Thanks to Trick for pointing out this Times article about prostitution-related arrests in West Seattle earlier this month. Here’s additional information we’ve found on the case: We checked the jail register, and the 33-year-old man arrested for trying to pimp two 15-year-old girls at Seattle West Inn and Suites in the Triangle (West Seattle’s only motel, aka the former Travelodge), Toda M. Robinson, is still behind bars, with bail set at $100,000. We also downloaded the court documents for more details; he is charged with two counts of promoting sexual abuse of a minor, and the documents note that Robinson has an “extensive criminal history” including “at least six crimes of violence.” (The state court-system search engine has 110 results for his name, dating back to 1991, when he would have been as young as the two girls involved in this case.) The court documents say police arranged the location for the sting, booking a room at the motel after answering a CL ad, and made the arrests after Robinson dropped the girls off – they tracked him down in the parking lot of the 35th/Avalon KFC with a 16-year-old girl in the car, which was described as emanating “a strong odor of marijuana.” One of the girls told police that he usually gets half their money and has at least 3 other teenagers and 10 adult prostitutes working for him.

We showed you that photo Monday, while reporting that West Seattle firefighters helped clean up and secure the area around a big broken window on the west side of a former Huling/Gee storefront on SW Alaska east of Fauntleroy Way. We subsequently checked to see if it was a case of burglary or “just” vandalism; this morning, we have followup information from Southwest Precinct Sgt. Mike Teeter, who summarizes that “a large rock was thrown through the window, but no entry was made.”

Meantime, a new Crime Watch report this morning, from Amy in Gatewood:

My car was stolen from my driveway yesterday sometime between 10 pm Monday evening and 6 am Tuesday morning. I live on the corner of SW Myrtle street and 36th Ave SW [map]. I filed a police report and thankfully my car was found yesterday around 5 pm by the King County Sheriff’s (Office). It was recovered in the South Park area and towed to a Burien lot. They said they had just recovered a similar Honda Accord like mine stolen from the same area. This is the second time my car has been targeted in my neighborhood. Two years ago my stereo was stolen. I think it’s a group of punk kids going for a joy ride. They didn’t take any car parts, just valuables that were in the car, punched out the ignition, stole my stereo again (luckily I carry the face plate with me so it’s useless to them now), and trashed the inside of the car. Just thought people should know about this in case there is anyone else out there who has had the same thing happen around the area.

We’ve received reports both official and unofficial of more than a few car thefts lately, including a “huge spike” in the unincorporated area south of WS, as described by King County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Hancock at last week’s White Center Crime Prevention Coalition meeting, but the Southwest Precinct says numbers on this side of the line are not currently higher than usual.

“Only” one crime report to share tonight – it happened to Paul west of The Junction about this time last night:

Edmunds and 47th [map], 9 pm on Friday night. I got home … to find broken glass and a smashed flashlight in my kitchen. Looks like one or two people got in, stole a couple of DVDs of the Wire (ironic), and left a lot of blood – one of them cut themselves badly coming in through the back door window. Definitely felt like opportunists, not a professional job. At least they were nice enough to close the front door when they left, so the cats didn’t get out.

Our e-mail system didn’t get that to us till several hours after Paul sent it; after we e-mailed him back this morning, he sent an update: “The cop that showed up thought that he’d managed to pick up the guy at around 1 am – he’d been called out by someone reporting a vehicle prowl a little further up north, and apprehended a guy with a bleeding right hand.”

That photo is from Ray, who says his car is the wheel-less Honda Fit reported by Justin in this comment on last night’s Junction wheel-theft report. That’s not the only car-targeting crime we have received word about today:

Somebody smashed Mark‘s car window near Fairmount Playfield. He says it appeared to be an isolated incident, at least on his block (5000 block of 38th SW – map), and he also sent a report of the weapon:

Two more reports to share, ahead:Read More

This is just out of the WSB inbox, from Daphne, who wanted to alert others to what happened at her home near Hill/41st (map) a little while ago:Read More

Brian at TouchTech Systems in The Junction sent that photo Wednesday – he’d noticed this car parked in the pay lot at 42nd/Edmunds (map) for a while, with wheels, until yesterday morning. He notified the owner, and by late afternoon, the car was gone. Same kind of theft happened to Drury‘s husband’s car – read her story, and Amy‘s burglary report, just ahead:Read More

Desiree is not only upset about something that happened to a friend of hers, she wants to make sure it doesn’t happen to you, so she e-mailed WSB to share the story, so you know what and who to watch for – read on:Read More

From the neighborhood east of Lincoln Park, an alert about two early-morning sightings of apparent would-be mail thieves:Read More

A multitude of updates from police at tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting – but there’s one we wanted to get to you first: A few more details about the “home invasion” robbery late last night at 12th/Myrtle. One concerned neighbor came to the meeting in hopes police would have more information to share, and they did: Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen said they don’t believe it was random — “we think they knew what they were looking for,” possibly with some kind of drug involvement. He says the two robbers were masked, believed to be Hispanic, and “forced their way in after knocking on the door.” The two victims they attacked were men, two of the four adults who were in the home along with one child. Lt. Paulsen reiterated that the victims weren’t the ones who called the police – after they drove downtown to Harborview Medical Center to get treatment for one victim’s injuries, the hospital called SPD, and that’s when officers went to the 12th/Myrtle home. “The scene was pretty extensive,” Lt. Paulsen noted, wth some of the loot left strewn “down the block.” He says because victims and suspects aren’t believed to be totally strangers, “it might not be too difficult to follow up on,” though no one’s been arrested yet. More updates on other cases, coming up later.

Posted at SPDBlotter: Two people broke into a home in the 1200 block of SW Myrtle (near Riverview Playfield; map) late last night and held residents at gunpoint, beating two of them before getting away. Police say they first found out about it when one of the victims was driven to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. We’ll be checking for more info on this beyond what’s in the blotter entry. We’re also likely to hear more at tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting (7 pm, Southwest Precinct, all welcome). ADDED 12:37 PM: A few more details from Lt. Steve Paulsen at the precinct: “4 adult and 1 child victims were inside. There was an assault on two of the male victims which required hospitalization.. Some of the stolen items were recovered a short distance from the home. No suspects have been arrested yet.”

Lots of West Seattle activity on the police scanner these past couple hours – one report from someone in Highland Park who thought someone fired shots at his house, another call about possible shots heard closer to the Westwood area, beer getting shoplifted from the 16th/Holden 7-11 … Then, NOT from the scanner, Lisa e-mailed a firsthand report of a “sparkler bomb” in Admiral:

I live in Admiral by the PCC and had a “sparkler bomb” explode in the parking strip in front of my house about an hour ago. My house is swarming with about 5-6 police right now collecting all the fragments. It was crazy scary. There is a hole in my parking strip and fragments up to my front porch and 2 houses beyond. The police think it’s random, and have a suspect.

Lisa’s not sure if that suspect is in custody yet, though. (We will of course follow up with police.) Meantime, one other e-mail mentions hearing “explosions” in the Admiral area around 2 am, most likely the same incident. Five months ago, something similar happened in Highland Park; here’s our report about that one (be sure to read the comments, which brought out a lot of information about what a “sparkler bomb” is).

Got a couple notes last night about a police search/containment operation along the Fauntleroy side of Lincoln Park, but the units were gone when we went to check it out. So this morning we got the scoop from Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen: Two juveniles tried to steal beer from the Lincoln Park 76 station (map). As they ran, the clerk hit one with a bottle. They still managed to get away; no arrests so far.

Just received multiple e-mails about a police search in Highland Park/White Center that may involve a car that’s up on the curb at 9th and Roxbury (that’s according to Tom; CatP wrote in the WSB Forums “something about a suspect run to the ground in the 9200 block of 13th SW; another forum post says police told neighbors the person they’re looking for is NOT armed). Working to find out information now. Anything you’re seeing or hearing, please add in comments. 8:58 PM UPDATE: Scene was clear when we went through but Zack has the scoop in comments: Stolen car crashed into house, suspect caught. Thanks, Zack!

One’s from Morgan Junction, the other from Fairmount Springs – read on:Read More

(photo from state Ecology Department website)
Posted at the P-I site tonight: An estimated $20 million in diesel is missing from the BP terminal on Harbor Island (1652 SW Lander; map), and police are investigating. ADDED 8:41 PM: As Scott points out in comments, there was a multimillion-dollar fuel-theft case on Harbor Island just a few years ago. Different fuel depot, according to this story about the resolution of that case. (A little more background on that case here.)