West Seattle, Washington
16 Tuesday
While WSB contributing reporter Megan Sheppard was going through police reports for the (forthcoming) weekly “from the police files” roundup, she happened onto a report that led us to this disturbing case involving a West Seattle 8-year-old hospitalized after being beaten and jumped on. The suspect: His father, now in jail, charged with assault, bail set at $250,000. The attack happened in Renton but we can’t find evidence it’s been reported anywhere else. Details ahead:Read More
News just down the block from WSB HQ right now. Somebody made a deafening racket crashing a VW Jetta through the DO NOT ENTER sign at California/Thistle (map), heading southbound on California (the dead-end direction in which you’re not supposed to enter), and ending up against the front steps of a house at California/Sullivan. Nobody hurt, but the driver, according to neighbors, took off, apparently northbound on California; the only description is male, in a white shirt. Police have been called. The car is still there in the stairs, DO NOT ENTER sign against its hood, smoking; chunks of debris, including the concrete that held the sign, litter the street. 3:48 AM NOTE: An officer arrived within minutes of a neighbor’s call; another one headed out in search of the runaway driver. First question some (including us) had – was it a stolen car? Responding officer checked and says it’s not reported as such.
4:51 AM UPDATE: Police found the suspect, brought him back to the scene for witness ID (we weren’t the witnesses, we only heard the crash; the driver had bolted before we went out to see what had happened), and took him away. The car’s being towed, and SDOT has arrived to clean up the street debris and mark the suddenly signless “wrong way” street end; the car pushed/dragged the DO NOT ENTER sign more than 100 feet.
These aren’t West Seattle cases – but there are calls to be on the lookout region-wide, so we’re sharing them here, one with a photo, one with a sketch. First is the recent attack on a jogger in Seward Park, with new information about the attacker, and second is a just-announced case of alleged “cyberstalking” that may have victims all over Western Washington (if not beyond) – read on:Read More
We just got more information about the police presence Wednesday morning at a home near 49th SW and Stevens (here’s our previous report; the actual location turned out to be closer to 49th than 50th) – police are able to share a few more details. According to Det. Mark Jamieson in the Seattle Police media unit:
Detectives served a warrant at that location and arrested a 19-year-old man. He was booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. They also seized items from the house of evidentiary value.
He says the investigation is ongoing but they’re not looking for any other suspects. As for what the “evidentiary value” items might be – the city’s crime-report map shows a report filed yesterday in that vicinity described only as “pornography”; the full report is not likely to be available for a few days. We’ll continue to follow up, including checking with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on whether the man who was arrested will be charged.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this morning. First, after a half-dozen notes/calls from concerned neighbors/passersby, we have a bit of information on the notable police presence near 50th/Stevens (map): Det. Mark Jamieson in the SPD media unit says it’s a search warrant, and that’s all he can say right now – not a currently active crime scene. We’ll be checking back later. (Added: Moments after we published this, another note came in from Laura, mentioning that the FBI is there too.) … Meantime, Jeff sends word of a stolen truck to watch for:
This weekend (Saturday) a friend of mine had his work truck stolen from his house near Genesee and 50th [map]. It is a large Chevy panel truck with “Express Cryogenics” painted on the outside, and is the only one of the same kind in the Seattle area. If anyone knows about this, or sees the truck driving around town, please call me (Jeff @ 206-933-6302) or (Paul @ 206-923-2699). It’s his work truck, and he can’t provide for his family without it. There is only one truck like this in Seattle.
9:30 AM UPDATE: Via Facebook, Julie says officers left the 50th/Stevens scene around 9 am. 5:55 PM UPDATE: Haven’t had a chance to mention this sooner – Jeff says they found the truck, in West Seattle, after getting a call less than an hour after this item was published this morning.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second weekly installment of this new WSB feature – if you missed the explanation/introduction with which we prefaced the first one, you’ll find it here.
By Megan Sheppard
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*A Fauntleroy woman returned home to discover one of her dogs missing and a bedroom window open. Initially concerned about a break-in, she and officers ultimately decided that a “break-out” was the likelier scenario: There were no signs of forced entry, and the dog (later found 11 blocks away) had apparently seized the opportunity to re-enact The Great Escape by jumping onto the bed and out of the window.
*Around 7 a.m. on October 5th, officers woke a homeless man who was sleeping on a Junction bus stop bench. As part of the information-gathering, they asked if they could search his backpack. The contents — none of which were in his name — might have warranted a round of the “12 Days of Christmas”: Five credit cards, three IDs, two drivers licenses, one passport, several blank checks, one crack pipe, rock cocaine … and a meeeeeethh-loaded syringe.
Seven more reports ahead:Read More
Our partners at the Seattle Times just broke the news: The second suspect in last May’s Highland Park attack is now in jail. According to the King County Jail Register, 22-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was booked just after 4:30 yesterday afternoon. As first reported here, the other suspect, 21-year-old Jonathan Baquiring, was jailed shortly after the charges were made public on September 21st. As detailed in the police-report narrative, the teen victim reported being assaulted for hours by two men who made racist remarks during the attack. Mohamed and Baquiring are both charged with robbery and malicious harassment; Baquiring has pleaded not guilty.
Two car-theft stories in this afternoon’s West Seattle Crime Watch update: First, if you didn’t catch it playing out in the comment section, Lee confirms that his stolen “beater” Acura – first reported here – is indeed the car that Kath spotted. (He also provided an update on its post-theft condition.) The site where it was found is less than a mile from where it was stolen. Meantime, we have a new car-theft (and prowl) report from a few miles south – click ahead:Read More
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports this afternoon. First one is from JR:
We were alerted today, by VISA, of unauthorized charges on our credit card and the card was shut down. I am wondering if others in West Seattle had the same thing happen to them in the last few days? If so I would love to compare purchases and payment locations directly with respondents in order to help the police in their their investigation. I will not specify the business specifically, but we used this card at the following West Seattle locations:
Two different fruit and vegetable stands
One restaurant at the Junction
The above charges were made on Friday.On Saturday we bought coffee at a coffee shop in West Seattle and then went to Queen Anne lower hill where:
*We paid by card for parking at a parking lot west of Seattle Center
*We purchased stage theater tickets from a theater
*We bought sports merchandise at Seattle Center.The fraudulent charges started after 4 PM Saturday. Don’t know if they occurred in West Seattle or Queen Anne.
I do not want to name any specific businesses, but if you have had your card number stolen and incurred fraudulent charges after using your credit card at any of the types of places meeting these descriptions, contact police and Visa Fraud division, 1-800-383-0618.
We also received a recent report of a credit-card number apparently stolen after being used at an area gas station; the person who e-mailed suspected a card skimmer, but we have not yet seen a police report verifying that. It all is a good reminder to check your credit-card account online as often as feasible – daily if you can – to catch something like this.
Meantime, we also received a car-theft report from Lee (39th and Hanford), who is puzzled:
Just noticed my car was stolen overnight. White ’88 Acura Legend. Real beater. Why anyone would steal the worst car on the block (and probably the entire neighborhood) is beyond me, but there you go. Irony is that I recently bought a newer, much nicer truck that was parked right behind it. And I’d already donated the Acura to charity and was just waiting for them to come pick it up.
Thanks to Jonathan for the tip on this (via one of his neighbors): The pharmacy at Bartell Drugs in Jefferson Square was robbed this morning and was closed for a few hours afterward. When we went over late this morning to check in person, the pharmacy was closed, but the store wouldn’t comment, referring us to corporate HQ, where spokesperson Rebecca Siegmund has just confirmed via e-mail:
There was a robbery at our store this morning at approximately 9:00 am. Everyone is fine and the pharmacy re-opened before noon. Due to the ongoing investigation we have no additional information to share.
We have an inquiry out to police to see if there’s any further information on circumstances or suspect descriptions.
ADDED 10:08 AM SUNDAY: A few more details from Southwest Precinct Lt. Von Levandowski – The robber “implied a gun, obtained assorted narcotics, and fled westbound on foot.” Description: White man, late 20s-early 30s, tan beanie, dark blue jacket, blue jeans, black New Balance tennis shoes.
Quick West Seattle Crime Watch note tonight: Karen with the Hansen View Neighborhood Blockwatch shares a heads-up about metal thefts in the alley between 35th and 36th (the 5000 block; here’s a map). A neighbor reported two incidents this past Monday: A locked garage broken into, with a lawn mover and metal bed-frame parts stolen; plus, a razor scooter “taken out of (a) recycling bin.” As the same neighbor also noted, that’s the same day we published this report of a pickup truck trolling alleys in an area not far from HV.
Tonight Seattle Police have published photos that they believe show two robbers suspected in five heists around the region – one of them in West Seattle, at the Admiral Way 7-11 on September 12th. The photos are from a Renton robbery about two weeks ago. One’s at left; you can see the others on the SPD Blotter.
We’re at the King County Courthouse, where Thomas Qualls has just made his first court appearance since pleading not guilty to three counts of second-degree assault. Those charges are a result of the incident at his Alki home one month ago (original WSB coverage here) in which police say that, after they responded to a call about suicidal threats, they wound up firing at Qualls as he fired an assault rifle at them. He was hit once in the abdomen and got out of the hospital less than a week after the incident; he was in a wheelchair for his court appearance today, but did not speak (this type of hearing, it should be noted, is not often an occasion for defendants to comment). The hearing was for “case-setting,” relatively routine; lawyers asked for extra time, and mentioned a potential plea-bargain offer (no details), while also saying they are still awaiting key reports in the case, including one for ballistics (the charges against Qualls carry “firearm enhancements”). If the case is not resolved sooner, the next court date will be in January. Qualls remains in King County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
Just reported (thanks to Katie for the tip): Two men held up Papa John’s on California SW north of SW Brandon (map). They’re described on the scanner as one black, one Samoan, both wearing ski masks and gloves, dark clothing, both displayed guns. They were reported to have left through the back door. A K-9 unit is helping police search. Witnesses are telling police, according to scanner traffic, that they got away in a mid-’90s silver Acura with a “mismatched wheel on the passenger side.” Call 911 if you have any tips. 11 PM UPDATE: Per the scanner, a car close to the getaway car’s description – with a “slope” that may be related to the “mismatched wheel” – was seen speeding across the West Seattle Bridge and exiting to northbound I-5. (Could be a coincidence, though, so do still keep an eye out here.) 12:21 AM UPDATE: Added photo by Christopher Boffoli, as police continued to search the alley behind the restaurant, where the robbers were last seen.
10:17 AM UPDATE (WEDNESDAY): Just checked with police – according to Officer Renee Witt in the SPD Media Unit, neither the robbers nor their car have been found yet.
Tonight’s West Seattle Crime Watch starts with that surveillance video just in from a Highland Park resident near 5th SW and Cloverdale (map). He has just also given that video to police who are investigating the theft of a parcel from his doorstep, delivered today containing an “expensive motorcycle helmet” around 2 pm, then stolen, according to his surveillance camera, about three hours later. He says, “It amazes me that someone can get away with this in broad daylight, and has made me feel oddly violated – even though they didn’t enter my home.” If you recognize the car/person, call police.
Second of three items in Crime Watch tonight:
Local businesses are being warned by police about another string of business burglaries. The photo above was sent by Christopher Boffoli via iPhone about this time last night at the 38th/Alaska (map) construction site for Link, where police responded to a burglary alarm; site owner Harbor Properties tells WSB that nothing was taken. This coincides, though, with something else we’d been checking out: A WSB’er e-mailed to say he was in a West Seattle store when police officers came in to give shopkeepers a heads-up about area business break-ins. Lt. Norm James at the Southwest Precinct confirms: “We had 8 commercial burglaries last week that appear unrelated, but just to be on the safe side we started notifying businesses” – that, he says, is also part of the new Business Watch program (as reported here), a business version of Block Watch. (Sorry, we don’t have the burglary locations, so far.)
Third and final Crime Watch report tonight – just got this note, from a West Seattleite who didn’t want his name used, about a home break-in attempt:
I live in the 7500 block of 31st Ave SW [map]. My wife got home this afternoon at 2pm and she found that one of the patio furniture chairs had been removed from our deck and placed under a window in the backyard. Someone had tried to force the window open, failed, and tried to wipe away any indications of them having been there. Thankfully they were unable to get inside, we presume our dog and the neighbor’s dogs likely spooked the criminal. We notified the police who gave us an “event number” and spoke with a few neighbors, but no one saw or heard anything.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Tonight marks the debut of a new WSB feature – and a new contributor. Megan Sheppard won’t be new to you, though, if you read the Police Blotter column she wrote for the West Seattle Herald for a decade. Recently, after hearing she had decided to leave that role, we told Megan – semi-jokingly – that if she ever decided she missed going through the police reports, looking for the stories that had gone (mostly) unreported, we’d welcome her help … and she took us up on it. Megan has deep West Seattle roots, as the daughter of longtime prominent community advocate and entrepreneur Virgil Sheppard (featured last summer in our story about the West Seattle Grand Parade‘s Orville Rummel Trophy), and we look forward to having her contribute more than “just” these roundups. But for starters – here’s the first installment.)
By Megan Sheppard
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*In the Youngstown area, a man walked into his kitchen and found that a crossbow bolt (the pointy, “business end” of the projectile) had been shot into his home and was stuck in the window blinds.
*Someone threw two large logs onto the roof and hood of a vintage car in the Admiral area last week.
Eight more reports ahead:Read More
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports from the inbox tonight – a stolen car to watch out for, and a case of “metal trolling” with a witness wondering if anything got stolen as a result – read on for details:Read More
ORIGINAL 2:35 PM REPORT: Thanks to everybody who e-mailed (etc.) about a sizable police presence on Genesee Hill, around 50th/Genesee. We went over to check, and most of the officers were gone, but we noted a Tukwila Police car on scene along with Seattle Police (see photo). Sgt. Sean Whitcomb of the SPD Media Unit only has preliminary information, but he says notes in the system indicate police made some kind of “felony stop” – arresting someone for a potential felony, which usually means lots of backup and guns drawn – and also that it may indeed have something to do with a case in Tukwila. We’re still working to find out more.
6 PM UPDATE: Update from Sgt. Joe Maccarrone: “It was a van taken from Tukwila in a carjacking; our guys spotted it in West Seattle, and one suspect was taken into custody without incident. (Suspect) and van were both turned over to Tukwila PD.”
We are at the King County Courthouse downtown, where Judge Carol Schapira presided over sentencings this afternoon, including that of 24-year-old Tyler Ljubich, found guilty in August of robbing West Seattle’s Westside Pharmacy during its post-closure inventory a year ago (here’s our original story). The prosecutor recommended the high end of the “standard sentencing range,” 41 to 54 months in prison, pointing out that witnesses testified Ljubich had a gun, though none was found, and that 
he had previously served prison time for shooting at a parked car in 2007 (as detailed in our earlier coverage); the defense requested the low end, saying that Ljubich had strong family support in the community (his father and two aunts were in the courtroom – the defense lawyer told the judge his mother died a few months ago) and was conducting himself well in jail, including taking classes. Judge Schapira went with the defense’s recommendation and sentenced Ljubich (the photo at right is from his previous prison term) to “the low end” of the range – he also will get credit for the year he has been in jail since his arrest, which happened in an incident that made news when he ran from police and wound up on the Schmitz Park Elementary campus.
If you’re in Westwood or Gatewood or Sunrise Heights and wondering about all the commotion – a search is under way after a crash. We’ve been listening to the search on the scanner – a K-9 is involved, and the Guardian One helicopter just joined in, too. According to Ken, one car hit two parked cars in the 7900 block of 30th SW (map), and the people inside apparently left the scene. 11:46 PM UPDATE: Scanner indicates police are still searching within a radius of at least a few blocks. 11:51 PM: The helicopter’s leaving but ground search continues.
A comment just added to our original coverage of the Highland Park quadruple murder-suicide one week ago today has new information on how to help the family, so we’re spotlighting it here:
Thank you all for your kind words and compassion. The family is thankful and appreciative for all the support we’ve received from the community at large.
Several fundraisers are in the works and will be announced fairly soon. You can find the information/updates via Facebook event “The Phan/Harm Fundraiser”.
The family is in need of financial assistance for medical, funeral and other various expenses associated with the memorial services and ceremonies. If you are able and willing to contribute to the benevolent fund, please see the information below.
“The Thy Luellen Benevolent Account”
BECU Acct #: 3586082948Please include both Account Name and Number when making out a check. Deposits can be made at any BECU location with a deposit box, or by mail (address below). BECU members can deposit funds electronically by calling (800) 233-2328.
BECU
PO BOX 34044
SEATTLE, WA 98124-1044At this point, any amount helps.
As noted here earlier today, the Seattle Times (WSB partner) has spoken with the only family member who survived being shot (she’s out of the hospital); memorial services are set for this weekend.
The video clip is from a Seattle Times (WSB partner) interview with 42-year-old Thyda Luellen Phan, the only person who survived being shot at a Highland Park home one week ago today. She is the daughter of the woman police say killed three before killing herself, 60-year-old Saroueun Sok; the three who died were Phan’s husband, 43-year-old Choeun Harm, and daughters, 14-year-old Molina Phan and 17-year-old Jennifer Harm. The Times reports that the funerals will be held this Saturday; you can read their full story, which is accompanied by the video clip, by going here. Meantime, as announced by the family last Friday, there is a fund to which you can contribute, through BECU:
‘Phan/Harm Memorial Fund’ – Acct # 3586082948
BECU
PO BOX 34044
SEATTLE, WA 98124-1044BECU members can call: (800) 233-2328
Just in from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office: Charges are now filed against 20-year-old Shavelle Lewis, who had to be released from jail last night (WSB coverage here) because charges hadn’t been filed against her yet for the crash that killed 51-year-old William “Tony” Padilla, a driver for West Seattle-based GT Towing. She is charged with Vehicular Homicide and Felony Hit and Run, and a $150,000 warrant is out for her re-arrest. [Update: Lewis was booked back into jail at 6:23 pm.] We have the charging documents and will transcribe the narrative as soon as possible. ADDED 4:50 PM: The narrative from the charging documents (added in stages but complete as of 5:25 pm), after the jump:Read More
| 24 COMMENTS