West Seattle, Washington
14 Sunday
Police and fire responding to 6400 block of California, which would be immediately north of Fauntleroy (map). We’ll be there in a minute. UPDATE: Police have just called off the fire/medic crews, saying “it’s NOT a shooting.” The 911 log call originally said “assault with weapons” but it has closed. 2ND UPDATE: Police are leaving. Here’s what happened: Two people were hanging out in the alley area near Zeeks, described to us as “transients,” and one started yelling about a shooting. Police determined no such thing had happened, though one of them had a “cut-up hand.” Case closed but we’ll leave this up in case you saw everyone rushing there and wondered what happened.
From the WSB West Seattle-wide Events calendar (where you’ll find even MORE that’s happening tonight, and beyond):
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: Crime concerns? Bring them directly to local police leaderships and community advocates in the meeting we always call a “don’t-miss.” 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room (map).
BACKYARD COTTAGES: This isn’t in West Seattle but the proposed city rule change allowing “backyard cottages” would affect our part of the city too: City Council Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee‘s public hearing, 5:30 pm, City Hall downtown (map).
NEED MEDICARE INFO? Bridge Park in High Point has Medicare Health-Education Consultant Marian Sofferin on hand for Q/A at 1:45 pm today (map).
WESTSIDE SYMPHONETTE: New season for West Seattle’s community orchestra, as previewed here, and if you play an instrument, chances are they have room for you (youth welcome too)! Chief Sealth High School at Boren (map; we’re checking on the start time). Update – Symphonette’s Toni Reineke tells us the start times are 5:30 for beginning strings and junior orchestra, 6:45 for senior orchestra.
DANCE LESSONS IN HIGHLAND PARK: Six Tuesdays, three different dance styles; times and other details on the Highland Park Improvement Club website – HPIC is also where you’ll find the classes (map).
BELLY DANCING AT SKYLARK: With Alauda, 7:30 pm (map).
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 major community meetings are ahead this week in West Seattle, all extending an invitation to you, two with speakers/guests bound to be of high interest:
TUESDAY – WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: After a summer hiatus, the grass-roots group that brings together law-enforcement leaders and community members each month will reconvene Tuesday night, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room (Delridge/Webster; map). Special guest this month: King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg (left). If you have questions about what happens to crime suspects once they’re arrested and why, this is the person you want to hear from – his office decides on what if any charges are filed, and how to prosecute the case.
WEDNESDAY – DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DISTRICT COUNCIL: Reps from key community groups and organizations in the eastern half of West Seattle will gather at Youngstown Arts Center (4408 Delridge; map), 7 pm.
THURSDAY – ALKI COMMUNITY COUNCIL: When the ACC meets at Alki Community Center this Thursday at 7, they’re expected to hear from Tom Lin, owner of the historic Homestead Restaurant, closed since a fire eight months ago. Because of the building’s landmark status, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society has expressed concern about its future post-fire, and brought up the situation at the Sept. 2 Southwest District Council meeting. After ACC rep Tony Fragada told the SWDC that Tom Lin would be briefing the Alki group this week, they tabled the topic to wait and see what’s planned for the property and how best to offer help. The public is welcome at the meeting too, though you have to be an ACC member to vote on anything (membership information is here).
What else is up this week? Check the WSB West Seattle-wide Events calendar page any time.
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
That’s the top of a flyer that law enforcers are about to start distributing around Delridge – asking for help from anyone who saw anything the night of a double shooting in May of last year, in which a woman and her 10-year-old son were hit by bullets fired from outside their home. Here’s the flyer – the back of which includes part of a WSB report about the crime. Washington State Patrol Detective Donovan Daly says they’re making one last sweep to make sure they’ve got as much evidence as possible, for the strongest case possible. It’s been eight months since an indictment was announced, as originally reported by KING5 (our followup includes a link to the indictment paperwork) – the suspect, DeVaughn “Buster” Dorsey, was accused of a variety of charges that also related to an alleged “chop shop” in West Seattle; the shooting was allegedly intended to intimidate a witness. According to the new flyer, any little thing you recall from the night of May 18, 2008, could be helpful:
ANY information relating to the events of that night, however insignificant they may seem: loud voices, people running, rumors you have heard on the street, suspicious cars, barking dogs are all important information to the Washington State Patrol.
This is the number to call if you have anything that might help in the case: 425.401.7743.
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.
Before we get to the reports that have come in over the holiday weekend, the prevention info: In the photo, that’s Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow. If you’re interested in setting up a Block Watch, or getting more information about prevention, he’s the guy you contact. We photographed him at a home in the southeastern corner of Gatewood last week; he was there at the request of neighbors who were concerned about burglaries in the area. He stressed that one powerful way to deter crime is for neighbors to know each other; being aware of what’s usual on your block helps you notice more quickly something that’s not. He also walked neighbors through making a map of their block with the names and addresses of residents clearly marked on the map. He said people need to give their neighbors permission to watch each others’ homes. You can contact him, to find out about Block Watch and/or neighborhood presentations, through the info on this page; you can also peruse prevention advice here. Meantime, we have reports of two car break-ins and a scooter theft, from three different West Seattle neighborhoods, ahead:Read More
We took that photo of the parking-strip garden at Chris‘s house in Admiral (39th/Lander) after he e-mailed this report:
Last night our parking strip garden was vandalized.
For the past several years my wife and I have planted a parking strip garden and with the exception or a few tomatoes being snatched, they have been relatively undisturbed. One of the highlights is growing pumpkins for our kids. Over the years, many toddlers in our neighborhood have spend time counting our pumpkins and watching them grow. Our kids take great pride that they grow their own pumpkins for Halloween. This year we were fortunate enough to have an Atlantic Giant pumpkin that we have been nuturing along with a handful of jack o’ lantern pumpkins. The Atlantic Giant though not enormous was over 60 pounds.
This morning I was greeted with three of the pumpkins in the street. One was smashed, another undamaged and the 60-pound giant damaged. The giant was not broken open and looks like whoever perpetrated this was frustrated enough that they used a knife to cut several gashes along one end. Both my children are very upset and I am disappointed that this happened. The impact stretches beyond our family to the families in the neighborhood who take the time to walk our the garden to watch the pumpkins grow.
If you saw anything, contact police, to whom Chris says this has been reported.
Important information for you to make sure your kids are aware of – all detailed here, published today.
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.
Several West Seattle Crime Watch reports to share … First, if you haven’t seen it in the WSB Forums already, Jennifer reported what you might call the “stolen car swap” – her car was stolen, and someone else’s (similar) stolen car left in its place. Read her story, and see a photo, here. Now, to the P-Patch pilfering at Longfellow Creek, as reported by Shannon, who says the same thieves keep returning:
They have been spotted four times now in the past few weeks and confronted at least twice. They are two men driving a blue Isuzu truck with Washington license plates A35–3U. We would like to first warn other gardeners in the area to be on the look out for these folks. Second, we would appreciate any help with stopping these people by reporting them to the police immediately. If you see this truck anywhere, call the police.
Not only are these men stealing from the gardeners who work so hard on our plots in the Longfellow Creek P-Patch, but they are stealing from the food bank plots we maintain there as well. The P-Patch is on city property and is marked as a city P-Patch. There is no reason for confusion on their part as they have been confronted and told this is not open to the public.
Just to reiterate what police have told us and say publicly at every crime-prevention meeting we attend – do NOT hesitate to call 911 if you see a crime, or something suspicious, in progress. Possible life-threatening situations are their first priority, police note, so you may not always get instant reponse.
One more Crime Watch report, went by Thomas on Friday, that we didn’t get the chance to share till now:
I wanted to let you know about a break-in that my wife and I just discovered. It happened on 46th between Raymond and Graham [map] sometime between 9:30 and 1:30 [Friday].
As far as we can tell they took a playstation, 3 laptops, about 45 DVDs, 75 CDs and some costume jewelry. No obvious signs of forced entry. The front door was wide open when we got home. Thankfully our cats stayed inside and are safe.
It wasn’t in West Seattle, but the invitation to participate was circulated citywide, so we asked WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham to cover Sunday’s March for Youth – the second year in a row this event’s been organized to demonstrate concern about Seattle youth violence. He says about 60 people marched. The March for Youth coordinator is Denise Gloster (whose son died young, according to this Seattle Times [WSB partner] report on the event):
Among the signs marchers carried, one remembering Mychael Alexander, killed five years ago at age 20:
One mayoral candidate showed up – Michael McGinn, seen with supporters including West Seattle’s Christi Stapleton (left, in visor):
There’s detailed coverage of the March for Youth, as it happened, at our fellow independent neighborhood-based news site Central District News – see it here.
Followup to last night’s story on North Delridge neighbors mobilizing after reports of a woman being raped early Saturday in the Greg Davis Park area: We just talked with Lt. Von Levandowski of the Southwest Precinct. He says this is being investigated as a case of “acquaintance rape, which is still bad … but we don’t believe there is a predator out there.” He says the woman had gone to the area with the person who allegedly raped her; after she went to the nearby gas station/convenience store for help, she was taken to the hospital for the care and examination that is routine in reported rape cases. Lt. Levandowski says officers “processed the scene” and obtained evidence, and while no one has been arrested yet, he says they have “a lead on a suspect.”
We have received several notes about reports circulating in North Delridge that a woman was raped this morning in or near Greg Davis Park (26th/Brandon). We have not been able to get official police information on this yet – that is often challenging on weekends, unless we find out about an incident while it’s happening, and can go to the scene to talk directly with police. But the most recent note we received has specific information about neighbors mobilizing — so we want to make that public, while we continue to work on getting official information (hopefully tomorrow.) The first report we received today came from a woman who says she talked to officers who were investigating the incident this morning, saying they told her it was not a random attack. Another note says the victim got to a nearby gas station where help was called; the 911 log does show an aid call to the gas station/convenience store at 5235 Delridge at 7:25 am. Meantime, the most recent note we received, from a neighborhood activist who asked that we not use her name, says:
Already, plans for increasing safety in Delridge, and specifically, Cottage Grove, are brewing … a neighbor is organizing a self defense series for the women (and anyone else who wants to join) of the neighborhood and the Neighborhood Watch is on high alert and we are calling to report ANY and ALL suspicious behavior in Delridge! Group walks are being organized and the Neighborhood Council Meeting is this week and we will certainly discuss this incident and how to keep our neighbors safe.
The police told me by phone today that neighbors should ALWAYS REPORT ANY SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR THAT WE SEE–let the police decide if it is worthy of police action. The more information we provide, the better they can do their job. If in doubt, call 911.
There will be many in attendance at the upcoming North Delridge Neighborhood Council Meeting this Wednesday, Sept. 2nd 630-8pm at Olympia Pizza 5605 Delridge Way SW. All Delridge neighbors are welcome! We will discuss safety and other topics.
Several of the notes we’ve received say the victim reportedly was able to give police a license number. Again, we hope to be able to get official information tomorrow.
(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Seattle Police publish summaries of notable incidents to the SPDBlotter site (spdblotter.seattle.gov); we have the West Seattle Crime Watch page set up so that any tagged “Southwest Precinct” automatically feed there (here’s a direct link). Just spotted the summary of last night’s Admiral shots fired/victim beaten/suspect arrested incident (WSB as-it-happened coverage here) – here’s what police wrote:
On 8/28/09, at approximately 1130 p.m., the suspect and victim got into a fight in front of a Pub in the 2300 block of California Av SW. The suspect pulled out a hand gun, and pistol-whipped the victim, causing facial lacerations and possibly a broken nose. During the assault, a round apparently went off into the air, leading witnesses to believe that the victim had been shot. Seattle Fire responded and treated the victim on scene, he was transported to an area hospital with serious injuries.
The suspect ran off a short distance and tossed the hand gun away. A witness identified the suspect to the responding officers, and showed them the location of the gun. The suspect was arrested, and the gun was recovered.
The suspect was booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Assault.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, added 12:02 am)
ORIGINAL 11:46 PM REPORT: California SW is being closed right now in 2300 block (north of Admiral) because of an “assault with weapons” investigation. Still gathering information. Avoid the area. It’s apparently happening on SW College just west of California – that’s where fire is responding.
11:54 PM UPDATE: It’s a shooting – apparently preceded by an “altercation” out front of Admiral Pub – suspect that’s being sought is described, per scanner: White man, early 20s, 6 foot, stocky, white Seahawks shirt, dark shorts, small caliber handgun.
12:01 AM UPDATE: Police have arrested the suspected shooter. 23-year-old, being taken to the Southwest Precinct. They also have recovered the gun. Don’t know yet about the victim, though. WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is at the scene and reported moments ago that it’s “chaos.”
12:08 AM UPDATE: From Christopher: “Witnesses tell me they heard at least one gunshot and screaming. I saw at least one victim, a white male, with a head injury being transported to Harborview.” (added 12:47 am – Christopher’s photo from the scene, before medic unit left)
12:17 AM UPDATE: Per scanner – police are about to reopen California to traffic in that area.
12:21 AM UPDATE: New information from a Seattle Police sergeant at the scene: The victim who was taken to the hospital suffered his injuries in a fistfight that preceded the shooting – shots were then fired but did not hit anyone.
12:37 AM UPDATE: Adding more photos from Christopher, who’s been covering this at the scene. Also checked online court records for the name that police used on the scanner to identify the suspect; some past history, full records not available online at this hour. In this photo, the suspect is in the car furthest from the camera – this was at California/Walker, block-plus north of scene:
SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE: Seattle Police have published a short summary of the incident to their SPDBlotter site (not official police reports, but summaries written by their Media Unit). Read it here.
We haven’t succeeded so far today in getting official police information on this business burglary, but we do now have a report from a neighbor, which along with what we learned earlier – plus the photo at left, courtesy of Celeste – is enough for a Crime Watch report: Around 4 o’clock this morning (we posted it at the time via Twitter, where we often note scanner activity in the wee hours) police checked into a report of door damage at the Original Bakery (9253 45th SW, in Fauntleroy’s Endolyne business mini-district). No one was reported to be inside the shop when the damage was spotted. Lisa says this is what she learned later in the day: “The front door was smashed completely, and the cash register was stolen. … Bernie was busy filling out reports and dealing with the mess this morning. Bernie is my neighbor and such a kind person. Makes me so sad he was a target!” Up to police to connect the dots if warranted, but the door smash is reminiscent of the photo and report earlier this week from Budget Blinds (WSB sponsor) after a break-in attempt there.
Info-packed meeting Thursday night for the South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition, one of West Seattle’s two crime-and-safety-focused groups (the other is the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council). From crime trends in the area (southeast West Seattle plus north White Center) — including a crime police are hoping more victims will report — to what can be done about problem properties, here are the highlights —Read More
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