ORIGINAL 11:19 A REPORT: We’ve received a few calls about the chopper over SE West Seattle/White Center. Officers are after a woman described on the scanner as having a shotgun; it started in the 10700 block of 18th. More to come. NOON UPDATE: We’ve just talked at the scene with King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart. He tells us this began when residents interrupted a burglary in progress. They’re OK but three suspects — including the aforementioned armed woman – are being sought. 12:45 PM UPDATE: Our video of Sgt. Urquhart’s media briefing is back in house; uploading now, but in the meantime, the newest details – one suspect was caught, two on the loose. He says all three are believed to be teenagers. (added) Here’s the video (you can hear the helicopter/s in the background):
KING 5 broke the story tonight: An assistant manager at the Admiral Jack in the Box is now charged with robbery in connection with the early-morning holdup at the restaurant last February. The station reports that police say 33-year-old Michelle Miesner confessed to having the robbery staged but claimed the “robbers” then made off with all the money, though she reportedly admitted she’d stolen more than $2,000 from the restaurant before. According to the King County Jail Register, Miesner was arrested last Tuesday afternoon and released from jail 25 hours later. (Thanks to Diane for the tip about the KING story.)ADDED 8:56 AM TUESDAY: We have the charging documents now. Read on for a few more details: Read More
The Admiral Neighborhood Association has just sent out one more reminder about its Crime Prevention Summit tomorrow night, with two Southwest Precinct reps in attendance – Community Police Team Officer Adonis Topacio and Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow. In preparation for the meeting, ANA president Katy Walum has just sent out a document police sent in advance – a list of notable crimes in the area so far this year (through March 15th). Here’s that document; as for what area it covers, here’s a map. Tomorrow night’s event is at 6:30 pm at Hiawatha Community Center (map).
CRIME WATCH REPORT #1: That window-repair work in the Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) nursery wasn’t originally on the church schedule today … until burglar(s) broke in overnight. That’s not all they did; church staffer Jackie Gould says they used the custodian’s tools to break off part of a door latch, ransacked chapel drawers, and opened a fire extinguisher to spray retardant foam all over the hallway, even in a resource room where kids’ art/craft supplies (and other items) were stored:
The burglar(s) also stole small electronics including an iPod belonging to the church’s wedding coordinator. As you might be able to tell from that photo, some footprints were left in the foam in that room; most of the other damage was cleaned up by the time we dropped by at mid-afternoon.
CRIME WATCH REPORT #2: The keeper of the “Ducky Reserve” at Lowman Beach, Ron Sterling, has surveillance video equipment trained on his whimsical display at all times. They’ve caught some unusual sights over the years. This time, they’ve caught an unmistakable case of vandalism destroying/stealing the St. Patrick’s Day display he hadn’t changed over yet. He’s posted about it in the WSB Forums, including a link to video of the incident.
We’ve had a couple reports of vandalism in Crime Watch the past few days (see the WSCW page for links) – and another one this morning. We took the photos above afterDr. Bill Raleigh (WSB sponsor) e-mailed us to report, “We are sad to say the handcrafted sign out in front of our office was destroyed over the weekend. Being right on the corner of California and Genesee [map] and in a well-lit area didn’t help – the vandals broke the sign in half, leaving pieces strewn over our grass.”
Our partners at the Seattle Times just broke this story: Police are looking for a man who coached a West Seattle youth-soccer team until last November, now that he has been charged with child molesting and other crimes. 38-year-old Francisco “Javier” Valdivia-Enriquez, who coached Deportivio Moctezuma, is accused of molesting nine teenage boys, according to the Times. He reportedly has not been seen since late November and is believed to be out of the country. More when we get the charging documents. ADDED 12:37 PM: We have received and read the paperwork – read on for a summary:Read More
We had vandalism done to our car tonight. 39th and Thistle [map]. I saw two young teens in baseball caps run after kicking the side mirror off the car. Police have been called.
And from Joseph:
My son’s Huffy Mongoose kid’s bike (orange/gold) and silver Razor scooter with red handlebars/trim was stolen today from our carport that faces the alley behind the West Seattle Baptist church, right off California and Genesee [map]. It happened between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm. Wanted folks to know.
ADDED 1:21 AM: One more Crime Watch report – a phone grab at a West Seattle bus stop – read on:Read More
One week after our last report, here’s another one – Kate got hit:
Just wanted to let you know my car was hit with eggs last night – near the corner of 35th and Elmgrove [map]. Looks like I was the only one, but not sure if anyone else was targeted. It made a huge mess and after washing it all off, you can see where the egg shells exploded and scratched the paint. Fun!
This falls squarely in the corner of the type of incident police want to make sure you report, even if you think it’s “minor” … as “KBear” wrote in the 20-comment discussion that followed last Monday’s report, “Just because petty crime may be commonplace doesn’t mean we should put up with it in our community.” There’ve been some reports of items thrown at moving vehicles, for example, which can startle a driver and cause a crash. The non-emergency number (which would be appropriate unless you come across someone in the act of throwing something) is 206-625-5011.
If you see that work by John Osgood, “Flowers for You,” anywhere but the exhibition space in Mural Apartments (WSB sponsor), report it to police – because it’s stolen, according to Twilight Artist Collective, which just sent word of the theft. They’ve also written about it on their website. It’s been missing for eight days now, so they decided to get the word out more widely.
Meantime, one other Crime Watch note this afternoon – from Kelly:
Just wanted to let everyone know we had a car break-in (Tuesday) night in Arbor Heights, 42nd and 102nd [map]. Never had a problem in the past 5 years until now. They rooted around in the car for valuables but we don’t own any valuables! Ha! We think it occurred after 11:30 pm.
From last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting: Big turnout – about 40 people – after the new West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network put out the call for members to be there. Featured speaker was the man who helps coordinate Block Watch and other crime-prevention efforts for the Southwest Precinct, Benjamin Kinlow (who’s a Seattle Police Department civilian employee). That topped the agenda – with some other interest later including a discussion of the beer/wine license for which Walgreen’s has applied – read on:Read More
From Dicki at Endolyne Joe’s in Fauntleroy – the photo at left and the plea for help finding that sign:
My partner, Mark Silver, who built Joe’s, made a great Pig holding a sandwich board sign that said Eat at Joe’s. We have been putting it on the corner of 45th and Wildwood. He made this incredible sign for free because he loves Joe’s. One of my Managers forgot to bring it in the other night, and alas he is gone! We love our pig and want him back. Would he go under lost pets? He was like a pet to us.
No, this is more Crime Watch than Lost/Found Pets. If you’ve seen the pig, please contact Dicki, 937 5637.
We have Crime Watch information to share from three neighborhoods this afternoon – both car and home break-ins, including one in which the loot included snacks – read on for the details:Read More
Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess came to West Seattle today to promote his package of proposals to fight “street disorder.” He was one of three speakers during the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly lunch meeting – held this time at the Southwest Precinct. Before Burgess’s appearance, the 30-plus people in attendance heard from the precinct’s top two leaders: Its commander, Capt. Joe Kessler, and its operations lieutenant, Lt. Norm James. One big theme from Capt. Kessler, who’s about to mark his second anniversary as West Seattle’s top cop, and Lt. James: Report EVERY crime, no matter how small. They recounted cases in which officers recovered stolen property and wanted to return it to its owners – but the thefts had never been reported. (Be sure to have records of your valuable, and etching identifying info helps too.) He also noted a case of thefts from a business that each seemed tiny – and went unreported as a result – but eventually added up to something huge. Capt. Kessler also acknowledged that while there had been complaints in the past about callers getting brushed off when they called 911, leading people to question police advice about “call in ANYTHING suspicious,” the complaint level is down and service level is up.
Also up – police staffing; he discussed the citywide level, which is around 1,350 “and still hiring” – way up from a historic low of 1,000 some years back – and noted that while the SW Precinct has 13% of the city’s call load, it gets 14% of the staffing, because of some quirks caused by the fact the patrol area – West Seattle and South Park – is split into two “sectors” instead of three or more like other precincts. He noted that three members of the SW Precinct team are currently on military deployment overseas.
The “emphasis team for the business community,” two officers who spend most of their time in The Junction and environs, has been on that assignment for some months now, and Capt. Kessler said it’s going well – they often intervene or intercept trouble even before it’s officially reported. He says the third-watch team (which starts around 7 pm) will be increasing visibility for businesses that are open at night, such as restaurants and bars.
One such entrepreneur, Dave Montoure of West 5, commended precinct leadership for the new emphasis patrols and offered the observation that since the two officers had previously worked downtown, they recognized some Junction-area troublemakers as having come from downtown. That led Capt. Kessler to say police “strongly support” the new crackdown proposals by Councilmember Burgess, who picked up from there.
We got a tip around 1:40 this afternoon about a big police response by the US Bank branch in The Junction (42nd/Edmunds). Nothing there when we arrived – but we have since found out from police what was happening: Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James says a man “walked into First Mutual Bank looking like he was going to rob it.” He fled after an alarm was triggered; officers then spotted him by the US Bank branch, and discovered he was “armed with a BB gun,” Lt. James says. The man was detained and turned over to robbery detectives for questioning.
Last month, we reported the news that federal investigators were looking into the shootings of at least five sea lions, some found in West Seattle (like the one that was being checked out in the photo at left, shared by Will). West Seattle’s Seal Sitters received early word of some of those cases and have been tracking the investigations. Robin Lindsey from Seal Sitters has now posted an update on their site: She reports that authorities say, of 11 sea lions whose deaths they investigated in January and February, from Kingston in the north to Olympia in the south, 10 had been shot. Two were Steller sea lions, officially listed as “threatened”; eight were California sea lions. As Robin writes on the Seal Sitters site, these shootings are considered crimes, and there’s a 24-hour tipline. And if you spot a seal on the beach in West Seattle in any condition, call Seal Sitters at 206-905-SEAL.
The Admiral Neighborhood Association has just sent out one more reminder about its Crime Prevention Summit tomorrow night, with two 
From last night’s 
From Dicki at 
Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess came to West Seattle today to promote his package of proposals to fight “street disorder.” He was one of three speakers during the 
One big theme from Capt. Kessler, who’s about to mark 
We got a tip around 1:40 this afternoon about a big police response by the 
Last month,
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