Several West Seattle Crime Watch reports in this roundup tonight. In the first, we have a few more details from police on something we mentioned via Twitter late last night – a report of shots fired near 21st/Barton (map). A nearby resident e-mailed today to say they’d heard about half a dozen shots. We checked with Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James, who says a woman told police she was stopped in a vehicle at that intersection when someone got out of another car and fired several rounds at hers. She took off and called police; Lt. James says, “They found several bullet holes in her vehicle and recovered 2 casings at 21st and Barton.” No injuries. Meantime, we have three other miscellaneous crime reports – including another car-on-blocks, nowhere near yesterday’s two reports – read on:Read More

(1:55 pm summary: Rodney James has been sentenced to the 30 months in prison that prosecutors recommended.)

(WSB photo added 2:02 pm – Rodney James foreground left, the Wong family – from left, Jason, Wah, Salina, Jimmy – background right)
We are in King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector‘s courtroom downtown, along with Jade West Cafe proprietor Wah Wong and his son Jason Wong (plus many relatives and supporters), for the sentencing of Rodney James, the drunk driver who pleaded guilty to vehicular assault in the crash that badly hurt the Wongs two months ago. (The restaurant north of Morgan Junction has been closed ever since, its future still up in the air.) Also here: Three TV crews and a photographer from the Seattle Times (WSB partner) – close to 50 people in all in the courtroom. We are told some family members will address the judge; we’ll publish developments as they happen, with a longer story (including video and photos) later.

1:10 PM: The hearing has begun. The recommended 2 1/2 years is described as an “exceptional sentence.”

(WSB photo added 2:05 pm – Jimmy Wong at left, James’ lawyer at right)
1:16 PM: Jimmy Wong, the eldest son from California, is about to speak, after senior deputy prosecutor Amy Freedheim finished explaining how heinous the case is. “No amount of apology that he says will undo any of the damage that has been done. Mr. James’ actions have ruined my family’s fortune, source of income, my father’s passion, having his own restaurant for 20 years, serving the West Seattle community, that passion’s been taken away from him.” And he is speaking emotionally of his brother, who lost a leg. “The only thing I have left are memories of my brother … dancing at my wedding.” Then, he speaks of the customers of Jade West, who considered it home: “They don’t have a home any more.”

1:22 PM: Salina Wong, Wah’s wife and Jason’s mother, is speaking now. She too is crying. And then, she is angry, and tells James not to repeat the mistake. (added 5:15 pm – video of her testimony)

1:26 PM: Jason Wong, in a wheelchair, is speaking now. “One day I will get over this – but my family won’t. My parents have worked so hard, to see everything crumble in one day.”

1:30 PM: The lawyer for Rodney James is speaking and says he chose to accept “complete responsibility” and “wishes that day had never happened.” She spoke for about four minutes; James is speaking now, saying “I am devastated by this loss and it has affected me a great deal … if I could do this all over again, I would not have gotten in my car on that night.”

1:35 PM: Now the judge is speaking. “But for the heroic act of Jason, his father might not be here today.” She says the court has received 113 letters of support for the Wongs and Jade West. “More letters than I have ever seen, combined, in my 11th year on the bench.” She says the letters express outrage, disbelief, disappointment in the legal system. She calls James’s behavior “outrageous.” She says that James has agreed to factors that make it possible for her to sentence him to more than the standard range of 13 to 17 months. “Some of the letters have asked me to sentence you to the maximum the law permits … that would be 10 years. Some asked for more … even life. The law simply does not allow for that.” (added 2:37 – part of that statement, on video – sorry about all the typing noise)

She says she is aware that the Wong family are “incredible members of our community … Jason had agreed with a degree in aeronautical engineering and was in the process of obtaining a masters in that field … when your car (James’s car) landed in their driveway.” She says that on Wah Wong’s behalf, a former owner of the Jade West even wrote a letter, and “took great pride in seeing how it had grown in reputation throughout the West Seattle community.” She says the letters have been “overwhelming.” And, “No amount of time” will bring back the way the Wongs were .. the way the Jade West was. “Our entire community grieves for your losses, currently and prospectively,” the judge says. She also says she got letters from James’s parents expressing “deep remorse over their son’s actions.” She says toxicology reports now show James’ blood-alcohol level was .19 – higher than the originally reported .16. “The court will sentence you to the original 30 months agreed to,” she says. He also will serve 18 months probation afterward, and a $1,700-plus financial obligation even before a restitution hearing to determine what else he will be ordered to pay. If he gets a driver license in the future, he will have to have a device that will keep his car from starting unless he has less than .02 blood alcohol. She told him a few minutes earlier that he should never drive a car again, and that “if we were in Europe” he would lose his license for life.

1:56 PM: The hearing is concluded. We will see if the Wongs plan to speak to reporters outside the courtroom; we spoke with Jimmy Wong before the hearing, and he wasn’t sure if they would want to.

ORIGINAL 11:30 AM REPORT: Out of the WSB inbox this morning, from Gretchen:

We woke up to our car on cinder blocks, all four wheels stolen. We’re at 17th and Thistle [map]. Think it happened about 1 am. I woke up, feeling like I heard a thud, but don’t sleep well so kind of wrote it off. My 2 year old woke up as well. I went in to his room, fixed his blanket, everyone went back to sleep. Saw it at 6 am this morning. It’s a Honda Civic, so-so rims, 2 year old tires. Was parked in our driveway on Thistle, which gets traffic, but of course not much at 1 am. Our bedroom window is only 10 feet away from where the car’s parked. We have lights on in the backyard and on the front porch. We have dogs that bark at things, but they didn’t hear this. The people who did it were obviously very quiet. We reported it this morning and an officer came over. He said it’s the 2nd one this week in W Seattle. They didn’t leave anything behind, but the officer told me they often do leave tools. Car was still locked. Not sure how one can prevent something like this happening, other than listening to my gut and checking on things when I woke up. I had a feeling…damn. Wish I’d listened to it. Lesson learned.

(Last wheel-stealing reported here was 2 1/2 weeks ago.) Side note: Just half a mile directly east of where this happened, crime updates are part of the agenda for the Westwood Neighborhood Council tonight, 7 pm, Southwest Community Center (2801 SW Thistle). ADDED 1:42 PM: Betsey just e-mailed to say, “My neighbor directly across the street woke up to all four wheels gone and her car up on blocks. She did file a police report.” (This is on 11th SW near Thistle, blocks east of the first report, Betsey says.)

A reminder today from the family of Jade West Cafe proprietor Wah Wong (left), badly hurt along with son Jason Wong when a drunk driver hit them outside their Beacon Hill home two months ago: 5 pm today is the deadline to send a message supporting the toughest sentence possible when the driver, Rodney James, is sentenced Friday, two weeks after pleading guilty to vehicular assault. (Prosecutors are requesting a two-and-a-half-year sentence.) The request for e-mail support was first made by Wah Wong’s son Jimmy Wong, who spoke with us while visiting from California weekend before last. The family has sent three links for those interested in e-mailing their support: Guidelines for what to write, here; sample statement, here; archive of news stories (just for reference, no need to include in the letter), here. Their reminder e-mail adds:

– You can keep your message short (no need for a LONG essay – a paragraph or two is sufficient)
– You do NOT need to physically sign your letter (just name and date at the end will do)
– If you have any specific questions, feel free to call Diane Priest, our crime victims’ advocate (206-684-7702)

The future of the Jade West Cafe, which Wah Wong ran as mostly a one-man show, remains undetermined; he and Jason are now continuing their recovery at home in Beacon Hill. We plan to be in court to cover the sentencing on Friday.

(Photo in this story is from 2008, courtesy Paul Sureddin)

No, not this morning’s robbery – no photos from that have been made available so far. These are from a holdup at the Harbor Avenue 7-11 early last Thursday. Seattle Police and CrimeStoppers have put these photos out with word of a $1,000 reward.

SPDBlotter says there were three robbers – one with a gun – and they punched the clerk in the face. They got away with cash and cigarettes. The three are described as follows:

Suspect #1 is possibly Samoan or black, 20’s, approximately 6″2″ tall, stocky build, black hair (tied up in the back), with a black jacket, jeans with a large red pattern on the back and black gloves.

Suspect #2 is possibly black, 18-20’s, approximately 5′8″ tall, medium build, dark hoody, jeans, white gloves and armed with a black handgun.

Suspect #3 is approximately 5′5″ tall, medium build, gloves, white and gray hoody with skull designs all over it and dark-colored shorts.

(added) Here’s a third photo, taken outside the store, from the SPDBlotter post:

Info? Call 911 or the Seattle Police Robbery Unit at (206) 684-5535. To be anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or send a text to CRIMES (274637) – with a message including TIP486 so it’s routed to the right case.

Police have finally published an SPDBlotter report on this morning’s West Seattle Jack in the Box holdup, with many more details than were available this morning (here’s our previous report):

Two adult male suspects entered the open back door of a restaurant located in the 4200 block of SW Admiral Way. Both suspects were wearing face masks and gloves and one of them was armed with a large silver revolver. The suspects ordered everyone to get down on the floor.

The suspects then took one female employee to a back room containing a safe and ordered the employee to open it. When she didn’t open it fast enough for them, the armed suspect struck her on the head with his gun. The victim employee opened the safe and the suspects fled the scene on foot with cash taken from the safe. The suspects remain at large.

Both suspects are described as adult black males, 5′8″ to 6′0″, with medium complexions. Both suspects were wearing hooded sweatshirts. One suspect was wearing all black clothing and the other all gray clothing.

The employee who was pistol whipped is a female in her 20’s. She was treated at the scene by Seattle Fire Department Medics and transported to an area hospital by ambulance for non-life-threatening head and facial injuries.

(Photos added at 1:58 pm)
Your help is requested in the search for a stolen car. WSB’ers have spotted some others recently, so perhaps the track record will continue here. From Clare and Dave:

Our black 1993 Honda Accord (license # 084–H) was stolen from its spot at the back of our apartment building on 42nd Ave SW and Admiral Way (between Admiral and Lander) last night. We filed a police report this morning. If anyone sees it, would you please dial 911 to report it? Thank you for your help.

(Editor’s note – we omit some digits from license plates in cases like this; otherwise, crime victims’ personal data may be publicly accessible, using that information.) With this morning’s restaurant robbery nearby as context, we asked them if they had any idea of the theft time frame – they last saw the car 11 am Sunday and noticed it missing 9 am today.

Police confirm the Jack in the Box on Admiral Way was robbed around 5:30 this morning – police are looking for two suspects described as black males wearing ski masks, one described as about 6 feet tall, 160 to 180 pounds, gray sweatshirt and black pants, armed with a gun; the other was described as about 6 feet tall and carrying a green backpack. There’s a report that someone was hurt during the robbery – hit by one of the robbers, according to SPD media unit Det. Mark Jamieson. A sergeant on the scene tells us the injury wasn’t serious. K-9 officers have been out trying to track the robbers, but they haven’t been able to find anyone so far. 7:47 AM: Police have now taken the tape down, though we haven’t yet confirmed whether the restaurant has reopened. 8:17 AM: Went back to check. There are signs on the door and drive-up saying it’s temporarily closed. (P.S. THANK YOU to everyone who called and e-mailed about this. Best way to alert us when you see a huge police presence is our 24-hour phone line, 206-293-6302, so please consider adding that to your mobile contacts! Thanks!) 1:18 PM NOTE: The restaurant was open again in time for lunch.

Three items for West Seattle Crime Watch this afternoon. First, two notes came in asking about a King County Sheriff’s Office operation in the 9000 block of 35th SW (map) overnight. KCSO spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart tells us it was NOT related to the SWAT-involved raid four blocks south last week, but this too was a “drug bust” and resulted in at least one arrest so far. Meantime, we’ve got a burglary attempt and a case of suspected sign-stealing -read on:Read More

(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
And two more incidents police are working right now: In the 2300 block of California, there was an attempted stabbing. Nobody cut, the scanner clarified before we could even head out the door. They’re searching for a suspect. Then in the 5500 block of Delridge (map), police are looking for armed robbers who are reported to have held up the Super 24. 12:08 AM: Adding a photo. No indication of any arrests so far.

(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Thanks again to our friends at Central District News for catching this on the scanner – we have just confirmed with SPD Media Unit Det. Jeff Kappel – there was an attempted bank robbery at the Chase branch in West Seattle Thriftway about 10 minutes ago. (That branch is usually open till 7 weekdays.) No word yet of a description. 6:37 PM: Police have detained someone in the parking lot – WSB’s Christopher Boffoli is talking with police at the scene and so far they still think the suspect is on the loose – he’s asking about a description. 6:49 PM: Police at the scene say so far, the only description information they have is that the would-be robber was female, African-American, wearing a stocking cap. 7:14 PM: A little more description info that Christopher got from police – “in her 20’s or 30’s with a white knit cap and a polar fleece jacket.”

If you haven’t seen it in the SPDBlotter feed on the Crime Watch page already: A West Seattle robbery solved by fingerprints on a thrown beer can. The SPDBlotter report says it happened at “a convenience store in the 6300 block of 35th SW” (map) on December 12th; two people who tried to buy beer but were turned away for lack of ID started throwing beer cans at the clerk, then hit him, and one made off with the register in the meantime. They got away but prints were lifted from the beer cans and one was traced about a week ago to a 19-year-old man; turns out he’s i the King County Jail on an unrelated warrant, and has now confessed to this crime; the other suspect’s still being sought. Read the full SPDBlotter story here.

From the WSB inbox – two West Seattle homes, next door to each other, burglarized over the weekend – read on for the report, including the unusual choice of loot:Read More