West Seattle, Washington
06 Sunday
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.
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.
Followup on the two incidents we were following late last night/early this morning: Police confirm the Beach Drive search was indeed the result of an interrupted car-prowl incident. Around 9:30 last night, in the 5400 block of Beach Drive (map), a vehicle owner looked outside his window and saw the vehicle doors open, then went outside and confronted a suspect, who displayed “a large knife.” Police say they stopped a possible suspect at one point during their extensive search, but the owner couldn’t confirm that was the would-be car prowler. Meantime, as for the Fairmount area shots-fired call, police did not find any damage or other evidence that it was definitely gunshots.
We’re at the King County Courthouse, where 59-year-old Thomas Qualls – the Alki resident accused of firing an assault rifle September 3rd at police who subsequently shot him (original WSB coverage here) – made a brief appearance this afternoon. It was meant to be an update on whether he would enter a plea or proceed to trial. He pleaded not guilty September 22nd to three counts of second-degree assault, with firearms enhancement. Lawyers told the judge today that they are still awaiting key reports, so a decision on what’s next is now pushed back a few more weeks. When last we saw Qualls in the same courtroom three months ago (WSB coverage here), he was in a wheelchair, as he recovered from a gunshot wound to the abdomen; today, Qualls was standing, with the assistance of a walker. He’s been in jail since leaving the hospital five days after the incident, held in lieu of $1 million bail. The proceedings today included a mention of “negotiations,” so it appears a plea bargain is still a possibility.
Seattle Public Schools is in the midst of cleaning up a particularly prolific outbreak of tagging on the boarded-up ex-Boren Junior High School building (5950 Delridge Way), vacant after two years of serving as interim home to Chief Sealth International High School. Some had worried the building would become especially attractive to spray-paint vandals once boards went up over the Boren windows three months ago (WSB coverage here). Delridge-area advocate Pete Spalding noticed the many tags on the building over the holiday weekend and called it to the district’s attention. We took a partial “before” photo of just one of the many tagged areas (tags mostly blurred, as per our editorial policy) before it was covered up on Monday:
One issue that arose before the cleanup: If you see something like this — or any other maintenance problem/damage at a vacant school building, where neighbors will likely be the first to notice – how do you report it? ? Seattle Public Schools spokesperson Tom Redman provides this phone number: 206-252-0550. (He also says that the initial covering-over of the tagging vandalism was just the first phase; the boards will be painted over, too.)
Checking court files early today for West Seattle crime cases carrying over into the new year, we discovered something that so far as we can tell, has not been reported yet, though it happened three weeks ago: One of the two suspects in last May’s Highland Park beating/hate-crime case has pleaded guilty.
Court records show that 23-year-old Ahmed Y. Mohamed pleaded guilty December 13th to both of the charges filed against him and 21-year-old co-defendant Jonathan Baquiring – one count of robbery and one count of malicious harassment. If you don’t recall the backstory – a bloodied, dazed 15-year-old found near 17th/Kenyon (map) the morning of May 25th told police he had been beaten, burned and robbed at the 14th/Holden (map) staircase by two “black and Filipino” men who repeatedly made remarks about his race (white). In his plea documents, Mohamed acknowledges that was the motive, writing:
… I maliciously and intentionally, because of my perception of his race, caused physical injury …
Mohamed also admits to robbing the victim:
… by stealing items from his pockets while threatening to cap him, whipping him with his belt, and burning him with cigarettes. We also displayed a knife with a several-inch blade, held it to his neck, and threatened to cut his throat. We targeted [the victim] because he was a different race than we are.
Police found Mohamed and Baquiring nearby that same morning and questioned but did not arrest them. They did get DNA samples, and almost four months later, after those samples were matched to other evidence in the case, charges were filed on September 20th. Baquiring was arrested the next night, as reported here; Mohamed, not until October 11th; both have been in jail ever since.
The plea agreement document in Mohamed’s case notes that all parties agree there was “different criminal intent” between the two crimes – robbery with use of a deadly weapon (the knife) and malicious harassment (hate crime). Mohamed, who has no felony record, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. But according to the plea-agreement documents, prosecutors plan to recommend 4 years in prison for the robbery count and 1 year for malicious harassment, to be served concurrently (update: plus 24 months for the weapons enhancement – because of the knife – on the robbery count; see comments). His sentencing hearing is set for January 21st. Court records for co-defendant Baquiring indicate that so far, he is proceeding toward trial one month after that, in late February.
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).
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Near Jefferson Square on Wednesday, a gentleman waved the car behind to “go around” when his groceries spilled to the floor and he needed a moment to rearrange them. The driver did, indeed, pass by, but then stopped and blocked in the gentleman’s car. An “overly excited/hostile” passenger jumped from the car and kicked a dent in the gentleman’s passenger door. Officers found the suspected offending driver (58 years old) and his son, the suspected kicker (36 years old) at dad’s Morgan Junction-area home. At first, dad lied and said he had been alone at the time, but he finally went in and got his son, admitting he was trying to “protect him.” It’s possible Sonny Boy will face charges of property damage.
Five more summaries ahead, starting with the case of cab-rider rage:Read More
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.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*A mystery surrounds a green Ford pickup truck and its driver, seen doing off-roading-style maneuvers in the mud, kicking up dirt and grass and driving through private yards in the 2400 block of SW Juneau on Monday around noon. Alarmed when the driver suddenly stopped alongside the yard of a child-care center and smiled, the caregiver hustled the children away from the area. They were unhurt, and the truck left the area “without further incident.” Here’s the mystery: The truck had a “Seattle City Parks” placard on its side. A parks supervisor told officers that no employees were working in the area at that time, no trucks in the parking lot had mud splatter, and that the partial license plate reported did not match any Parks Department vehicle. The driver was a white man, age 22-29.
Six more summaries ahead:Read More
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.
(WSB photos by Christopher Boffoli)
Thanks go to Lynda and Nancy for alerting us to this sad sight: Two young trees destroyed in front of Madison Middle School (north of the main entrance path, as the top photo shows). When we heard about it, we wondered if it was related to our recent bouts of wind, but Christopher Boffoli went over for photos and reports it’s clear they were taken down by a hatchet or pick-axe. (Note the debris in the next photo.)
We have a message out to police to ask if this has been reported and whether any other vandalism’s been reported in the area; no reply yet, but we’ll add any more information we get. (If you’re wondering when it happened – sometime before midnight, which is when Lynda’s note came in.)
Two more West Seattle Crime Watch reports this afternoon. First, longtime WSB’er JanS reports in the WSB Forums that her car’s been stolen. Details here.
Second, Todd at West Seattle Autoworks (WSB sponsor) shares the latest warning about catalytic-converter theft:
A customer just called [early this afternoon] and informed me that his catalytic converter was stolen off his Toyota 4-Runner.
There was a rash of this a couple of years ago, and it may be starting again. The thieves use battery-operated saws and just cut the pipes, preferring Toyota 4WD vehicles because of ground clearance (no jacking needed) and a large market for the item.
A catalytic-converter theft was part of this WS Crime Watch report eight days ago
Out of the WSB inbox, from Eric:
This morning as I was leaving I spotted a guy prowling around a house (at the corner of 46th and Hemlock Way [map]).
I walked down and looked around the house but didn’t see him. I went back up and got in my car and drove down that way. I decided to take the hairpin turn onto 46th north of Rose to get a view of the back of the neighbor’s house. The frame of her electronic dog door was lying on the ground, which got me even more suspicious. Then as I pulled forward a bit farther I could see the guy hiding up against a wall of the other neighbor’s house. Called the cops. Three units showed up within five minutes. All this time I was thinking that the neighbor whose house was being prowled was out of town, but as it turns out she was there with her little boy. Her dog finally heard the guy trying to break in and she saw him as he went running down the street.
He was a Caucasian male, under 6 feet, thin, wearing a grey hoodie under a dark
jacket … spiky blonde hair sticking out from under the hoodie.Keep your eyes peeled. And have a safe holiday, everybody.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Three young men showed up at a Fauntleroy business Thursday afternoon and purchased one item. But two of them also distracted the clerk while the third — claiming to have gone to use the bathroom — made off with a laptop computer from the rear of the store.
*Early Thursday, a man with a history of mental illness showed up at his brother’s Avalon-area house to retrieve a special copy of Playboy (special because it featured his “girlfriend,” the late Anna Nicole Smith). When he refused to leave, officers were called to provide assistance. They offered to call him a cab, but he walked off, saying that he was willing to “trust Steve Sarkisian” (the UW football coach) but that he “needed his Cougar gloves.” Football was still on his mind the next morning, when he was found throwing garbage on a statue at Admiral Viewpoint and mumbling about terrorists, 9/11, and former NFL star (killed in Afghanistan) Pat Tillman. The 37-year-old was transported to Harborview for an involuntary evaluation.
Five more summaries after the jump:
From Ray:
Our Volvo wagon was broken into overnight. It was parked in our alley carport between Graham and Morgan/ 39th and 38th Sts. SW. (map) They rifled through the glove box and another compartment between the front seats. They took our daughter’s canvas swim bag from the back seat and scattered its contents down the alley: a purple swim cap, one pair of blue goggles, a green diamondback suit, a YMCA card. The sight of her cherished swim gear trashed in the alley was quite the cold awakening this morning for our seven year old. “Who could do such a thing?” she cried.
Another sad reminder, as per the current SPD awareness campaign, that *nothing* is safe, left in a vehicle – even if you are sure it’s something in which no thief would take an interest.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports this afternoon – first, from Dena:
Last night 12-12-2010 between the hours of 12 midnight and 7:00am 12-13-2010
Stolen in the 6900 block of California Ave SW
1996 champagne F250 Diesel w/ USCG vanity plate and with 20′ U-Haul trailer attached.
Any information can be e-mailed to me @ dena-engen@comcast.net
And from Jen:
We had some lighted candy canes along our walkway from the street and someone made off with them sometime between late last night and this afternoon. We don’t use the front entrance much, so cannot pinpoint the time any further. We live on 44th, just north of the Junction. I’ve read other accounts of people getting stuff taken from their yards around Halloween, so I know it happens, but it’s still lame.
We also have asked police for an update on the investigation of the car vandalism we reported Sunday; no word on that yet.
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