West Seattle, Washington
02 Wednesday
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.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch reports – including one with a warning/reminder (and not just the ones you think you’ve heard a million times before). Read on for all three, as reported by those who were hit:Read More
(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).
(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).
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.)
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.
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.
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).
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.
Eric in Seaview says somebody crashed into his sidewalk planter last night – strewing concrete chunks everywhere – then drove off. Read on for his story, with a photo:Read More
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
We’ve been talking with police for a few hours to try to find out more about a search this evening in the Admiral area – thanks to everyone who called about it. Details are now on SPD Blotter: Police are seeking a man wanted for “domestic-violence threats” in the 6300 block of 22nd SW, then spotted in Admiral. They found his car, but not him. Full story here.
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).
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
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
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.)
Even more online-services news today from the city: Seattle Police now have an online-reporting system for certain “low-level” crime categories. Read about it here. SPD cautions that this is just for certain “low-level” crimes – it doesn’t replace calling 911 for something urgent. Here’s the home page for the new service. (We have also linked this atop the WSB Crime Watch page, in case you need to find it fast.)
Two items to share in West Seattle Crime Watch: First – remember Sharon, who shared the story two weeks ago about a burglary near Lincoln Park with loot including the family van? Tonight, a followup:
Our VW Eurovan is home, much the worse for the wear. (was stolen from our home at the end of SW Othello St 6-30-10). The Kent Police recovered it 7-13-10. Seems the van was in use for criminal activity. They found an acetylene torch, bolt cutters, tool box, etc in the van. Can you imagine a VW camper as a getaway vehicle!!? We think they were depending on the “nerd factor”. We haven’t recovered any of the other items stolen from the house. Service station video (in Tukwila) of someone using my debit card helped nail the thieves. So looks as if the thieves were not from West Seattle.
And from Keith:
I thought I’d send in a message to let you know that 3 telephone poles in our alley on 47th were tagged the other night. Not sure how many alleys or homes were hit. We are on 47th near Andover/Charlestown.
Two weeks from tonight, it’s Night Out – the neighborhood-building, crime-preventing block-party night – if you let us know – thanks!
If you saw the sizable police response at Delridge/Brandon Monday night – several people e-mailed us about it – here’s what it was about, according to Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith: One suspect was arrested after officers answered a disturbance call just after 8 pm, involving that suspect and a neighbor’s guest. During the disturbance, Lt. Smith says, “a knife was displayed, and the suspect began chasing the complainant’s cousin with a knife.” The suspect was eventually arrested for assault with a weapon; the knife had been thrown in the bushes just before officers arrived. Then police were called back to the scene just before 10 pm – the original complainant called to ask for help because, Lt. Smith said, “males associated with the suspect were hanging around and complainant was still having issues with them. Due to the nature of the original call, multiple units responded to ensure a peaceful resolution.”
ORIGINAL 11:58 AM REPORT: This morning, we got an e-mail tip from Mike Heavey about a broken window at Zebra Print and Copy (35th and Fauntleroy) – police were just arriving as we got there, so while we were able to get photos, we were waiting to hear from them regarding what happened. But in the meantime, we have just heard from the business – Idris Noor at Zebra says it’s the second time they’ve been victimized this month:
I just wanted to let you guys know that our store Zebra Print and Copy.com has been burglarized for the 2nd time this month. The first incident occurred on July 2, and the second one last night.
The first time they attempted to break in through the back door. They tried to pry the door open but were unsuccessful . They ended (up) smashing the front door and leaving.
Today’s break in was caused by a brick being thrown at the window and smashing it while also destroying our neon sign. They seemed to have walked around and looked for stuff but nothing seems to be missing except strangely our candy vending machines. Yes, candy vending machines!
A local ADT employee seems to be the first person to have noticed it this morning and called the police immediately. He also stated that there was another coffee shop in West Seattle that was broken into with their register taken.
We are really starting to worry about the safety of our store and also of our employees. I would like to ask everyone to stay vigilant at night and if anyone might have seen anything last night today or early in the morning going past our store to contact us or the police to let us know what they saw
We aren’t sure if the “coffee shop” case is actually the smash-grab at The Swinery that we reported last Friday; we’re checking with police on that too.
12:01 PM UPDATE: Right after publishing this, we got a reply to that, from Lt. Norm James, who confirms the coffee-shop mention – he says a window was broken at Freshy’s Coffee, triggering its alarm. (added) Layne confirms this in the comment section – saying the stolen register was recovered nearby.
From Thursday night’s Alki Community Council meeting: At left, that’s animal-control officer Brandi Homeier from Seattle Animal Shelter, invited to discuss concerns about offleash dogs on the beach. Instead of a prepared presentation, she opted for Q&A. Homeier reminded those in attendance that dogs aren’t supposed to be on Alki Beach, whether on or off leashes. Offenders, she said, are cited immediately – no “first warning.” So what if you see a dog on the beach? she was asked. Answer: Don’t confront the owner – call the SAS. Or even 911 in an emergency if you can’t reach SAS; animal-control officers respond to all calls, she said, but emergencies take priority – such as injured animals, or reports of dogs left in hot cars. And, she explained, there are relatively few officers available citywide – 7 days a week, somebody’s on duty, but there’s a lot of territory to cover. Also at Thursday’s meeting, the ACC got a crime update from Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James – read on for his toplines:Read More
Thanks to Brenda and to John Moore of Northwest Insurance Group (WSB sponsor) for sending in the tip after seeing the broken glass – Someone smashed The Swinery‘s front window overnight and made off with its cash register. We talked to The Swinery’s Garrett Doherty, who said there appeared to be a scattered trail of small change leading southbound. We’ve also checked with Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James, who says the thief/thieves didn’t actually go into the shop – they managed to grab the register through the broken window. Though sometimes commercial burglaries come in waves, he says there hasn’t been an unusual number lately. (Last night he told the Alki Community Council that crime overall has been quieter in West Seattle lately; our report on the ACC meeting’s coming up later.) No arrest in this, yet.
After several notes scattered over the course of the afternoon/evening, we finally have information on the big police presence that several people noticed in Highland Park and south White Center at midday today: Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith tells us tonight that it started with a report of a “domestic-violence disturbance” in the parking lot of Walgreens at 15th/16th/Roxbury. The suspect, a man in his late 20s, ran; he eventually was found hiding in bushes two blocks away, but matters were complicated by the fact the victim was uncooperative, says Lt. Smith, and tried to keep officers from finding the suspect. Once he was found, he was booked into King County Jail in connection with an outstanding warrant. Also tonight, two reader reports – a stolen car, and a car prowl – read on:Read More
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