit overnight. They left other vehicle information outside the car. Fortunately not much of value was in the car but others should be on notice to ensure they keep their cars locked on the streets. It’s unfortunate as we had assumed we lived in a pretty safe neighborhood.
We checked the available-so-far online police reports and aren’t seeing other reports in that area so far – but the “other vehicle info” could have come from elsewhere (there’s a 5100 block of SW Hudson car prowl listed for early this morning), or might be from incident/s not reported to police (who stress that it’s important to report, even if nothing was taken).
West Seattle Crime Watch: Robbery arrests; hit-run; car prowl
Three items in West Seattle Crime Watch this noontime. First, new details on the California/Andover mini-mart armed robbery reported here early this morning. According to Det. Mark Jamieson in the SPD media unit, the description given by the victim helped officers catch the alleged culprits at Delridge/Orchard – they pulled over a white pickup truck with four males inside (the victim had said two got out of the truck and robbed the store, just before midnight). Det. Jamieson says two suspects were arrested and booked into jail, while the other two were “interviewed and released”; he also confirms that a handgun was found in the truck. Meanwhile, two WSB’er reports have come in this morning – one, a woman looking for the hit-run driver who struck her as she crossed the street this morning; second, a car prowl – read on:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: Store stickup; more converter thefts
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this early morning: First, police are investigating an armed robbery – it happened about an hour ago at the gas station mini-mart at California/Andover (map). Scanner traffic suggests they have a potential suspect in custody – the robber was reported to have fled southbound in a white truck; numerous officers responded, and scanner traffic quickly indicated a potential suspect sighting in the SW Morgan vicinity, as well as a gun having been found in the vehicle. At last report, officers were still working to check with the victim and any potential witnesses; we probably won’t be able to confirm an arrest till later this morning. Meantime, more reported catalytic-converter thefts – coming in as comments on the one published here a week and a half ago – read on:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: More tagging – and future reporting
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes today about tagging/graffiti vandalism. First, just in from a resident southwest of The Junction who wants to be anonymous, this report and photo:
Reporting multiple graffiti tags around our house at the corner of Erskine SW and SW Hudson. Garage door and “Do Not Enter” sign (west side of Erskine/Hudson intersection at one-way of SW Hudson) was marked with [five letters starting with Z, ending with R]. The tag was done with a black graffiti paint marker sometime between July 20-21, 2010. Good news is the graffiti is removed and our immediate neighbors are on the lookout. Hope this helps!
Our general rule (there’s bound to be an exception now and then, such as a request by police) is that we don’t show tags/graffiti vandalism without blurring, nor publish the full tag. Police do ask that you photograph tags before you paint them over, and there may soon be a new way to get those photos to investigators more quickly and easily: Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James told the Delridge District Council last night that SPD is working on yet another new online reporting feature (following the launch of the reporting system mentioned here yesterday) – they’re looking at a feature that would allow citizens to upload photos. That would enable use of a new software package that detects similarities between tags/graffiti photos, so police can gather even more information to use against anyone they arrest. (Right now, though, even the new online system tells you that you must call to report this type of vandalism: 206-625-5011.)
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