Our report last Friday on the sentencing of the three teenagers convicted in connection with the attack that left Southwest Precinct Officer Jason McKissack with serious head injuries included a fact that emerged in the courtroom late in the hearing – that one of the defendants had been arrested for alleged residential burglary a month before the May trial. Today, Seattle Times reporter Christine Clarridge, the only other journalist in court for Friday’s sentencing, has a few more details on that arrest (which happened in the University District) and reports that the 17-year-old boy found guilty of assault in the McKissack case was arrested that same day, in that same area, for alleged underage drinking. Here’s her story.

Just received from a WSBer who wants to stay anonymous – her story started with a theft that happened literally in an instant in the Admiral District, and ended with help from a Good Samaritan on the other side of West Seattle:Read More

We talk a lot about car crime – but hadn’t seen something like this lately: Paul from PB&J Textiles and Coffee at the Heights (WSB sponsor) sent that photo, explaining:

Here is what we woke up to this morning. We live at 109th and 28th Ave SW [map]. Some kids I am thinking felt the need to turn our car on its side. You can see the 2 hand prints from where they lifted it and pushed it over. Not sure of the damage yet, but not a fun thing to wake up to when you have a full day planned….

The handprints:

(The area is just east of the Seattle city limit, so it’s King County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction.)

We’re at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, where Southwest Precinct police are briefing attendees on the latest crime trends. Sgt. Jeff Durden just mentioned that plans are in place to keep things safe this Friday as school comes to a close – two Community Police Team officers will be “visible at schools” and then police will be keeping closer watch on parks, “to keep any shenanigans to a minimum.”

In other crime trends – car prowls are still a major problem, according to the latest statistics shared by Officer Adonis Topacio: 75 in the past month (since May 16) – including four in one day at Lincoln Park. (That’s actually a drop from the 100 recorded throughout the calendar month of May, according to the monthly crime statistics we published here.) Residential burglaries are trending down a bit – 45 in the last month, compared to 50 for the May calendar month; Sgt. Jeff Durden says that’s “normal” but “still too many.”

On the positive side, Officer Topacio says that Westcrest Park illicit activity has decreased dramatically – though he’s hoping the previously problematic area of the park will get more public use, to keep that “activity” from returning.

Community Police Team Officer Kevin McDaniel says “there’s an increase in gangbangers from the East side showing up in High Point” (he indicated that meant the other side of the city, not necessarily the east side of Lake Washington). He said two arrests were made last night after a call about a possible burglary; they had warrants out for their arrest, linked to the New Holly area, and had gang affiliation. Officer McDaniel says he followed up by meeting with the HP family whose son was allegedly hanging out with the people who were arrested, and said he denied any knowledge of those “kids” – so, Officer McDaniel said, “the father gave him an ultimatum – shape up, or ship out.”

As for Alki, Community Police Team Officer Ken Mazzuca provided that briefing, saying it had been fairly quiet lately, nothing major. One meeting attendee asked about noise laws and loud sound systems in cars; Officer Mazzuca says they can be cited if the noise can be heard from at least 75 feet away – and he says some citations HAVE been issued so far this summer.

Also discussed at tonight’s meeting – a reminder about signing up for this year’s Night Out (Against Crime) block parties on August 4th – and Sgt. Durden shared a little-known fact: If you want a police officer to drop by and visit your block party, just say so when you register your party (here’s where to do that).

(June 2 photo by Christopher Boffoli)
We’ve just finished talking with Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen for updates on several cases – and here are the first two you’ll want to know about: First, the suspect in the shooting outside the Westwood Village McDonald’s two weeks ago (photo above) has been arrested. Because, according to the police report, he was involved in a car deal with the victim, his identity was known — last Friday evening, Lt. Paulsen says, he was spotted in the 8100 block of 16th SW, and after a foot chase, officers arrested him. He’s still behind bars, according to the King County Jail Register. Second case happened early this morning in the 4100 block of 47th SW (map): A single gunshot was fired from inside a house, and the bullet (from a 40-caliber Glock) hit a next door neighbor’s house (no injuries reported). The suspect was booked into jail for reckless endangerment but is likely to face other charges because, according to Lt. Paulsen, a search warrant for the residence turned up cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, “numerous prescription narcotics,” and $700 cash – as well as the Glock. ADDED MONDAY NIGHT: We received this note tonight from someone identifying themselves as the person whose home was hit:

I live on the 4100 block of 47th Ave SW. In February, the house next to me was the target of a drive by shooting. Six bullets were fired and one struck my home. No arrests were made at the time. On June 15 at about 1:30 am I again heard gunfire. This time from inside the house next door. I called 911 and officers were dispatched. Once again my home was hit by gunfire as the bullet exited the neighboring house and entered mine. Officers issued a search warrant. The young man living in the home was arrested, and various drugs were found as well as the weapon that fired the shot. I am asking everyone in the neighborhood to PLEASE report any unusual activities in the area to the police. We are close to getting this ugly situation cleaned up, but still need the support of neighbors who are willing to watch over each other.

Thank you…
Your neighbor on 47th Ave SW

We’ve seen it before – and sadly we’ll likely see it again. Mariko just e-mailed to share the news of how she woke up to a car without wheels, in the 5900 block of 34th SW (map):

Just thought I would let you know that we awoke last Wednesday morning to find all 4 of my car tires stolen and my car on jacks. My neighbor reported seeing 4 Caucasian males leaning over my car with 2 vehicles blocking the street at 3 am… The police said it was really common for these people to cruise the streets looking for parts. It was pretty brazen to jack the car up on the street and steal the tires.

Just thought I would pass that along. Thankfully I have the club and they didn’t steal the whole car.

Concerned about crime, even if you’ve been personally spared? Tomorrow night’s your next chance to voice your concerns, hear about trends, and talk directly with local police, as the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets @ 7 pm Tuesday, Southwest Precinct.

Althea and Ryan called and e-mailed to say this happened within the past hour:

I’d like to report a hit and run that occurred just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 13th on SW Andover St. between 44th and 45th. Our vehicle is a dark blue 2008 Mazda5 and was side-swiped on the driver side while parked. The drivers’ side taillight was crushed and side view mirror was knocked off. Judging from the placement of damage to our car, the vehicle to be on the lookout for may be a white pick-up perhaps with some light blue detailing (a faint light blue line can be seen on our car, but the damage is mostly a white or tan color). There will be damage to the right side of their vehicle, most likely with significant traces of dark blue picked up from our car when they hit it. Neigbors said that they could hear the car screeching arond the corner, so if anybody has seen a light-colored pick-up truck driving around crazily with damage to the right side, please let us know!

ADDED EARLY SUNDAY: They wanted to add this to their story:

Perhaps I should not have stated that it may be a “pick-up truck” because I don’t want to narrow the search too much. It could be a large SUV – something that was tall enough to crush our back taillight (which is actually at the top driver’s side of the Mazda 5, rather than down low) with their side view mirror, most likely. We would like to offer a $250 reward for information leading to the location of the vehicle that hit ours. Thanks for your help!

Kim has posted flyers about this around her High Point neighborhood but also wanted to share the word here:

My home in the new High Point neighborhood was recently broken into and my entire collection of over 35 years of SW Native American turquoise, silver coral and black onyx jewelry (bracelets, earrings, and rings), grandmother’s diamond ring, a queen-size pendleton blanket (creme, red, orange and yellow Native cross design), and four bottles of insulin with ice packs were stolen. A police report has been filed … If you have seen any of these items or have knowledge of possible whereabouts,
please contact nativekulturz@yahoo.com

Dropped by the Southwest Precinct tonight to leaf through reports for the past few days. Most notable trend – four attempted car thefts. There was one actual theft, too – Sunday morning just after 10:30, a man told police his 1993 Acura Integra had been stolen sometime overnight, from its parking spot in front of his residence in the 5200 block of 46th SW. But before that, four attempts elsewhere – read on:Read More

(Updated from first publication with 10:35 pm addition of second incident) Just out of the WSB inbox:

FYI for the neighborhood.

Left the car parked outside my house last night, instead of the carport (32nd & Henderson area). This morning, found the keyhole damaged and the framing between the window and door was pried up. No other damage and they didn’t get in the car….Nothing fancy, just a 15 year old car with a fork in the front seat. Asked around and no one saw or heard anything.

Wendy B

Also note that in comments on our previous story about possible stolen items dumped in Pigeon Point, one commenter mentioned a keying spree in that area last night. ADDED 10:35 PM: From Todd in Westwood:

My wife’s 08 Subaru Impreza has been vandalized. Sometime in the last two weeks, someone has poured paint remover on the hood, doors and roof of the car. The substance was clear and sticky, we thought it might be tree sap, as we park it under two large horse chestnut trees. Once I started to wash the car, the paint came right off, just like automotive paint remover.

We have been in contact with an officer at the SW Precinct who thinks it might be random or a real amateur job. We have contacted Benjamin Kinlow at the SW Precinct a few weeks back to start the process of getting the block watch back in order.

If you’re interested in Block Watch, here’s the Crime Prevention page on the Southwest Precinct website.

We’ve been following the story of the 25-year-old Army sergeant arrested and jailed Friday night after an incident on Alki – original Friday night coverage here, Saturday followup here. Just checked the King County Jail Register — he posted bail (which had been set at $1,000) and got out around 9:30 this morning. The allegation against him is listed in Seattle Municipal Court records as “carrying firearm with intent to intimidate” (which is in this section of the Municipal Code). We’ll check with city attorneys tomorrow to see what happens next.

Two Crime Watch stories to share. First, from Tara:

… my truck (was) broken into tonight at the junction. I was having dinner and was parked in the lot behind West 5. One hour later, I returned to our truck and the driver’s side lock was broken into and my backpack was stolen. I’m a teacher and my classroom keys were inside, along with my Seattle Public Schools badge. I’m so upset. Since there wasn’t anything valuable, I’m thinking the thief/s will probably get rid of it quick and I’m hoping everyone could keep an eye out for it.

Tara says it’s a gray backpack. Meantime, Ron at Lowman Beach wrote to call attention to his latest post in the WSB Forums — it links to what he says are surveillance photos and video of someone who was caught not only stealing something from his famous duck display by the park, but also prowling cars in the area. Here’s his post with those links.

Remember what happened to “Desperate College Student,” whose school items were stolen from her car? She did get some of them back. Now Kathleen is hoping her daughter also can recover some of what *she* just lost in a theft:

We live at 106th and Marine View Drive [map] and someone broke into our daughter’s car in the driveway. She’s home from college for a couple of weeks and her car was locked and in the driveway. This morning I heard someone outside and saw a man get out of a black Suburban-like car. He was walking towards our house. I think he had already robbed my daughter’s car and was walking towards my husband’s car in the driveway to see if they could take anything from it. They took a box from her car that contained art books (she’s an art history major) and sentimental items. If they dumped the box because it had no value to them, please contact us so our daughter can get the box back. Call 206 497 8665.