West Seattle, Washington
02 Tuesday
(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.)
Two reports of incidents over the past week — a Fauntlee Hills break-in and Jefferson Square car vandalism — read on:Read More
That is one of four Seattle Police-created maps, each tracking a certain category of crime in the area covered by the Southwest Precinct — West Seattle and South Park — over the Dec. 8-Jan. 4 period, just received and circulated by Pete Spalding via the Pigeon Point Council e-mail list. (The letter/number designations are the official names of the patrol sectors in the precinct’s coverage area.) As far as we know, these aren’t available online, but Pete confirmed he was encouraged to share them with neighbors, and certainly you’re a neighbor. Read on to see the other three:Read More
That photo (by Sage K) is from a long night back in May, when we and many WSB’ers stayed up into the night tracking the situation on Delridge (original coverage here) as police tried to find the person who shot a mother and her 10-year-old son, from outside their home. Today, we learn that new indictments say the shooting was meant to intimidate the older victim out of testifying in a federal case. This was first reported last night by KING5, but the online story didn’t mention West Seattle or Delridge, so we didn’t catch it, but Stephanie e-mailed us the link today, wondering if it was the same case. We checked with local U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson Emily Langlie, who confirmed that the May shooting mentioned in the story was indeed the West Seattle case, and sent us the indictment documents. Not only do the indictments cover that shooting, describing the mother as a “government witness,” but they also detail the alleged stolen-car/parts ring that’s at the heart of the case; it had been under investigation even before the shooting, the main suspect, DeVaughn “Buster” Dorsey, accused of being involved in the operation of a “chop shop” in a garage at an apartment complex at 7535 24th SW (map). The documents say this operation ended in May, about a week and a half after the Delridge shooting – Dorsey’s been behind bars since 5/23/2008 — and list more than a dozen specific vehicles. Counts 21 and 22 have just been added to a pre-existing indictment, and they’re the ones involving the shooting, for which Dorsey is charged with witness tampering and “discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.” Both shooting victims have recovered; we checked state court records to see if Dorsey has a criminal history — his name is listed (for civil proceedings as well as criminal) for 170 cases in the past 20 years. He’s due in court to answer these charges next Thursday. ADDED 4:23 PM UPDATE: Uploaded the entire indictment so you can read it if you’re interested – there’s no confidential info but lots of details.
Several quick Crime Watch reports to share from the past few days. We start with the Saga of the Stolen Santa. Kirsten in North Admiral sent the photo of the “Old World Santa” at left and wrote: “(Tuesday) when I got home from work I noticed that the Old World Santa I display yearly had been stolen from my front porch. Normally I would not get upset about a material thing but the more I got to thinking about it, the more upset I have become. The Santa was my Mother’s who is now deceased and prior to my display, she had done so for many years prior. Each year when I’d put it out, it helped keep my memory of her alive and in a little way made the holidays a bit more bearable. The likelihood is that some kids took off with it but I thought that by sending this in, there is a chance I may get it back. It’s about 2.5 – 3 feet tall and 30 lbs or so.” Seen this Santa? Send us a note (editor@westseattleblog.com) and we’ll forward it to Kirsten. Ahead: Another stolen item whose owner hopes to get it back, and a stolen item that WAS retrieved, plus other reports:Read More
West Seattle businesses are on alert tonight after two were burglarized overnight. WSB has confirmed with Circa in the Admiral District and Cupcake Royale in The Junction that both were broken into. At Circa, burglars stole the safe, but the restaurant tells WSB there wasn’t much money inside; they also took the restaurant’s official iPod, which was used to play music at Circa. At Cupcake Royale, we were told the burglars didn’t make off with the safe, but did get some money. The door through which they broke in had to be replaced – that work was just finishing when we went by to talk with them about what happened. We have an inquiry out with the Southwest Precinct seeking further details about these break-ins and about any progress toward arrests.
New information about the Admiral 7-11 robbery attempt we covered last weekend, which was quickly followed by the arrest of three suspects who police believe were involved with a series of holdups, mostly at convenience stores, in West Seattle and White Center (among other areas) over the past month: First, to be clear, as we originally reported, court documents indicate it was a robbery attempt; no money was taken and the would-be robber fled when the clerk ran into the restroom and called police. Two charges are now filed against the suspect who authorities say actually tried to rob the store, 18-year-old Jose G. Torres: He is charged with first-degree attempted robbery and unlawful gun possession – charging papers say he had a 38-caliber handgun but shouldn’t have, since he was already a convicted felon. The following excerpt from charging papers tells the story of what happened early Sunday morning – including an explanation of how police made the arrests so quickly:Read More
We bring you the crimefighting successes as well as the crime-alert stories, and here’s the latest – from Officer Brian Ballew at West Seattle’s Southwest Precinct:
In early December a parking garage condominium on SW Avalon was burglarized. The victim had her bicycle stolen. The victim located the bike on Craig’s List and met the seller in the Downtown area. The victim took the bike for a test drive, verified it was hers by the serial number and kept the bike.
On 01/03 the victim notified SW Detectives that the same seller was selling another bike on Craig’s List. Detectives called the seller as a potential buyer and met the seller in the downtown area. When detectives met the seller, the victim was with detectives in a nearby vehicle and positively identified the seller as the same person who tried to sell her, her stolen bike. The seller was arrested and booked for trafficking stolen property.
This car-burglary report actually came in from KB last night, while the snow was still falling fast and furious:
Near 32nd and Kenyon [map]: Windows smashed in and radio stolen, but no other items. (lots of CDs and a jacket left inside)
As you’ll note in the stories linked from the WSB West Seattle Crime Watch page, car-targeting crooks seem to be on more of a rampage than ever.
Two quick updates on the arrests of three armed-robbery suspects in the Admiral District — believed linked to a series of holdups around the area over the past month — as first reported here yesterday morning: The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office says bail hearings are planned for the three later today; Seattle Police note that they believe more robbers were involved in some of the crimes, so they are looking for other suspects.
The Seattle Police media unit has just provided an update on the three robbery suspects whose North Admiral arrests we reported this morning (after overnight coverage here):Read More
Very early this morning, we reported here on an Admiral District robbery incident and subsequent search. Before we even picked up the phone this morning to call Seattle Police to find out more about what happened, we received an update from Lt. Steve Paulsen at the Southwest Precinct: It was actually an attempted holdup at the Admiral Way 7-11 — according to a police summary, a “Hispanic male with bandanna concealing his face, black jacket with hood, armed with a handgun” tried to hold up the store, but the store clerk ran and hid, and the would-be robber ran out. Police responded quickly, set up “containment in the area,” called in K-9, and found a car with three “Hispanic males and a handgun” in the 4400 block of SW College (map). Police have not yet confirmed whether these three were also involved in the recent spree in West Seattle, White Center, and South Seattle (here’s our most recent report, with video and photos), but they acknowledge the same thing we observed last night – looks possible – we will be following up when more information’s released.
From the scanner: Police are looking for an armed robber in the Admiral District right now. Suspect reported to have fled toward 44th SW. Not sure whether the holdup target was 7-11 or Admiral Chevron – locations we’ve heard could indicate either. K-9 unit is out helping search. Suspect described as 5-6 Hispanic male with slim build, at least one article of clothing is black, bandanna over face, possibly a shotgun-type weapon. Sounds similar to the robberies in south West Seattle/White Center/South Seattle recently (see our recent update with photos and video). Continuing to monitor. UPDATE: “Containment” was called off. No obvious word whether an arrest was made; we’ll check with police later today.
Another crime report just in – these types tend to happen in waves, so listen/watch extra-closely for anything suspicious around the cars in your neighborhood, even alarms you might consider ignoring:
Sadly more thefts to report: The catalytic converter was stolen (cut off) from beneath our 15 year old SUV in the Seaview neighborhood overnight. Beware since the thief can get them in just a couple of minutes if they know what they’re doing, and they really like the SUV’s due to their higher clearance.
Two reports to share – first, from Dave:
Just a heads up for other West Seattleites that someone smashed in the passenger side window on our car last night/early this morning. We’re in the Westwood neighborhood on 34th Ave SW near Barton [map]. The perp was either bored or not very bright, as nothing appears to be stolen. He/she also clearly knows nothing about music, as our Pearl Jam Live at the Gorge CD set was moved, but not taken. Total pain on our time and budget to get this fixed, but it’s a good reminder not to leave anything of value in our cars overnight.
Second, from CCW:
31st and City View (the funky little neighborhood just east of Admiral on your way up the hill) [map]: On the night of 1/1/09, someone got into our Honda CRV, which was parked in our driveway, and ripped the brand new TomTom GPS off the windshield. The doors weren’t locked, and nothing else was taken (the stereo and 10-15 CDs were untouched). This was clearly a crime of opportunity. The only reason it’s even worth reporting is that our driveway is quite private. You don’t go past our house randomly. This was either a local kid or a drunken hoodlum who wandered off the beaten path.
ALKI TAGGING VANDALISM: We have chosen to subscribe to law enforcers’ belief that publishing photos of graffiti vandalism in its entirety does more harm than good, so the photo you see at left shows only the edges of two fluorescent-pink tags (picture’s left and bottom edges) scrawled on the new Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza pedestal last night. David Hutchinson from the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project has reported the vandalism to the Parks Department, saying, with hope, “This may be a good test of the anti-graffiti coating,” while adding, “This is just the latest incident in a recent outbreak of this type of activity at Alki.” He also included in his report to Parks four photos taken a few days ago showing even bigger tags painted on and around the Alki Bathhouse (on its siding, inside and outside restrooms, and on a utility box). We will follow up tomorrow on cleanup plans. By the way – here’s how to report graffiti/tag vandalism on public property.
1 WEST SEATTLE MURDER IN 2008: The statistic is official now that the year is over. 49-year-old Tracey Creamer, a Highland Park resident killed by her husband before he killed himself (first reported here May 5 though the Medical Examiner ultimately determined she was killed in mid-April), was the only West Seattle murder victim last year, among 28 citywide (each one catalogued in this P-I article today). In 2007, three murders happened in West Seattle; all three resulted in convictions, with the killers now serving time in prison (the last ’07 WS case was closed with a sentencing we covered just four weeks ago).
THEFT REPORT: The police report is of course the most important report you can make if crime happens to you, but we also publish reports here on WSB to help neighbors keep track of what’s happening where – and better to hear about it late than never – Scott in the 6000 block of 42nd SW (map) sent this note:
Week of December 8: Yakima bike rack with 3 bike trays, including an ATOC topper, was stolen off my Toyota Camry. The rack was 10 years old and probably worth less than $200. Unfortunately, the thieves also damaged the car’s rain gutters because two of the four rack towers were locked. Probably an $800 loss. Our first incident since moving to the neighborhood
Once we have posted crime reports here on the main page, we link them to the Crime Watch page, where you also will find the latest major Southwest Precinct reports posted on the Seattle Police SPDBlotter site, as well as some handy resource links about crime prevention and reporting. If a huge story is taking up the home page (as was the case during Snowmare ’08), you will see some crime reports appear on the CW page first.
LOST/FOUND PETS: If you are among the many people who found WSB for the first time during the recent snowstorm coverage — you may not be completely familiar with how the site works and everything that can be found here besides the news and features on the main page. So we wanted to remind you in particular about our Pets page — which for more than a year has been the only West Seattle-specific place to find information about (and photos of, when provided) lost and found pets. There’s been an uptick in activity these past few days, unfortunately, with about half a dozen people currently working hard to find either lost pets (even a missing goat!) or the owners of pets they found. The Pets page is here. We post the information and photos – same address as everything else – editor@westseattleblog.com
FOOD FOAM BAN YES, BAG FEE NO (FOR NOW): A note we just received suggests there may be a bit of confusion out there somewhere, even in some areas of the old-media world, about what took effect today regarding what was originally a two-part city ordinance passed last year — banning foam containers for takeout food/drink, and adding a fee for people who wanted disposable plastic shopping bags. Because enough signatures were gathered for a referendum vote, as reported last September, the bag fee is on hold till a vote later this year (expected to be during the August primary), but the foam ban takes effect today – read more about it at this page of the Seattle Public Utilities website. To see some of the “commercially approved” alternatives you might be getting with your food/drinks, go here.
STOLEN BIKE WITH “SENTIMENTAL VALUE”: DP’s had this bike since the ’60s — and now it’s gone — per this note sent to report …
… a stolen bike at corner of SW Trenton St & 32nd Ave on Monday morning 12/29. A thief took my 41 year old 10-speed (sentimental value = high) right next to two much finer bikes, which are now triple locked. Description: 10 speed with drop handlebar, bad silver paint, parcel carriers front and rear, old Huret Allvit deraillier, broken generator, new gumwall tires.
If you spot that bicycle, please alert police. EARLY FRIDAY UPDATE: In comments, Maria posted a POSSIBLE sighting not far from the theft location – DP went to check, and indeed, it was the stolen bike!
Last night we mentioned a TV report on photos and video made public from several recent armed robberies at stores in Highland Park, White Center, and South Delridge, as well as South Seattle. Today we have the video and photos so we can share them with you here as well – this is a high-priority series of robberies that law enforcers are working to solve as fast as they can. The video above (which WSB uploaded to YouTube to post here, after receiving the clip directly from Seattle Police) is from the Gas Depot robbery (South Delridge) on December 11th, one of two stickups that night blamed on the same robbers; the other was at the Lucky Seven in White Center. Note how quickly it all happens – in the span of less than 30 seconds. Also believed to be the work of these robbers, about half a dozen other heists including the one five days later at Country Deli in Highland Park. To see a flyer with photos from the two December 11th robberies, go here. If you have any idea who these robbers are, there’s now a CrimeStoppers reward – 800-222-TIPS.
(added Wednesday afternoon, surveillance photo from Gas Depot robbery earlier this month)
This story posted online tonight by KING features both surveillance video of robbery suspects and an interview with a man identified as a West Seattle convenience store owner who chased them out of his shop. The story is a little meanderingly told and we can’t tell which store (perhaps you recognize the owner who was interviewed?), but these seem to be the same suspects sought in the Highland Park/White Center robberies earlier this month (and a South Seattle stickup reported earlier this week on SPDBlotter). We had asked Seattle Police and King County Sheriff’s Office previously for any visuals that could be shared to help solve the crimes; if any of the images from tonight’s TV story are obtainable through police, we’ll get them and share them here. WEDNESDAY LATE-MORNING UPDATE: We have received those items and will be adding them soon.
Not that the cold weather completely stopped crime in its tracks – certainly seemed to slow it a bit, though. Now, the reports are starting to roll back in – read on for word of two thefts in recent days:Read More
(multimedia encaustic by Cyn Moore, stolen from Twilight yesterday)
That’s how Mary at Twilight Artist Collective in The Junction headed what they just sent as a followup to yesterday’s theft (WSB story here), along with the image above. Here’s the “good thing” part:
What type of person STEALS art?
Think your holidays suck? Imagine the poor soul who had to resort to stealing 4 pieces of Art from Twilight…Imagine not being able to buy your loved one a gift. So we’re hosting a gift drop-off for foster kids at Twilight…Don’t have a toy to drop off? We’ll donate 10% of proceeds from sales today and tomorrow to Treehouse for Kids.
ABOUT TREEHOUSE
Since 1988, Treehouse has filled the gaps for kids in foster care, providing services that no other agency addresses: money for extra-curricular activities and summer camp, professional educational support services, resources to fully participate in the everyday activities of growing up, clothing and supplies to help them fit in at school. www.treehouse4kids.orgABOUT TWILIGHT
Twilight Artist Collective is a high energy, creative group of artists focused on providing the venue for other local artists to share inspiration, expose people to original ideas through art, and build a sustainable artist community. We are committed to making art a part of our everyday lives, and strive to be the catalyst for a greater collection, exhibition and appreciation of fine art.In addition to exhibiting throughout the region, the Twilight Artist Collective also operates two stores, one in Pike Place Market and the other in the West Seattle Junction, where they show and sell work from all the artists in the collective. The store offers fine art in a variety of mediums including: paintings, photography, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, clothing and much more. Please visit www.twilightart.net or our store for more information about the collective and our unique art from local artists.
Just out of the WSB inbox from Pigeon Point resident KK:
I just wanted to let you know two of our windows were smashed under the West Seattle Bridge sometime Sunday evening to Monday morning. They stole our ashtray, our chains, the emergency kit, and a bunch of empty cloth bags all in the trunk.
We had moved our car down to the bottom of the hill because we could not drive up and down Andover to get to our house.
I just want to give a warning to NOT park your car at night under the bridge. It is not safe. We had nothing in the car. The items stolen were about $50 at most. It cost almost $500 to fix the windows (and trying to find a place open yesterday was a challenge.)
It was a fabulous Merry Christmas; thank you, thieves/vandals. I hope no one else has to deal with this.
Just out of the WSB inbox from Erin at Twilight in The Junction (immediately west of Easy Street):
At some point between noon and now, someone managed to steal 3 pieces of art RIGHT OFF THE WALL at Twilight Artist Collective. 2 5×7 encaustic collage paintings (with Lemurs or a Monkey in the image) with black frames ~ $200 each, and a 5×7-ish painting of a crane on canvas ~ $100. This must have been a quick and nasty grab, probably while I was busy wrapping a purchase at the counter.
This is SO LAME, especially in these already hard economic times. Not only is this a blow to our business, but also to the local artists they stole from.
If ANYONE has information, or sees these art pieces out there, please contact Twilight immediately. We’ll gladly take them back, and in return we won’t have the thief arrested.
ART THEFT IN THE JUNCTION ~ please spread the word so other local businesses know to tighten up a bit, even during the holiday merriment.
Erin is looking to see if they have any images of the stolen items, but wanted to get the word out fast without waiting for that.
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