West Seattle, Washington
19 Friday
3:13 PM: Police are arriving at Bartell Drugs in Jefferson Square to investigate a reported robbery. According to what dispatch has told officers so far, the robber gave a clerk a note demanding cash and saying he had a gun, though none was seen, and got away with “cash from the pharmacy drawer.” The description so far is (updated) white, male, 5’7″, medium build, dark jacket over hoodie (“several layers on”), “knit cap with some yellow,” light pants. They’re not sure if he got away on foot or in a vehicle.
3:36 PM: Viewing security-camera images, police have also told dispatch the robber was wearing a mask and “blue plastic gloves.”
3:44 PM: Now police are headed to Rite-Aid at Westwood Village after a report of a similar holdup there, also with a robber handing a clerk a note claiming to have a gun. So far this robber is described as an “unknown-race male” in a blue mask, black sunglasses, black hoodie. Possible getaway vehicle: A black Subaru.
3:47 PM: Possible suspect is now being chased on foot a few blocks away. (added) They have one person in custody.
4:20 PM: Whether they have probable cause to arrest the person is still being determined. (We’ll be following up.)
4:38 PM: The associated vehicle – which “checked clear” (as in, not stolen), is being impounded.
ADDED THURSDAY AFTERNOON: We’ve finally confirmed that the person who was detained was not arrested, as witnesses from the robberies could not identify him, and there was no other evidence to establish probable cause at the time. (There are cases in which charges might be filed later as a result of further investigation.)
Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:
STOLEN GOLD TOYOTA: Maybe you’ll find Sarah‘s car:
Our car was stolen today at 3:45 pm from in front of our carport located in the alley between 40th Ave SW and 41st Ave SW off SW Bradford,
2007 gold Toyota RAV-4
WA license plate BLN5548Please report to police or contact me if you see it. Thank you. 206-486-2718
SPD incident # is 2022-331103.
CAR BREAK-IN INTERRUPTED: Richard reports that a neighbor stopped what was either going to be a break-in or a car-theft attempt:
My 2011 Hyundai Elantra had an attempted break-in tonight at about 8:30 pm. My driver rear window was busted out in an attempt to either steal the car or rummage around for anything valuable inside. One of my neighbors was outside and saw the suspects against the car and thought it was suspicious. As he walked up to get closer, a getaway car (Honda Civic or similar) drove up to pick them up and they all drove off together. I live in the Fauntleroy neighborhood near Wildwood Market. Was fortunate to have neighbors on alert that were able to spook the burglars away before they were able to do anything more than break my window.
ADDED MONDAY: The SPD incident # is 2022-926217.
Four West Seattle Crime Watch reports:
ANOTHER CRASH-AND-GRAB BURGLARY: Five days after the crash-and-grab at Westwood Village‘s Big 5 store, a similar burglary happened early today at the Arrowhead Gardens mini-market El Quetzal (9240 2nd SW). After a reader tip, we went over and found the scene shown in our photo above. A member of the family that owns the store told us the entrance was so heavily damaged, they hadn’t been able to get inside to figure out what was taken. Police told them it likely happened around 5 am; the SPD call log on Twitter shows an alarm call received by 911 around quarter till 5. The store is closed until further notice. The SPD incident number is 2022-329753.
We also have three reader reports received in the past day-plus:
CAR STOLEN, THEN FOUND: This report is from Ray:
We had our 2016 Hyundai stolen from outside our Highland Park house (parked on the street) between 8 pm-10 pm (12/8). We were awakened by police at 2 am who found the car in North Delridge (a neighbor called in the missing car parked in their alley). The back window had been broken by a screwdriver and the ignition had been pulled out to hotwire the car. Just a heads up for other drivers in the area to continue to be cautious of what’s happening in the community.
CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT ATTEMPT: This report is from William:
We live in the Fairmount Park area just a block from the Elementary School. (Friday) morning at 6:15 a large dark-colored pickup backed up to my Honda Element, which was parked in the driveway with the occupants clearly intending to steal the catalytic converter (this would be try #2). Fortunately my wife was sitting at the kitchen table, saw what was happening, ran outside and yelled at the guys, the scum took off but we were pretty surprised at the brazenness of this attempted theft at a pretty late hour of the morning.
PACKAGE SUBSTITUTION: Sindy in Highland Park had two packages taken on Wednesday and trash – including a fast-food receipt and vaping-cartridge box – left behind in their place. “Has anyone else in Highland Park been having similar issues? These were all supposed to be Christmas gifts.”
5:23 PM: Seattle Police are on the scene of what they say was a fatal shooting in the 9200 block of 29th Avenue SW. We’re en route and will update when we find out more.
(WSB photos)
5:35 PM: Our crew says the victim is in a vehicle near the north entrance of the Roxhill Park parking lot. (photo added above) Also, police on the scene include Chief Adrian Diaz.
7:05 PM: Chief Diaz talked with us and other media at the scene, though he didn’t have many details yet. He said a nearby resident called 911 and police/fire found the victim – described only as male, age not yet known – in the vehicle.
He said officers have been talking with neighbors and looking for video. (He had no specific description to offer, but radio recordings include one officer telling dispatch that one residence’s video showed a silver sedan with five people.) He also talked about trends in general, saying that the rate of shootings in the city had been dropping for a few weeks until an uptick in recent days. He said West Seattle mirrored that trend and mentioned an arrest of one suspect believed responsible for multiple incidents in South Delridge (likely a reference to this case). If you have any information, the SPD tipline is 206-233-5000.
8:14 PM: This is the second West Seattle homicide case in five weeks; no arrest announced so far in the previous one, a man shot and killed in a Puget Ridge house in early November. It also is the third one this year; the first was in June, when a man was shot and killed in a tent in Delridge. That one did result in an arrest, and the suspect remains in jail awaiting trial.
(WSB photo, June 2020)
9:20 PM: Two and a half years ago, a police investigation along the West Seattle shore became national news, after it was revealed that teenagers had found body parts in a suitcase near Luna/Anchor Park and posted about their discovery on social media. The victims were eventually identified as 35-year-old Jessica Lewis and 27-year-old Austin Wenner, who had been renting a room at the Burien home of the man subsequently charged with their murder, Michael L. Dudley, now 64. He was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly shooting the victims to death and dumping their dismembered bodies in Elliott Bay and the Duwamish River. Dudley has been on trial in King County Superior Court, where this afternoon the jury announced their verdict: Guilty, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The verdict documents aren’t in the online files yet but we expect to get them tomorrow. Dudley has a felony record from the 1990s.
ADDED FRIDAY AFTERNOON: The charges were revised in September to four counts of second-degree murder, though there were two victims, Dudley was found guilty on all four counts, including the added circumstance of having used a gun. We asked KCPAO spokesperson Casey McNerthney about the four counts. He explains, “The four charges involved two different theories of murder. Those theories are intentional murder in the second degree and felony murder in the second degree. To make it easier to understand, prosecutors charged those in separate counts. Count 1 and 2 were charges of intentional murder in the second degree, one for each victim. Count 3 and 4 were charges of felony murder in the second degree, one for each victim.” But when Dudley is sentenced, he will be sentenced for two counts, McNerthney adds.
The photo and report are from Bradley:
My brother-in-law’s pickup was stolen from in front of our house last night in north Admiral. It is a lifted, white Ford F350 with rear window sticker on left side that says “existence” and right-side sticker says “rapid firearms.” Also has a yellow “CAT” sticker on the tailgate. Last seen on Delridge around 10am pulling an open cargo trailer with a spare tire. If you see it, please notify the police.
Plate number is C61282Y. We’ll add the police-report number when we get it. (Added: 2022-327908.)
12/18 UPDATE: Brad says the truck’s been found in Shoreline.
Last Thursday night, we took that photo outside the Bank of America at Westwood Village after texts about a police response there. Officers said only that it was a domestic situation. We now know it was more than that – it was the arrest of a man just charged with four felonies, one of which was indeed domestic-violence assault, another of which involved shooting at least 16 rounds at police officers in South Delridge. We reported the arrest here and the original incident here. The defendant is 26-year-old Kevin Flores Reyes of South Seattle, charged Tuesday with first-degree assault, second-degree domestic-violence assault, attempting to elude police, and unlawful gun possession.
Prosecutors say this all first came to police’s attention around 12:35 am November 19, when Flores Reyes’s ex-girlfriend called from Morgan Junction to say he was chasing her in his car and flashing a gun. They weren’t able to catch up with her until she was home in South Delridge; they saw his car driving by, left to try to catch up with him, were unable to, and went back to finish talking with her. 40 minutes later, case documents say, calls started coming in to 911 about shots fired in South Delridge. Police responding to check that out heard more shots themselves, and soon spotted Flores Reyes’s car near his ex-girlfriend’s residence. They pursued him, the narrative continues:
… as he drove southbound on 16 Av SW from SW Henderson St at a speed of about 60 mph. They pursued as Flores Reyes turned eastbound on SW Roxbury St at speeds up to 70 mph in posted 25 mph zones, northbound on 8th Av SW, westbound on SW Henderson St, southbound in an alley west of 16 Av SW until he stopped and exited the vehicle on 17 Av SW just north of SW Barton St. Flores Reyes began running north on 17 Av SW firing rounds back toward officers …
Bullets hit at least three cars and narrowly missed one officer’s leg; the documents say “16 fired cartridge casings were recovered.” However, Flores Reyes got away.
Three days later, police got back results of a test on the recovered 9mm casings and learned they matched casings recovered after gunfire October 4th at Westcrest Park – with the same victim; she was unhurt but her car was damaged by bullets. The court document notes at this point that Flores Reyes cannot legally possess a gun because he has a felony conviction (from an assault case, different victims, in 2016). So with all that, a warrant was issued for his arrest on November 22nd, and nine days later, law-enforcement personnel with the US Marshal’s Task Force arrested him at Westwood Village as mentioned above. He remains in jail, with bail set at $750,000.
Seattle Police say the Admiral Way 7-11 was held up early this morning, and they believe the robbers are the same ones who hit the 35th/Barton 7-11 and a Burien gas station early Sunday. The report summary says the Admiral Way holdup happened arund quarter till 4 this morning, with the robbers traveling in a “white, smaller SUV” and parking in the alley east of the store. From there, the summary says: “Two (robbers) entered, one wearing a backpack and armed with a handgun, the other pulled a long gun from his pants. They went behind the counter and demanded the cash drawer be opened. They also took some thin cigars from behind the counter. The cashier had some difficultly opening the register. The third (robber) then opened the front door and pointed a handgun at the clerk from the door. The (robber) with the backpack then took the cash from the register and they all fled to the vehicle.” The summary also notes that an officer heading toward that scene subsequently spotted what’s believed to have been the same vehicle in an alley by the 35th/Avalon 7-11. As the officer approached, that vehicle “fled at a high rate of speed onto the West Seattle Bridge from Delridge Way SW.” Followup investigation revealed that it was a stolen car and that the robbers inside it were likely the same ones from the 35th/Barton 7-11 heist.
11:33 AM: Thanks for the tip. The Big 5 store at Westwood Village is opening late today because they’re cleaning up from what happened overnight. The staff isn’t commenting beyond saying they hope to reopen sometime this afternoon, but the police log shows an alarm dispatch just before 3:30 am. We have no other information yet on what happened, but we have a request out to police.
ADDED 12:03 PM: Just received from SPD:
Officers responded to the Big 5 Store located at the 2500 BLK of SW Barton St (Westwood Village). The suspects drove up in a Black Chevy Suburban, and a Beige or Silver sedan. The Chevy rammed the front of the store four times and caused significant damage. Two suspects stole an unknown amount of CO2 BB Guns and drove away Northbound. Evidence was recovered from the scene. The suspects wore face covering and gloves. The suspects weren’t located.
12:43 PM: The store has reopened.
D‘s debit-card number was stolen even though the card itself was not. Here’s her story, with a message for you:
Somehow-someway, my debit card number has been compromised, likely at a business point of sale from somewhere in my neighborhood, Highland Park-White Center-Arbor Heights.
Yesterday someone was using my debit card numbers to drain my bank account at the Arbor Heights 7-11 ATM while my card and I were elsewhere.
My bank texted/called me around 3 PM yesterday with an alert that $120 was being withdrawn out of my account from the ATM at the 9200 35th Ave SW 7-11. I…was at Joann Fabrics in Tukwila with my card safely tucked in my pocket.
I responded to the bank fraud analyst immediately. They asked if I had withdrawn $$$ at 2:45 and then again at 2:46, then asked about all of the places I’d been in the last 2 days – including my grocery purchase at QFC the night before.
I’ve contacted the police and am headed to meet the 7-11 manager this morning to see about getting a video for the investigators.
It is a bit shocking but I guess not particularly surprising. I’m just thankful that I had my bank notification buttons set to contact me so quickly, and thankful I still have enough to pay bills. I will have to make a claim with the bank during business hours tomorrow and will likely get the money back.
I guess I’m just writing to you so you can let your readers know to be vigilant with their cards – or make sure that they have account notifications set on their card use at the very least.
D. has a temporary SPD report # so far – T22029992. Meantime, be aware there are many ways card-number theft can happen; in addition to signing up for notifications, here are ways to reduce the chance you’ll be hit.
12:58 AM: Police have converged on the 35th/Barton 7-11 after a report of an armed robbery a short time ago. So far they’re told the three robbers got away in a car described as (updated) a white ~2008 BMW 3-series, 2-door, right rear bumper damage, dealer plates, last seen southbound on 35th.
1:14 AM: Dispatch has told officers that King County Sheriff’s Deputies are investigating a gas-station holdup that “just happened” in Burien with a getaway car that sounds identical to this one.
ADDED MONDAY: Here’s the SPD summary:
At 0046 hours, two suspects entered a convenience store located in the 9200 block 35 AVE SW. One suspect brandished a handgun and the suspects made off with money from the register (containing $600-$700). Suspects got in a waiting white BMW 3 Series BMW coupe with a third subject and fled the area SB. About 20 minutes later, KCSO reported an armed robbery at the Shell station at 12653 Ambaum BLVD SW with matching suspect descriptions (KCSO case number 2022-25968). Area check was negative.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes:
GUNFIRE ARREST: Two weeks after a man allegedly shot at police who were looking for him in a domestic-violence case, the suspect is in jail. Police say detectives assisted by the US Marshals Service arrested the 26-year-old suspect Thursday night. (Here’s our report on the original incident in the early hours of November 19th in South Delridge.)
REPEAT BURGLARY: Reader report from Matt – “We wanted to report a break-in … again. This is the third time in 6 months on our Fairmount home. This time the lock on the shed was cut and miscellaneous items were stolen.
Two days ago we reported on the arrest of a man found half-naked in a stolen pickup truck near Highland Park Elementary. When police searched the truck, they found drugs an a gun. Now three felony charges are filed against 25-year-old Ezequiel A. Lopez-Ortiz of Tacoma: Unlawful gun possession, possession of a stolen vehicle, and possession of drugs with intent to distribute or manufacture. The truck, a 2020 Dodge Ram, had been stolen from the Port of Seattle, according to the charging documents, and partially spray-painted red. Prosecutors also say Lopez-Ortiz has 10 felony convictions in the past 10 years, including three for unlawful gun possession, and seven current warrants from three counties – King, Spokane, and Kittitas. The gun seized from under the driver’s seat in the stolen truck is described as a 9mm SIG Sauer P320 pistol “with fifteen rounds in the magazine and one round in the firing chamber, under the driver’s seat.” Police also found “a backpack behind the driver’s seat containing .45 caliber bullets and an AR15 style magazine with 5.56 caliber bullets.” The drugs described in the previous report are what the charging documents list – cocaine, meth in baggies, and more than 100 suspected “blues” (fentanyl pills). Prosecutors are asking that bail for Lopez-Ortiz be set at $50,000 but as of the filing, there hadn’t been a bail decision yet because Lopez-Ortiz had been refusing to appear in court.
That security-camera image is from charging documents in the case that the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has filed against an alleged serial shoplifter, 25-year-old West Seattle resident Joseph E. Herdrich. It is described as showing Herdrich exiting the Marshall’s store at Westwood Village on October 5th with more than $850 in stolen merchandise. He wasn’t arrested that day, but just two weeks earlier, he had been arrested there in similar circumstances – here’s a security-camera image from that day, in which he is accused of stealing $700 worth of merchandise:
Three and a half days later, on September 24th, with no charges yet filed, he was released from jail. But he’s there now, two weeks after yet another arrest at Westwood Village, after allegedly shoplifting more than $500 in items from the QFC store on November 18th. In that case, store security confronted him and got the items back; he was still outside the store when police arrived and arrested him. Now the KCPAO has charged him with three counts of second-degree burglary for all three of the incidents we’ve mentioned, The charging documents say Herdrich had already been banned – “trespassed” – from both those stores and from other businesses in Westwood Village, but keeps going back to shoplift. An SPD detective wrote in a September report that Herdrich had been under investigation for months for thefts at both the same Marshall’s store and Delridge Home Depot and that he was “driven by his fentanyl addiction.” Herdrich’s arraignment is scheduled for December 7. His bail was set at just $250 by a judge who prosecutors say was unaware of his previous arrests; they argued for raising it to $5,000 given the added facts in the case, but the court docket says that motion was denied.
Two reader reports:
PACKAGE THEFT: Jessica reports this person stole a package Wednesday on 14th SW and her security cam got the thief and his getaway car:
Couldn’t make out a license plate #. Saw him drive away in person and it looked like the plate was covered with a yellow paper/advertisement.
CAR PROWLS: Libby sent this report:
Writing on behalf of two of us neighbors in the 5900 block of 38th Ave SW. We both left our cars unlocked and they were rummaged through (Tuesday) night sometime between 11 pm and 4 am. The thieves took miscellaneous items, vehicle registrations, and insurance cards. We have filed police reports. A good reminder to lock your vehicles!
(Seattle Police photos)
Seattle Police have arrested a man found in the stolen pickup shown above near Highland Park Elementary, passed out, partly unclothed, with drugs and a loaded gun. They say people at the school and in the neighborhood reported the man around 7:40 am for “lewd conduct” at 11th/Cloverdale. Officers found the 26-year-old man, a convicted felon, inside the pickup “which appeared to have been spray-painted white,” with his pants pulled down. His girlfriend was trying to wake him up. After learning the pickup was stolen, they arrested him, and a subsequent search turned up what SPD lists as “a 24-gram brick of cocaine, 115 grams of methamphetamine in individual baggies, a 55-gram rock of methamphetamine, 149 fentanyl pills, and ammunition.”
He’s currently in the King County Jail. Court records show he’s already awaiting trial on four King County charges from 2020 and 2021 – 2 cases of attempting to elude police, one of possessing a stolen car, one of possessing drugs.
The video and report are from Amy:
We live in a townhouse in the alley behind Juneau Street Market. Our neighbor’s mailbox was broken into on Monday night and his mail was stolen. (The thief also checked our mailboxes and checked out our neighbor’s house.) We have video of the thieves approaching and of the break-in. (above) … Our neighbor has reported the incident but we wanted the West Seattle community to be aware.
This is the framegrab with the clearest view of both faces:
We’ll add the incident # when we get it.
Andy sent this stolen-car report, hoping you might see it abandoned somewhere:
I wanted to report that my red 1999 Honda CR-V was stolen sometime between 3 am-530 am this morning. It had been parked right in front of our house on SW Dawson Street (west of California Ave/Rite Aid).
We looked out to see if there was snow. No snow, no car, either!
Police have been contacted, and I’ve spoken to an officer directly. They’re on the lookout. Hopefully someone spots it!
1999 Honda CR-V (Red)
License Plate: AYB4627
THURSDAY UPDATE: Found – see comment.
(Added: Reader photo, via text)
2:05 PM: Thanks for the tip. The east end of the West Seattle Bridge is affected by a shooting investigation right now. Seattle Police say, they responded initially to 6th/Spokane for “a report of one person shot inside a vehicle,” adding that “The ramp to the West Seattle Bridge will be blocked while (officers) conduct their investigation.”
2:13 PM: Here’s more context from SDOT on where this happened and how it’s affecting traffic:
There is a @SeattlePD incident on the Spokane St Viaduct blocking the EB on-ramp to S Columbian Way, as well as the on-ramp from 6th Ave S. Use alternate routes. pic.twitter.com/LZnbWLaK3C
— SDOT Traffic (@SDOTtraffic) November 29, 2022
We don’t yet have information on the victim’s condition or the circumstances.
2:31 PM: SFD tells us the person who was shot is a 39-year-old man who was transported in stable condition.
2:45 PM: As noted in comments, SDOT says the scene has cleared. No further information otherwise, yet.
3:04 PM: Just in from police via SPD Blotter:
The driver of a vehicle called 911 around 1:30 PM Tuesday afternoon to report that her passenger had been injured in a shooting. Officers contacted the driver and the male victim along the West Seattle Bridge and provided medical aid until Seattle Fire Department medics transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center.
(Added: SPD photo)
Witnesses stated a suspect in a silver or gray vehicle opened fire on the victim’s vehicle, striking the victim in the shoulder. The suspect then fled. Officer searched the area but were unable to find the suspect vehicle. Detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit are investigating. If you have any information in this case, please call the tip line at 206-233-5000.
We’re following up to see if there was any indication exactly where on the bridge the shooting happened, before the victim’s vehicle stopped at the east end.
5:13 PM: Police tell us it’s believed to have happened close to where the car the victim was in stopped.
The report and photo are from Sydney:
Last seen the afternoon of Wednesday. November 23, on 42nd Ave SW between SW College St. and SW Walker St. It’s a 1999 White Honda CR-V with brand new tires. We were out of town for the holiday weekend and returned yesterday to find it stolen. Police report # 2022-317990.
We’ll add the plate # when we get it.
TUESDAY UPDATE: Found under the west end of the West Seattle Bridge.
Late last night, we reported on the arrest of a man suspected of breaking into a west Admiral home. He’s in jail this afternoon; the register shows it’s his fifth time there this year. Meantime, we have information on two other burglary cases, both early this morning:
MULTIPLE BREAK-INS, ONE SUSPECT: This one also resulted in an arrest; the 37-year-old suspect is in jail, where records show he spent a month and a half at the start of the year after an assault arrest. In this case, police were first called to a home in the 6400 block of 30th SW around 1:40 am, after a 911 caller reported someone in the back of their house, breaking a window. The report narrative says “There were multiple other calls from neighbors as well, describing someone running through backyards stating someone was trying to kill them.” Officers arrived to find two different households “reported that someone had broken a window and entered, then left, their residences. … Reports also came out that he had left 3 backpacks in someone’s backyard, and might be taking off clothes as he moved about.” Officers found him nearby; the report says he told them he had taken meth while hanging out with a friend and believed “people were chasing him.” He had been injured, likely from breaking windows, and was treated at Harborview before being booked into jail this morning.
STORE BURGLARY: Glass-breaking was also the method of entry when Global Smoke and Vape at 35th/Roxbury was broken into before 4 am today. This photo of the aftermath was texted to us:
A 911 caller reported suspected burglars “loading up a gold van.” They were gone when police arrived five minutes later. The report narrative notes “the front door had holes punched through the glass in several places and there was a large opening in the glass … the metal gate, situated behind the glass door, had been pried open as well, to grant access to the burglars.” They talked to a witness who saw it from their nearby residence, describing the gold van as “similar to a Chrysler” and two burglars, one dressed in black, the other, in a “light or white jacket and white shoes,” appearing to act as a lookout. They left northbound on 35th. Video shown to police by the store owner showed the burglar wearing black hitting the store glass with a “long metal shaft of some kind,” the report says. The owner told police that merchandise had been stolen (the report does not elaborate on exactly what).
If you wondered about the sizable police presence near Admiral Way/Lander, officers were in a standoff of sorts with a burglary suspect. According to the original dispatch, police were called by a real-estate agent who found an unauthorized person in the house. The suspect, described as a man in his 30s, was still there when officers arrived; they covered all the exits and started telling him to come out. He didn’t, and kept moving from room to room inside the house; eventually they went in and took him into custody. Officers subsequently told dispatch that he was asking for SFD medics but wouldn’t say why; they’re there now.
Via text: “My husband’s dump truck’s catalytic converter was stolen this morning by Highland Park Elementary School at around 5:30 am. Thief was driving a beat-up black hatchback car with a white piece of plastic covering the passenger side window. I did call the police.” (We’ll add the # when we get it.)
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