Just found out (thanks to Anne for the tip) that someone working inside Westside Pharmacy, which was doing inventory after closing its pharmacy operations last night to move to the new QFC, was held up this afternoon. Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen says the robber went in around 2 pm, showed a silver revolver, demanded drugs, was given a bag of what actually were various “returned” drugs since the pharmacy had no stock left after the move, and took off. No injuries. Only description – white male robber, black male driver in a gray getaway car. 8:32 PM UPDATE: SPDBlotter has published an item about this, with a few more details.

Second of at least 4 reports from Tuesday night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting: A rep from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office confirms that the case of 19-year-old West Seattle repeat offender Skyelar Hailey is being reviewed to see if the Repeat Burglar Initiative could apply. Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg didn’t mention it specifically in his speech to the group (though he had a lot to say about the juvenile-justice system and how he believes repeat-offender juveniles are not appropriately dealt with – Hailey had a juvenile record), but Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen mentioned Hailey’s August arrest (detailed here), and a Satterberg assistant spoke up to say the RBI deputy is taking a look. Hailey is still in jail, by the way, though his bail was cut two weeks ago to $15,000. He’s due back in court next month.

Much news from tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. We’ll break it up into chunks. First, updates on two spots that have sparked community concern – both were asked about while Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen was answering attendees’ questions:

ADMIRAL PUB: Particularly since the gunfire/beating incident outside the bar on August 28th, some questions came up about repeated problems (as noted in this WSB comment thread, too). Lt. Paulsen said, “We had some concerns about whether it was managed responsibly, so we are working with the owner”; he explained that police and City Attorney’s Office reps met with the Admiral Pub‘s owner last week, talking about “how (the problems) are affecting the residential community surrounding it.” He told the group the owner said he wanted to cooperate to have a “good safe business”; assistant city attorney Beth Gappert, who is based at the Southwest Precinct, said that the city has till the end of the month to decide whether it wants to object to the renewal of the Admiral Pub’s liquor license. (Side note – as we wrote in this comment thread last night, court documents show that the man arrested after the Sept. 1st incident, Jedidiah Doyle, is charged with second-degree assault.)

35TH/MORGAN CONVENIENCE STORE: Talk about loitering and suspected drug dealing has bubbled up from time to time regarding this corner. Asked about it tonight, Community Police Team Officer Kevin McDaniel said, “We’ve been aggressively taking care of that situation.” He said he’s “trespassed” – a citation that requires someone to stay away – at least a dozen people, and says other tactics are in the works. “We are very much on top of that spot there …pretty soon we’ll have it under control.” He drew laughter by noting he’d outsmarted some would-be repeat offenders who figured out what hours he usually worked and tended to stay away during those hours — “For two nights two weeks ago I changed my shift, and trespassed more people” – who apparently were surprised to see him.

More to come later tonight, including the latest crime trends, and what King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg told the group.

Thanks to Todd in Westwood for noting this in the WSB Forums: A man whom authorities believe is half the duo responsible for at least 17 bank robberies around the region, including 3 here in West Seattle (here’s our report from a week ago), is now in jail. Here’s the latest from the Seattle Times (WSB partner). No indication at this point whether the man who’s in jail is the one caught on camera in the three local robberies, or his accomplice, caught on camera in others. According to the King County Jail Register, his bail is set at $750,000; online court records show he has a criminal history, including a burglary case. ADDED 8:02 PM: Here’s the entirety of the news release the FBI sent tonight:

On September 11, 2009 at approximately 9:30 PM, Quincy Quinn, age 36, was taken into custody at his residence located in Skyway, Washington by deputies and detectives of the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO).  The arrest came as a result of a joint investigation by KCSO Detectives and members of Seattle FBI’s bank robbery task force.  Since June 1, 2009, agents and detectives had been investigating a pair of males believed to be responsible for as many as 17 King County bank robberies.

On September 10, 2009 the investigative efforts to date along with bank surveillance photos were shared with local media.  As a result, several leads were developed that focused the investigation onto Quinn and an as of yet unidentified associate.  After his arrest, Quinn was booked into the King County Jail with regard to an outstanding warrant in an unrelated matter and investigation of multiple counts of 1st Degree Robbery.  

We’re still trying to determine which of the two suspects in photos is Quinn and which is still being sought – we’ll update as soon as we know that for sure. 8:45 PM UPDATE: Finally have that nailed down. The suspect in jail is believed to be the one shown in photos from at least two West Seattle robberies – meantime, here are photos of the man who is NOT YET UNDER ARREST:

If you know or see him, call 911.

Back on May 20, we published a Crime Watch report from Robin, whose car was stolen just weeks after she arrived in West Seattle. All this time later, she says, it’s finally turned up:

For what it’s worth, I thought I’d follow up with news that my car that was stolen on 5/14 from in front of my house on 39th and Morgan [map] was found last Thursday. SPD left me a voicemail with the address where it was “found.” Of course, 4 months and an insurance claim later, the car no longer belongs to me. However, I thought I’d check to see if any of my belongings were still there. Upon arrival (1.5 miles from my house — just out of the radius I had personally searched for it), the car was in perfect condition, albeit dirty, and it was clear that it had been sitting there for months. Only a few items were taken, but the thieves left a pair of expensive sunglasses, a booklet of CDs, an FM transmitter, and several other easily sell-able items. Should I want to pass any message along to WSB readers, it would be to not be afraid to report abandoned vehicles! They might actually be helping someone by doing so.

The city in fact has an Abandoned Car Hotline: 206-684-8763.

Two more reports to share tonight – but first, another plug for tomorrow night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. If you have any concerns you’d like to bring directly to Southwest Precinct police leadership, this is exactly the place to be; also, tomorrow’s guest speaker is King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, which means you’ll get to hear – and ask – about what happens to crime suspects *after* they’re arrested, including the recently launched Repeat Burglar Initiative. 7 pm, public meeting room at the precinct (Delridge/Webster, parking lot and building entrance are off Webster). Now, speaking of burglary, the latest reports:Read More

Three Crime Watch reports to share this afternoon – reports of an Alki assault, Gatewood burglary, and a Junction-area sighting that might or might not be related to a theft – read on:Read More

Kelli e-mailed last night to say that she saw graffiti in three areas north of Lincoln Park, including a business sign, with the same homophobic three-word slur that led to a police investigation and arrest this past May. She has reported it through the city’s online graffiti-reporting form and is contacting police as well – as we told her, police have said publicly recently that they want to hear about graffiti because they might be able to match it to certain suspects/repeat offenders. While no suspect has been described or identified in this case, we did check on the status of the man arrested after last May’s graffiti incidents. According to Seattle Municipal Court online records, the charges were dropped in June because he was found incompetent to stand trial. As for what happened after that, online records don’t say, but we are checking whether there is any publicly available information; he spent about a month in jail after being arrested in mid-May. P.S. Kelli said in her original note that she was hoping a report might “broadcast to these dunces that their feelings do not represent those of most West Seattleites. I found it disgusting and, frankly embarrassing for our neighborhood.” One spot she said had been vandalized, a bench at the tennis courts north of Lincoln Park, was already getting some work; she said “an elderly gentleman was busy trying to sand the words off the park bench” as of late yesterday afternoon.

Remember the Junction KeyBank robbery on August 5th? The FBI has just sent out a bulletin saying that robber – who has turned up on camera in several other recent robberies around the city – is believed to be half of a team blamed for 17 holdups in the past three months. Here’s the official “bulletin” flyer. FBI agent Frederick Gutt says, “If they are, in fact, responsible for each of these, it would make them the most prolific bank robbers in the Seattle area since 2006. The suspects should be considered armed and dangerous. We could use the public’s help with identifying them. Anyone with information regarding these suspects is asked to contact the FBI at (206)622-0460 or seattle.fbi@ic.fbi.gov.” 4:07 PM UPDATE: Reading through a spreadsheet that accompanied the news release – the same pair are suspected of two other West Seattle robberies – July 10th at Alaska USA in Westwood Village QFC, and July 15th at US Bank on Edmunds across from Jefferson Square. Here are the photos on the “bulletin” linked above:

Not shown in that montage, here’s the photo we got from the FBI after the July 10th Westwood Village robbery:

Here’s the FBI’s list of the 17 robberies they believe to be linked to this team.

Two reports to share this morning: First, Marie reports that a bike like the one on the left is one of two bikes that were stolen from in front of the Game Stop store on Roxbury Thursday afternoon (map) – her son and a friend parked the bikes and two teenagers “grabbed them and rode off,” she says. She is asking for people to be on the lookout for the bikes: “A gray Free Agent BMX racing bike, very nice, was a Christmas present; the second bike was a vintage Dino BMX bike. It is chrome with orange lettering and red handle grips. They are irreplaceable; the boys are heartbroken.”

Second report – Karleen says her neighbor’s house near SW Oregon and 22nd (map) was broken into yesterday afternoon: “The thieves apparently entered through the kitchen window, hopped over the sink and helped themselves to the XBOX and a few games – also missing is a laptop and a ring. They left out the back door, leaving muddy footprints, and the back door was left wide open. They went as far as trying to re-install the window screen they bent on entry.” Both of these incidents have been reported to the police; later today, we’ll share some information from a neighborhood-organizing meeting last night elsewhere in West Seattle, regarding how best to protect against burglars.

ADDED 10:12 AM: Shortly after we first published this, Ray e-mailed another bike-theft report: “Our son’s bike was stolen from our backyard between noon and 3 pm, Thursday, Sept. 3. We live in North Admiral, on 45th near College Ave [map]. His bike is a red, REDLINE racer, made by Torker.”

A court appearance this morning for 19-year-old Skyelar Hailey, charged with two counts of burglary after an incident last month that started with the theft of a teacher’s purse at West Seattle High School, continued with items being taken from an acquaintance’s home nearby, and ended with a foot pursuit involving police (all detailed here): According to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Hailey pleaded not guilty, and the judge cut his bail from $25,000 to $15,000. He is still in jail as of this moment, according to the county’s online jail register. As reported here Tuesday, the 17-year-old girl who was with him when this all happened is charged with burglary and ID theft, and also has pleaded not guilty.

The person at left was photographed prowling a townhouse in the 4500 block of 40th Ave SW just a little while ago, according to WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, who saw it happen and just finished talking with police. He says: “I was sitting at my desk working (with a view of the alley) and I saw this guy walk up to my neighbor’s door across the alley and try the doorknob. The door was locked. So then I saw him look in the window by the door. He was looking around, trying to appear casual, but clearly up to something. When I saw him go around to the other side of the house and jump the railing onto the deck I picked up the phone and called 911. I didn’t know it but my neighbor and his two small children were actually home. Apparently the thief saw or heard them and decided not to proceed any further. He jumped back over the fence and sauntered down the alley towards Alaska. I grabbed several pictures and was able to give print outs to the SPD. They were on the scene in less than five minutes with multiple officers looking for this guy. Perp was about 6 feet tall. Slim. Light skinned black man. At least one stud earring. Clean cut. Blue dress shirt with vertical dark stripes. Khaki pants. Black oxford shoes. He wasn’t carrying any bags or clipboards or anything.” To reiterate, what Christopher did — calling 911 — is what police urge everyone to do if you see something or someone suspicious.

Later this week, 19-year-old Skyelar Hailey wlll appear in court to answer charges in connection with the August 18 case that started with an alleged purse theft inside West Seattle High School, continued with an alleged theft inside an acquaintance’s home, and ended with a foot pursuit that led to his arrest (all detailed, with the court-document narrative, in this August 21 story). At the time, police also took into custody a 17-year-old girl who was with him; they hadn’t yet decided about charges against her when they filed the charges against Hailey, but now they have: She is charged with two counts of residential burglary – which is what Hailey is charged with – and one count of second-degree identity theft, regarding ID from the victim that police say was in the girl’s purse when she was arrested. (We are not identifying her because she is charged as a juvenile; WSB policy is generally to not identify juveniles unless they are charged as adults, which can happen, but mostly in violent-crime cases.) Hailey remains in jail, with bail set at $25,000, pending Thursday’s court appearance; the juvenile suspect has been arraigned but information on her custody status is not publicly available.