West Seattle Crime Watch: Bohemian ripoff
If you see a two-piece tile artwork that resembles what’s shown above – you may be able to solve the mystery of a ripoff at West Seattle’s newest dining/drinking establishment, The Bohemian. Proprietors Jason and Eirik Rice‘s mom Terri wrote us with the details:
I was so upset that a person stole our beautiful tiles from the front of our Ladies Room door on Saturday night. We have tried so hard to make everything nice & comfortable for our guests and to be treated like this it is a real disappointment. Our neighborhood friends are also upset that this has happened in their place. Please put something in the blog that will let this “person” know that they should be ashamed of themselves. And their Mother would be also.
She says there’s a bottle-of-wine reward for anyone who returns the stolen tiles (not taken during a break-in, but during hours when The Bohemian was open, “on a busy Saturday night”).
County sheriff, prosecutor, judges plan town-hall meeting
Back in June, we covered a regional briefing in SeaTac by King County Sheriff Sue Rahr (left), sounding the alarm about how the county’s budget crisis might affect public-safety services — services that affect Seattle residents (and other cities) as well as those in unincorporated areas like White Center, including the Prosecuting Attorney‘s office and the courts. Now, as budget-decision time approaches, the sheriff has just announced another series of public meetings at which she, Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, and two presiding judges will appear; one is October 29th in White Center – details are on our partner site, White Center Now. (Another meeting that’s not too far away from West Seattle will be at Town Hall downtown, 7 pm on November 3rd.)
West Seattle Crime Watch: Car break-in, with dental loot
Just out of the WSB inbox, from Jane:
I’m writing to report another car break-in, on the night of Friday, October 3rd, to my Honda Civic. The car was parked in front of the house. The location was 42nd Avenue SW between Brandon and Findlay. I reported the break in to the police.
The items stolen from the car were my teenage son’s backpack, which he left on the back seat, and his orthodontic retainers, stored in the front car compartment. The backpack is black with grey trim and contains papers and books belonging to a West Seattle High School student named Ben. The retainers are clear. If anyone notices these items dumped in their alley or yard, please contact me at lewis_ja@msn.com.
I thought this story could serve as another reminder of the importance of emptying our vehicles of valuable items – especially to teenagers who don’t always get why their parents tell them to leave nothing visible in the car.
Crime Watch: Car owner’s been down this road before
Out of the WSB inbox, from Karen:
I wanted to report that our car was broken into overnight near the corner of 46th and Genesee (map). They took the change, emergency road kit and tire chains. This is the 6th time that car has been broken into at that location over the past few years. Nothing of much value has every been stolen but it is a nuisance and, just like tagging, increases if left unchecked. I would remind everyone to report any crime no matter how small. It allows the police to track activity and will increase patrols in effected areas.
Crime Watch: Any idea who this guy is?
Seattle Police just put out a citywide call for public help in identifying the man shown in the sketch at left. The news release says: “On September 25th 2008, at approximately 11:00 p.m., the below-described suspect sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl in the yard of her home in the 2200 block of Northeast 143rd Street. The suspect is described as a white male, 55-60 years old, 5’07-5’10 very skinny build. Hair/beard possibly blondish/gray. Last seen wearing, a navy blue knit cap (recovered at scene). Gray hooded sweatshirt. Dark jeans. Alcohol on breath, dirty. Knife or sharp object in pocket of sweatshirt. ‘Holes’ on forehead/cheeks. (Possibly pock marks, large pores or bumps) Light scar below right eye. Anyone with information about this suspect is asked to call the Seattle Police Sexual Assault Unit at 206-684-5573.”
West Seattle Crime Watch: More than an outage
Just out of the WSB inbox from “T and T,” near Lincoln Park:
Our cable internet and phone service were both down Monday night (9/29). The following evening when I returned from work, I called Comcast and Qwest to troubleshoot. When we were told by both companies that there were no known issues causing the outage, my husband and I went outside to check our wiring entering our home. We were surprised to find that someone had cleanly cut our phone line (i.e. with a wire cutter or similar) and two of our three cable wires. We figure that someone must have tried to break into our home via our basement door, but either got spooked by the giant dog next door or was unsuccessful getting in to our well-secured door. This happened on Kenyon just across the street from Lincoln Park (map).
By the time we called the police, the damage was more than 24 hrs old (since we had assumed initially that this was just a simple cable outage). We have spoken to police and are filing a police report, but wanted to make everyone aware. Two teenage youth were reportedly “looking out of place” and walking up our dead-end street that day, but we have also had neighbors call the police recently for “meth heads” (as they were described to us) who were stealing metal from our neighbor.
Crime Watch reader report: Gone in a smash
Look closely and you’ll see the broken window glass around the edges of that photo, e-mailed to WSB by Paul, who wanted to warn people in the area about what happened to him:
My vehicle was broken into at the corner of Fauntleroy Way SW and 35th Ave. The thieves broke my front passenger window and stole a portable GPS that was installed in the car.
10:06 PM ADDITION: Shortly after we posted this, we got a separate short note about a different wave of car-window attacks: “9/28 around 3 am, 4 vehicles had windshields broken on 13th Ave between Holden & Kenyon.” TUESDAY MORNING ADDITION: And one more report, this one from Melody: “On Sat, 9/27 between the hours of 12 am-3 am my neighbors on 13th Ave SW (between Holden and Barton) had a brick thrown at the back of their car. It dented the exterior (they missed the windows).”
Alki Statue of Liberty vandalism, but not all what it seems
Just three weeks after the plaza dedication, we’ve received a couple reports of vandalism on the new Alki Statue of Liberty pedestal – a missing plaque – but David Hutchinson of the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project Committee reports it’s not exactly what it seems: What’s missing off the pedestal is a placeholder plaque, with the real thing scheduled to be installed sometime soon. He adds that he “noticed over the past 3 weeks as the corners of the fake plaque were gradually peeled back and finally someone simply ripped the whole outer layer off. There have also been a few other acts of minor vandalism – scratching graffiti on an armrest and on some of the blank bricks.” (Thanks to David for the pedestal photo; he also sent photos of the armrest and bricks but since we don’t want to publicize the actual tags, we’re not using them.) MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: More information from Libby Carr of the plaza committee:
The plaque on the street side of the Statue was a temporary until
the new bronze plaque, containing the background story of our Statue, was
cast. It’s now done and will be permanently mounted very soon on the street
side of the pedestal.
We also wanted to let folks now about our concerns about some of the
bricks in the plaza floor. We are having a meeting this week with the brick
engraving company to determine what the problem is with about 100 of the
bricks having what looks like faded lettering. We are not sure what the
cause is, so we are having a meeting to discuss it and find an acceptable
solution. We want brick owners (and potential brick buyers for the
remaining) to know that we are addressing this problem and will be fixing
it.
Also, since many people didn’t have a chance to see Ken Burns
documentary “The Statue of Liberty” on the day of the Celebration event, we
are showing it again at the Log House Museum (61st & Stevens) on Saturday
October 11 (at 1:00 & 3:00 PM) and again on Sunday at 2:00 PM. We will send
in more info as the time approaches, but people may want to put that on
their calendar. People who have seen this thought provoking and informative
historical film have been very impressed with it.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Chill bench pinched
From the “when bad things happen to good people” file: We last heard from massage/aromatherapy purveyors Chill, in Gatewood/south Morgan Junction, when they were raising money this summer to help Jan’s Salon next door recover from this eyepopping crash. Now, Nicole at Chill just e-mailed bad news of their own:
Last night 9/27/2008, someone stole the bench (wrought iron and wood) from out front of Chill at 6969 California Ave SW. It’s a shame – people in the neighborhood really seemed to like having it there. Any sight of it, contact Nicole at Chill 206-724-9555 – thanks.
12:02 PM ADDITION: We asked Nicole for a photo of the bench:
Crime Watch reader report: “Brazen mail thief”
Out of the WSB inbox from Lisa:
I just wanted to report witnessing a very brazen mail thief in West Seattle; we are on 42nd Ave. SW between Dawson & Hudson (just south of the Alaska Junction). On Monday, Sept. 22nd around 11 am we looked out the window to see a young man walking up to our neighbor’s door. Our dogs barked and he appeared to hesitate and walk back towards the gate, then after a few moments returned to the door. We then saw him leave the yard and cross the street. He walked a few doors down, then sat down and proceeded to open the outgoing mail he had taken from our neighbor’s mail slot. Apparently he didn’t find anything good because he dropped the mail on the ground and eventually made his way down the street. We called police and filed a report, including a description: white male, early 20’s, around 5’8” medium build, dressed like a normal young kid (black Easy Street Records t-shirt, white baseball cap, black backpack, jeans). Unfortunately, there were much more tragic things occurring yesterday, and the police were not able to respond until an hour or so later.
Our street does not have mailboxes, all of the houses use mail slots, so it was especially bold of this thief to walk all the way up to the house in full daylight to steal the outgoing mail, not to mention examining his loot just across the street. Either bold or dumb, we’re not sure which. We just wanted to send out a heads up in case our neighbors are in the habit of using their mail slots for outgoing mail. Going forward we will most likely be dropping ours at the Post Office.
Here’s the official US Postal Service advice on preventing mail theft. (That link can be found anytime in the Crime Watch page‘s resources section.)
West Seattle Crime Watch: Sawed-and-stolen sign
(On the West Seattle border, anyway.) Just out of the WSB inbox from Vera at Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor):
Hey- just to put the word out- last night someone stole our Village Green sign from the corner of Roxbury and 26th (map) – it was chained to the tree and they SAWED off the leg and stole the sign. I have the sawed-off piece. If anyone sees a sign around – probably lying on the side of the road somewhere…or being reused as a ‘newly made-over’ sign- please contact us- they are not cheap. Someone also had to have seen this event take place…sawing wood takes a minute or two…
Delridge shooting investigation
This just in from co-publisher Patrick at the Highland Park Action Committee meeting: Community Police Team officer Adonis Topacio is briefing the group and mentioned there was a shooting late today near the Delridge Community Center. A man was hurt and is at the hospital but according to officer Topacio, is “non-cooperative.” No arrest reported so far. More details as we learn them.
West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports: 2 car break-ins
Both out of the WSB inbox. First, from Gretchen:
I just wanted to give a heads up about a car break-in that happened in the 1700 block of Thistle. I usually park my car in the driveway but it was left on the street for the past 5 days, since Wednesday. When we went to move it up into the driveway this evening we saw that the driver side door was open and the glove box had been torn apart. Nothing of value in the car, but filed a police report and placed a fraud report on our credit just in case. The door worked fine, no windows broken, so I think I left it unlocked. So…a reminder to not become complacent like I did! Lock those doors!
From Jennifer:
Just wanted to let you know my car was broken into at the West Seattle Allstar Fitness 2629 SW Andover St. on 9/20/08. According to the staff this seems to happen often.
Here’s the official Seattle Police advice for preventing “car prowls” (the term for crimes like these).
Almost a year after 59th/Admiral shooting, case close to trial
We told you recently that two of the three 2007 West Seattle murder cases both ended with plea bargains instead of trial — Brian Walsh pleaded guilty last month to a reduced charge of second-degree murder for killing “Benny” Reside at Cal-Mor Circle and is awaiting sentencing; Jabarie Phillips pleaded guilty earlier in the year to a reduced charge of manslaughter for killing Dewayne West outside West’s house at 37th/Findlay, and was sentenced last month to 13 years in prison. 
That leaves the case of the shooting last October 13th inside a car at 59th/Admiral (10/13/07 scene photo at left, arrow points to the car) that killed 33-year-old Francisco Bailey-Ortiz. The suspect, an Alki resident, was 17 when it happened and is now 18; we stopped identifying him when his defense labeled him a victim of child sexual abuse (detailed in our report last October 29th). He has remained in jail, though his bail was cut to $200,000, and we have continued to watch the case through a fairly standard string of hearings, continuations, legal motions, etc. Now, it looks like the case is going to trial; a date’s been set for early October, and a pretrial “omnibus” hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. We checked with the suspect’s lawyer, Robert Perez, today, to find out if there was any chance a plea bargain was in the works for this case too. His reply: “I can assure you there will be no plea bargaining in this case. (The defendant) is not a felon and he has no intention of becoming one based on the victimization that led to this tragedy. He will seek justice from a jury of his peers. The case will go to trial during the week of October 6.”
West Seattle Crime Prevention Council: Gang Unit briefing
Timely topic at last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council — a briefing from Sergeant Jim Dyment, who leads the Seattle Police Gang Unit. Just a day earlier, we had shared the story of the latest wave of gang-related (or at least gang-inspired) tagging in Highland Park (photo at left), so tagging came up as well as many other topics, including what kind of gang activity is most prevalent in West Seattle. Southwest Precinct reps had something to say about graffiti, too. Read on:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: More P-Patch pilfering
From the city P-Patch managers via the North Delridge mailing list — thieves spotted at the Delridge P-Patch:
Our office got a call this afternoon from a neighbor of the P-Patch stating she witnessed two men roaming the garden with shopping bags stealing produce at about 1:30 pm this afternoon. She confronted the thieves and called police, but disappointingly they never came or called back. She described the thieves as two caucasian men in their thirties. One had reddish brown hair and was wearing gold pants. They were both thin and tall according to the neighbor. They ran across Delridge in opposite directions, one toward the boarded up green house across Delridge and the other into the wooded area across Delridge. She has seen them around the neighborhood before. Please be aware and on the lookout. Hopefully her confronting them will deter them from stealing more.
You may recall, we reported Lincoln Park P-Patch theft (which subsequently attracted citywide-media attention) two months ago.
West Seattle Crime Watch: The case of the located laptops
Southwest Precinct Sgt. Jeff Durden shared this story at last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting: The burglary unit investigated a case back in late July in which uninvited guests showed up for a party, and “three laptops and some purses” disappeared as a result. One month later, investigators got a call from a B.C.-based company called Absolute Software, described by Sgt. Durden as “a LoJack device you can purchase, software to track your laptop” in case of theft. Seems at least one of the stolen laptops had been tracked to Mitchell, South Dakota, 1,470 miles away:
View Larger Map
The address first traced to a computer-repair shop, but instead, the laptops turned out to be in an apartment above that shop – where a new tenant happened to be from Seattle. A search warrant was obtained and stolen laptops were recovered. “I’m not necessarily recommending (Absolute),” Sgt. Durden concluded, “but in this case it sure worked.” And as he pointed out (borne out by our West Seattle Crime Watch archives too), laptops are an extremely popular target for burglars and other thieves. (Still more to come from last night’s meeting, including the Gang Unit sergeant’s briefing.)
Crime Watch followup: Details on Alki shots-fired arrests
You might remember the Alki incident Sunday night — shots fired, nobody hit, somebody nabbed shortly thereafter. Tonight at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council‘s monthly meeting at the Southwest Precinct, Sgt. Jeff Durden shared a few more details — Two suspects were arrested, “white males in their 20s” in a silver Lexus with Oregon plates, armed with a Glock; Sgt. Durden added that “five shell casings” were found near Spud, but reiterated nobody hit, no property damage either. (Two more reports still to come from tonight’s meeting – the amazing tale of how a laptop theft got solved, plus Gang Unit Sgt. Jim Dyment’s guest appearance.)
Reminder: Gang Unit sergeant at Crime Prevention Council tonight
The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council is always on our list of must-attend meetings. We strongly urge you to be there too, if you have any kind of crime/safety concern in your neighborhood (that includes “nuisance properties”), since Southwest Precinct police leaders are always in attendance and you get the chance to bring up questions/concerns – and tonight features a special guest of timely interest, from the Seattle Police Gang Unit. See you at the SW Precinct meeting room, 7 pm (off Webster, just west of Delridge, parking lot’s on the south side of the building, steps away from the meeting room).
West Seattle Crime Watch: Fighting gang graffiti
The photo at left shows just a segment of the fence tagged at a home at 13th/Trenton (map) over the weekend; homeowner Katie sent us a photo of the entire fence, with the entire tag, but we’re choosing not to show it, after hearing law enforcers make an impassioned case once more against media publication of photos of gang tags and gang signs (we’re interested in your thoughts on that, too). Katie sent word of the huge tag, which read “SW 13” in dark blue paint, saying, “This is the first time our property has been tagged in the 9 years we’ve owned it.” She called the police, then e-mailed us to share the alert, saying: “One of the key points I wanted to share with the WS community is to make sure and report this type of vandalism. Reporting possible gang tags gives the police a heads up on recent activity.” Speaking of which, tomorrow night is your chance to find out a whole lot more about local gang activity, what’s happening and what to watch out for, when a Seattle Police Gang Unit sergeant speaks at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council‘s monthly meeting — all invited — 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room (Webster/Delridge; here’s a map).
Alki police search: Reports of shots fired into the air
Just got a tip about shots fired in Alki/60th vicinity a short time ago – no medic calls but scanner says police are looking for one or possibly more people “firing rounds” – one scanner description was “whitish color 2 door coupe, Maserati, white male, 20s, short blonde hair, cranking rounds off in the air” – haven’t heard the other potential description. Will update if/when we hear more; let us know if you’re in the area and seeing/hearing anything. 11:14 PM UPDATE: In comments, our original tipster says there’s word a suspect was stopped at the Harbor Ave. 7-11.
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