West Seattle, Washington
01 Monday
This just out of the WSB inbox, from Desiree:
I had a terrible thing happen to me yesterday and I want to share it with others so the same thing does not happen to them. I live in West Seattle at Southern St and 35th Ave SW. While I was mowing my lawn yesterday (Wednesday) a thief entered my home through the basement utility room. He stole my purse, jug of change ($80) and my mother’s engagement ring (not replaceable). After I finished mowing the front lawn I walked the lawn mower down the side of the home and into my driveway where there was a beat-up black BMX bike on the sidewalk at the end of my driveway. I though, gosh that’s a big bike for the kids to be riding and thought nothing more about it. After I put the lawn mower away and turned around I noticed the bike was gone. This was maybe a minute from when I had just walked by the bike.
When I realized my purse was missing I headed straight to the bank where I was told by the bank representative that already the thief had tested my debit card at the ARCO station. When the police arrived and learned of my situation they shared with me that this has been happening in the area from the south to the Admiral District. Mostly these “Opportunists” are looking for elderly people working in their yards, which is a good opportunity to enter the home, according to the police officer. A running lawn mower is an excellent indication for a thief to know of ones whereabouts. I really never thought I’d have to lock my door while I’m doing choirs around the home.
I spoke to the neighbors and the little boy saw a man arrive on his black bicycle with black clothing and dark skin. The boy saw him on my deck. Which was a very scary thing since you can only get on the deck from the upstairs kitchen door. The boy saw the man crawl over the deck…the boy thought it was my husband. With the boy witnessing the man’s actions, it helped me put together what really happened and how the thief entered and exited my home.
I think this information is very important so please post it as a reminder for neighbors to be alert to their surrounding and be safety-conscious.
A related reminder: The neighborhood crime-fighting-awareness event Night Out is next Tuesday, and tomorrow is your last day to register your block, which gets you official permission to close it to traffic that evening, so you can have a block party. Here’s how to register. (And if you’re having a Night Out event, and wouldn’t mind us dropping by to get a picture and say hi, please let us know where and when – this is the type of community event we love to celebrate in WSB coverage.)
We haven’t closely followed the Amanda Knox case, though she’s from West Seattle and her mom still lives here, because there’s a preponderance of places where you CAN find every last little detail; our last mention was back in January. However, Cami from Alki just tipped us that Knox’s family, including her mom Edda Mellas from Arbor Heights, did a rare interview this morning, on the Today Show, and sent the link (click the picture on the right side of the page to launch the clip, which starts with an update on the case before the video of the on-set interview). No stunning revelations so far as we could tell from watching.
This is out of the WSB inbox, from a couple in the Seaview area, who attached the photo you see above:
On July 29, our beautiful beloved new Stella scooter was stolen sometime after 12:45 AM from the front of our home in West Seattle … around the 46th and Raymond/Juneau cross streets. If you have any information please contact the police dept at 206-733-9800 or 911 case# 08-279064 it would mean the world to us. We have attached a picture of what our bike looks like and the temporary license plate is 212099. …
Also, with the rise in Scooter ownership due to increasing gas prices, we felt it would be great to let others know the potential for theft. We only had her for a short while and are crushed about it.
It’s been a challenging summer for the Southwest Precinct, dealing with some officer injuries (like this one) that have affected staffing, and forced some difficult choices. The precinct leader we mention the most, Lt. Steve Paulsen — who’s in charge of precinct operations, which means logistics, scheduling, and other planning/execution to keep West Seattle (and South Park) safe — has just written with a message for you about one resulting short-term change:
For the next month to month and a half, we are going to pretty much shut down our Community Police Team office. I have made the tough decision to put our Community Police Team back into patrol to get us through the rest of the summer. Given this temporary situation, I believe it is more important that our citizens have the officers in the field. The CPT officers will be working the areas they normally serve so they can keep current with issues to their assigned neighborhoods. What they won’t be able to do is answer/monitor their office telephone calls from citizens in the Precinct.
The good part is that we will be in the field, enhancing our current ability to provide a responsive service. If our citizens have non-emergency neighborhood issues that requires our attention — please feel free to contact Crime Prevention Specialist Benjamin Kinlow at 206-684-7724. Any other concerns, please contact the Southwest Precinct at 206-733-9800.
Again, thank you for your patience and support … We truly enjoy our partnership with our West Seattle community.
If you’re wondering “what’s the Community Police Team?” — these are officers assigned to certain sectors of the precinct’s area with primarily proactive, rather than reactive, duties — from working with community groups to address their concerns (we see CPT reps at many key meetings), to keeping close watch on potential trouble spots, even repeat visits to make themselves known. You can read about the CPT at this page on the SW Precinct website. Meantime, as Lt. Paulsen mentioned, it’s a “partnership” with you — and the next action you can take in this partnership is participating in Night Out, next Tuesday; it’s not too late to register your block (which gets you the right to close it down for the evening) – here’s the place to start.
Quick reader report from Justin:
I had wheels and tires stolen from my garage last night near 42nd and Brandon. It has been reported to the police.
From reports filed at the Southwest Precinct in the past several days (downloaded last night so we haven’t seen the very newest ones yet): 
We start with somebody taking on trouble in his neighborhood – and getting trouble in return: In the 5600 block of SW Teig around 9:20 pm Saturday night, a man in his 50s told police he had seen teenagers using drugs and urinating in the street near his home, so he started taking pictures of them and their VW Rabbit with his cell-phone camera. They told him to stop; he didn’t, and he told police one of them “jumped on him” and scratched his face. The report says officers couldn’t see any visible injuries but a witness confirmed the attack; it also says they advised the man to call police next time rather than trying to take matters into his own hands, but he wasn’t very receptive to that advice. More summarized reports ahead, including a bartender attacked while working and an alert business owner helping bust up a possible underground burglary attempt:Read More
Just out of the WSB inbox – a question about a note left on a door, followed by an alert about a suspicious sighting – read on:Read More
Busy morning so far. In addition to the Hancock/Schuck’s demolition and a notable tree takedown (report to come), we were going through a sheaf of police reports downloaded last night at the precinct – when something too new to have been in that stack arrived in the WSB inbox from Dr. Elise Mullen:
(At) Seattle Wellness Programs, 5617 California Ave SW: We had someone come through the office, at approximately 8:20 pm (last night), while the massage therapist, Leah Bowman, was working and stole her purse which was in a back room. A police report has been filed Please let police know if anyone saw someone at that time or recovers the purse. 206-388-2929
Just uphill from the P-Patch pilfering we reported here last night, there’s trouble at Solstice Park (formerly Lincoln Park Annex): Pam from Nerd’s Eye View reports “the markers (there) are COVERED with tagging … it’s not just a paint-over deal, these are carved stone markers.” Pam says police told her it had to be reported by the victim – in this case the Seattle Parks Department – so she called the department’s maintenance hotline (206-684-7250) to alert them.
Douglas Cox and Kevin Palmer, arrested after the July 1st robbery at the Admiral/California Wells Fargo that led to a standoff downtown (in which police shot Cox after he refused to drop what turned out to be a pellet gun), were both in court today and pleaded not guilty, according to the Times. (We posted excerpts from the charging papers here on July 7th.)
Lots of gardening-related news today already (Community Harvest update here; West Seattle Garden Tour report here), but here’s one we wish we didn’t have to report. Maybe it’s a simple case of misunderstanding, rather than outright deliberate theft, but whatever it is, Lincoln Park P-Patch coordinator Michelle wants it to stop – here’s what she e-mailed us:
I was wondering if you would post a note on your blog about the rise in the number of theft incidents from the Lincoln Park P-Patch over the past couple of months. We have had entire vegetable plants stolen from the beds as well as produce prematurely harvested.
With the rising cost of food and fuel, we recognize that everyone is feeling the pinch at the stores lately. That, and the concern over the safety of mass produced food, is why many of us find growing our own vegetables and herbs to be our best option. Quite a bit of sweat and effort goes into growing the gardens, so to have someone come along and pluck until their heart’s content is very discouraging. We want to let the community know that they are more than welcome to wander and admire the variety of flowers and vegetables there, but the produce and plants are not up for grabs. If anyone is interested in gardening a plot of their own, they can find more information at: www.ci.seattle.wa.us/neighborhoods/ppatch/gardening.htm.
We’ve also reported here in recent months about various group gardening efforts that are using volunteer help and sharing the harvest with those who helped do the work (like Longfellow Creek Garden in the Delridge area), so watch for more word of chances to get involved with gardens like those. TUESDAY MORNING P.S.: After this WSB item appeared Sunday night, two citywide media outlets contacted us Monday asking about the story; here’s the KOMO version.
FIRST: The 911 log showed an “automatic fire alarm” call at West Seattle High School listed as open for several hours early this morning, which is unusual, so we called Seattle Fire Department to check. Public-information officer Sue Stangl says someone “threw a small chunk of concrete through a window” and followed it up by throwing a lit string of 100 or so firecrackers through the broken window — the smoke set off the fire alarm. The only notable damage was to the window, but the call stayed “open” on the log because of the ongoing investigation.
SECOND: A reader report about suspected “casing” and a subsequent burglary attempt that neighbors think might be linked:
Belvidere neighborhood last night near Olga and Belvidere . On Wednesday, police were called when two African-Americans, one heavyset boy, one girl, both around 16-18 yrs old, all dressed in white, were going door to door without ID. Last night there was an attempted break-in in the same area at a home where the owners had placed their garbage out early due to being out of town. Police again were notified but were directed to the wrong address. Suspect could only be identified as 6’1-6’2 and African-American with normal-fitting dark hoodie. White Cadillac with dark tinted windows seen in the neighborhood around the same time as both events.
We first mentioned this here last November when the P-I wrote about it on the anniversary of the notorious Northwest skyjacking — and today, Times columnist Danny Westneat looks at the suspicion that the skyjacker known as D.B. Cooper might have been a West Seattle transsexual. (The Puyallup couple behind the theory have now apparently written a not-yet-published book.) P.S.: Here’s the FBI web section devoted to the DB Cooper mystery.
Just out of the WSB inbox, from Deanna:
I live in the townhouses right next to the old Fairmount Elementary School (next to the baseball fields) and my car was vandalized sometime early Saturday morning (between 12 am and 8 am). These little f***ers for fun just ripped off my passenger side mirror and threw it into the street to get smashed. Good times! Also, they bent my neighbor’s antenna on her car so that it will no longer go up and down as her car starts.
Just thought you might want to know. Not that the police did anything other than take the report over the phone. But I hear kids out here all the time behind the abandoned school, and I think it’s time we start calling this stuff in and make them do something.
As we mentioned in e-mail back to Deanna, filing reports – no matter how small the vandalism, or theft, or other “property crime” seems to be – is really important, because tracking trends helps police determine how to deploy patrol resources, and which areas they need to keep a closer eye on. The nonemergency number is 206-625-5011.
Just checked with Seattle FBI spokesperson Robbie Burroughs to see if there are any photos of the Westwood Village WaMu drive-thru robber from yesterday — no pix, but the description of the robber (and vehicle) has been refined; here’s the latest:
What we know now is that an older white female dressed in black clothing, dark sunglasses, a fake beard and possibly a wig, robbed the Washington Mutual Bank drive-thru window just before 1pm. She passed a note to the teller saying there was a bomb planted in the bank that would go off in 90 seconds if she was not given money. The teller complied and the robber drove off. Her vehicle was described as a Jeep type SUV, burgundy in color. The exact plate # is not known but a witness saw a 4×4 inch sticker of a Boston Terrier on a window on the driver’s side of the vehicle toward the back of the car. No photos of the robber were obtained. She is still at large.
(newest info at the bottom of the post)
(photos added 1:40 pm)
No further details yet, we are en route to check it out in person, but scanner traffic indicates another West Seattle bank robbery – this one time at WaMu in Westwood Village. (Thanks to CDN, who was listening to the scanner at a moment when we weren’t.) Scanner just bulletined they are looking for a Jeep Grand Cherokee, masked woman who said she had explosives on her body, plate similar to 197XOF, decal of a boxer dog on the window. Happened within the past 10 minutes or so. Call 911 if you see anything resembling the vehicle mentioned above. 1:08 PM UPDATE: We’re at the bank. Police confirm a robbery – at the drive-thru.
The bank has signs up saying “temporarily closed.” At least two police units on scene.
1:11 PM UPDATE: Latest scanner bulletin also mentions the robber claimed there were explosives in her vehicle. 1:22 PM UPDATE: We talked to a bank employee who said it happened pretty much right at 1 pm and only involved the robber and the drive-thru teller – everybody’s OK and most others in the bank didn’t even know what was going on until afterward – more police have arrived at the bank as have FBI agents. Investigators are going around that part of Westwood Village looking for witnesses.
3 PM UPDATE: The outdoor ATM’s are doing a lively business while the bank lobby remains closed. Police have cleared the scene. Here’s some video from earlier this afternoon. The gent in the checked shirt talking to the police is from the FBI.
5:21 PM UPDATE: Lt. Steve Paulsen at the Southwest Precinct just updated us: No arrest yet. The official description is “white female with a fake bearded … driving a large burgundy SUV.”
Much to report from the latest batch of West Seattle police reports we reviewed at the Southwest Precinct. These are from reports processed in the past five days – some of the incidents are more than a week old because the department review process took a few days – and it’s a long list because it’s been a while since we downloaded reports. Among the summaries you’ll read ahead, an online car buyer gets scammed; a toddler turns up wandering in the street; a couple of unusual “road rage”-type cases and slightly older kids get the police called on them just because they’re … playing? Read on:Read More
Documents just in from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office – both suspects in last week’s Admiral Wells Fargo robbery (which preceded the downtown shooting that sent one to the hospital; WSB coverage here) are now charged with three counts each — robbery and eluding — with bail set at $2 million and a hearing planned July 21st. The charging papers include narrative of how the robbery allegedly went down – and confirmation the robber was NOT wearing a dress after all – read on:Read More
E-mailed by Rod:
… Wanted to let you know that the tires of at least three cars were slashed last night on Graham St between 41st and 42nd plus one (mine) on 41st st. SW :(
We mentioned this morning we had two questions out to the Seattle Police media unit – and now we have answers: First, the Cherokee used in the robbery (shown above as photographed by Scott C while it was being towed away last night) was NOT stolen; second, one of the four law enforcers who fired at the vehicle when its occupant refused to put down a gun WAS from the Southwest Precinct here in West Seattle, according to media officer Mark Jamieson — a patrol sergeant with 19 years experience. As is routine in such cases, he and the others involved (two from SPD and one from King County Sheriff’s Office’s Metro Transit detail) are on administrative leave. 6:02 PM UPDATE: Police also released more details today about the actual robbery and how the suspects knew each other, plus the fact that the suspect who was shot had been armed with a pellet gun. Here’s one account from the Times.
Wells Fargo at Admiral/California has reopened after the harrowing events of yesterday (WSB all-day coverage here). Meantime, we are following up with Seattle Police on 2 questions: A commenter asked whether the gold Cherokee (shown here) was stolen; alsoo, we wondered if any of the three officers who had to fire into it downtown happened to be from the Southwest Precinct, since the last official media update said “various precincts.” The SPD media unit is handling inquiries on yesterday’s events; Officer Mark Jamieson is looking into both questions and we’ll update this post when we hear back.
(first video clip added 10:31 pm)
ORIGINAL REPORT: Heavy rescue callout at Marine View/SW 101st; on the way to check it out. (Here’s a map.) That call frequently involves car crashes; listening to the scanner to see if we can pick up any info before our crew arrives. 9:55 PM UPDATE: First update from the scene – a car heading westbound on SW 100st hit a parked car at 46th SW (map), pushing that car down an embankment/bluff onto Marine View Drive; the westbound car then went airborne and landed upside down, also on Marine View Drive, at 101st — and the driver got out and ran away; a search for the driver is under way now — all this, according to the person who owns the parked car that was hit. Marine View Drive is closed in that vicinity, but SW 100th is open until you get to MVD. 10 PM UPDATE: The fleeing driver reportedly headed southbound on Marine View, toward the Endolyne area. 10:08 PM UPDATE: New info from police and witnesses – TWO suspects fled the car, described only as “in their mid-20s.” 10:27 PM UPDATE: Thanks to Cheryl in the comments for the correction – the parked car is the one that landed upside down (you’ll see in the video we’re adding shortly); the white car is the one that hit it, from which the suspects fled. 10:50 PM UPDATE: Two clips now added – closer view of the cars atop the post, wider shot here (from the top of the embankment both went down). We’ll check back on Marine View Drive and suspect-search status in a bit; not hearing any updates on the scanner so far.
11:28 PM UPDATE: Cheryl reports in the comment section that both cars have been cleared and the road’s being cleaned up. 1 AM UPDATE: Marine View Drive is clear and fully reopened. No word of any arrests; we’ll check with the precinct later this morning. THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: Southwest Precinct Sgt. Jeff Durden says both suspects – a man and teenage boy – were arrested.
It’s the last entry in our all-day multiple-update running report on the situation that started as an armed robbery at the Admiral/California Wells Fargo and ended with police shooting a suspect downtown – but in case you missed it there, Spring Street is open again (photo above is from about an hour ago, nobody much left but TV trucks getting ready for 10/11 pm updates) – same spot from which Sharonn Meeks sent this photo at lunchtime (used in our earlier coverage):
Thanks again to everyone who contributed photos, video, information, and other comments to today’s updates. If we learn anything else significant tonight, we’ll add it to this post; tomorrow we plan to start a new one with an update on the bank, assuming it reopens for business in the morning. 9:57 PM UPDATE: P-I talked with the mother of the uninjured suspect, who is now in jail. 10:36 PM UPDATE: Thanks to Scott C (who says thanks in turn to friend Jeff for helping!) for sending this photo of the suspects’ Jeep Cherokee – he happened to pull up next to the “tow” truck as it was driving off, tonight after 5 pm:
EARLY WEDNESDAY ADDENDUM: Kevin in Arbor Heights just sent us this photo of a sign he saw outside a bar near the shooting scene:
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