After the Bellevue Rare Coins holdup in The Junction on Wednesday, we asked if the store had security images or video to release. Tonight, they have sent several images.

The store describes the robbers only as “3 young black males, one with an odd limp.” As shown in the image above, the robbers also smashed jewelry display cases.

As reported here Thursday, the store closed after the robbery, for what’s described as remodeling and security updating, “bringing all protocols and equipment up-to-date with state of the art security,” which they plan to do at their other stores too.

If you have any information about the robbers’ identities, you can call Seattle Police and refer to incident # 22-085753.

A small family business remains without its work vehicle and tools after a theft reported here last month. Now a friend has set up a crowdfunding campaign in hopes a community boost will get them back in business. From Brenda:

Hello! I am writing to ask for support from the West Seattle community for a West Seattle couple who had their work van and tools from the street outside their home near Westwood Village. (Reported on WSB here)

The early days of COVID hit their family hard, making their family of five sick and putting Alejandra and Obed out of work. Once everyone was healthy, they started a small outdoor window washing, power washing, landscaping, and odd-jobs business to get caught up on bills during COVID Phase 2 when service workers were not allowed in homes. This business has been growing through recommendations and referrals for the last two years.

Spring is the busiest time of year for them and now they don’t have the tools to run their business and make this income for their family. We’ve put together a Home Depot list of the tools they need and it totals over $7,000 without taking the van into account. We’re setting the goal for the GoFundMe campaign at $4,500 so that we can quickly get them the ladders, power washer, and landscaping tools needed so they don’t miss out on work during this busy season.

Please consider supporting this family-owned business by donating to the GoFundMe campaign. Thank you!

(WSB photo)

6:08 PM: Thanks for the tips. Police are at Bellevue Rare Coins in The Junction right now, investigating a robbery. No details available but looking inside the store, we could see that at least one of the cases was smashed. It’s been just three weeks since the business had windows smashed by a person described in the police report as a disgruntled client.

7:57 PM: SPD spokesperson Det. Valerie Carson tells WSB that three robbers “took cash and merchandise” before leaving “in a dark-colored Honda sedan.” They are described only as armed, male, and in their late teens/early twenties. No injuries reported.

2:34 PM THURSDAY: A few more details from police today: “(The robbers) forced the employees to lay face down on the ground. (They) then forced the employees to take money from the cash registers and a back room safe … they also smashed several jewelry display cases and took several jewelry items. It was estimated (they) stole twelve thousand dollars in cash and additional jewelry. All three (robbers) fled in a black, mid-1990s Honda Accord that was parked nearby. One of the (robbers) walked with a distinctive limp.”

2:47 PM THURSDAY: The store has sent this announcement saying it’s closing immediately for a security update:

Beginning today, April 7, 2022, Bellevue Rare Coins will be closing their West Seattle location for remodeling and updating their security measures. This closure will be effective immediately and last through July 2022.

In light of recent events we will be taking this opportunity to not only improve the aesthetics and layout of our store for a more satisfying experience for our customers. This remodel will also improve the safety and security for our customers, as well as our staff. As safety for all is our top priority, we will also be utilizing this time to improve security at all other Bellevue Rare Coins locations, bringing all protocols and equipment up-to-date with state of the art security. During this time of closure, all West Seattle staff will be relocated to surrounding locations to better serve our community and meet the needs of our customers.

We look forward to serving our West Seattle customers again in July, with a safer and updated environment.

Three incidents in Crime Watch today:

TRUCK TAKEN IN HOME INVASION: From Lauren, who says this happened in unincorporated North Highline near 1st SW/SW 102nd [map]:

I want to let everyone know of a serious and scary thing that happened Monday afternoon around 2 pm to my brother’s family.

While my brother and his wife were out of town celebrating their wedding anniversary, a red-haired man with a British accent and a gun forced his way into my brother’s house. Three of my brother’s children, ages 11, 14 and 17, were home at the time because Highline District is on spring break this week. The intruder herded the kids into the bathroom at gunpoint and told them to stay there. Then the intruder took a laptop computer, cash, and a large key chain that had house keys and vehicle keys, which he then used to steal my brother’s pickup truck that he uses for his business. The truck has a large locking cap in the bed where tools are stored, but of course, the key to the cap was also on the key chain, so the robber will be able to access all the tools in the truck.

We are grateful that no one was physically injured, but the family is understandably traumatized. King County Sheriff responded and is investigating, but if my fellow West Seattleites could keep an eye open for a 2013 dark gray Ford F-150 with extended cab, A.R.E. tall gray cap in in the truck bed with a ladder rack on top, plate C62081H, we would appreciate it! KC Sheriff’s Incident number is C22011202.

UPDATE: The truck’s been found.

MAN HURT IN STREET CONFRONTATION: A neighbor of the victim let us know about this incident, and we just obtained the police-report narrative. Monday night just before 8 pm, police responded to the 9000 block of 4th SW [map] for a report of a “fight.” The victim said he was driving southbound on 4th when he encountered two vehicles “partially blocking the road” and got out of his car to ask them to move. He told police he was then confronted, with one man pointing a gun at him, and the other shoving him, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. He was taken to a hospital by private ambulance. He couldn’t provide much descriptive information except that one of the cars was a red Toyota Camry and he thought both men were white; a neighbor who called police described the two men as Native, with the one who pulled the gun having long dark hair. The neighbor said there were five other people not involved in the confrontation and that everyone got in the cars afterward and headed southbound – but first some items were thrown in his recycling bin. Police say one was the registration for a red Camry; as of the time of the report, they had not been able to reach the registered owner.

RIVERVIEW GUNFIRE: A short summary from police says they checked out a report of what sounded like eight shots near 12th SW and SW Othello [map] just after 11:30 last night. Officers “found evidence of a shooting on the grass.” No injuries or property damage reported. Nobody in the area saw the shooting but police were told a blue Jeep was seen heading southbound on 12th right after the shots.

Three thefts in West Seattle Crime Watch – first, two more reports of catalytic converters being taken:

CC THEFT #1: From Peter:

I’m writing to report that my catalytic converter was stolen last night from my 22 year old car in my driveway in the Fauntleroy/Lincoln Park area.

We’ve got a followup out to ask what kind of car. (Update: 1999 Chevy Cavalier.)

CC THEFT #2: From Dayton:

At 12:30 am on Monday, April 4th, my wife and I heard some sounds of metal being cut. Thinking at first that this was a business causing after-hours noise, my wife went outside our house to investigate. She saw a car stopped in the road on 17th Ave. SW [3800 block] with a driver behind the wheel. She then heard metal-cutting sounds from underneath an ’80s Land Rover Discovery which belongs to one of our neighbors. When she was looking to find out what was happening, a big man stepped out from between two cars, scaring her, so she ran in and alerted me. As I was leaving the house, we saw two men jump into the car, which backed down to exit the cul-de-sac and sped off. We tried to see the license plate, but were unsuccessful. When we went back to look at the Land Rover, we could see that both catalytic converters had been sawed off. A broken Sawzall blade was under the car. Unable to get a good look at the car, the best description I can give is that it is a late-model, 5-door mini SUV with roughly the same outline of a Ford Ecosport, dark blue or black in color. It had an oversized black rack on the top of the type which can be used for a rooftop tent.

BIKE THEFT: Be on the lookout for Steve‘s stolen bike:

I had a bike stolen last night from my garage that I had not yet locked for the night at about 11 pm, in Morgan Junction. It was a nice full suspension Diamondback. Let me know if you see it. I’ve not seen many in WS that have the orange rear triangle.

One SPD report summary of note from the weekend – another case of gunfire blamed on road rage. Police were called to 62nd/Admiral just before 2:30 am Sunday, after a report of gunfire from a vehicle. The victims told officers, the report says, that they “had been involved in a road-rage incident with an older gold Honda sedan.” They said someone in the Honda threw a bottle at their car, and the glass broke their sunroof. (No further details on what if any kind of “road rage” preceded the bottle-throwing.) The report continues, “One of the victims approached the vehicle and a verbal disturbance ensued. A passenger in the Honda subsequently pointed a handgun out the window and fired at least two shots before driving off.” No injuries; police did not find casings in the area. If you have any information, the incident number is 22-082322.

Sent by George:

When I was out of town, someone tried to break into my house on 35th Ave SW just south of Camp Long. They tried to remove the window frame (odd), and also tried to remove the door frame around my basement door. Neither attempt was successful. My alarm wasn’t triggered because of how they tried to break in. I filed a police report, but wanted to alert everyone in the area to be on the lookout for suspicious activity.

Two notes in West Seattle Crime Watch today:

ALKI SEARCH: Texters asked about a police search just off the Alki Avenue business district this morning.

Police at the scene told us it was a domestic-violence incident. The victim, they said, was going to be taken to the hospital for evaluation but was not believed to have major injuries. We haven’t been able to find out whether the suspect was found.

PACKAGE THEFT: From Adam:

I had a package stolen from our condo lobby (The Verge – 3213 Harbor Ave. SW) (Friday) afternoon. The package was delivered by the USPS at 2:32, and stolen 15/20 minutes later by what appears to be a delivery driver of some kind.

He was buzzed into the building and was carrying a large black duffel kept flat. He looks at the packages while waiting for the elevator, gets into the elevator when it arrives, then reaches out and picks up my package.

He leaves a few minutes later, with his duffel lighter (notice he is carrying it more upright and its less full than when he arrived), but seemingly still with my package from Revitalash.

The timestamp in the images is off by about 15-20 minutes, so we think this happened between 2:45 and 2:55 pm this afternoon (Friday, April 1st).

The package was addressed to Adam’s wife Jennifer.

James hopes you can help find his stolen Toyota 4Runner:

ORIGINAL THURSDAY NIGHT REPORT: My 4Runner was stolen in front of my house (Brandon and 45th, near West Seattle Nursery) early Wednesday morning at 2:17 am. Maybe someone will see it and report back. It’s a gray 1988 4Runner with a cracked windshield. My son and I have put a lot of time into restoring it and we’re all sad about it.

The vehicle now has Washington plates, BTS2702. Here’s security video from right before the theft:

7:44 PM FRIDAY: James just emailed to report, “Good news! SPD found at motel in Georgetown and I got it back today. The interior is pretty bashed up and they decided to paint the dash blue. Still, so happy to have it back.”

Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

TANK THEFT: From Jill:

Alki area 11:30 pm (Tuesday night). Car drove into condo carport and parked. Walked to bbq and stole propane tank. We yelled at them out the window and they said come down and get it from them.

CATALYTIC CONVERTER THEFT? From Mindy:

(Wednesday) morning between 5:30 and 5:40 (not sure exact time) heard a car door and voices outside. When a grinding noise started, looked out the door to see a car stopped (3800 block of 17th Ave SW, near W Marginal Way SW) with passenger door open next to a car in front of the house downhill from ours (couldn’t see which car they were working on and don’t know the owners of neighborhood cars).

I yelled “What’s that noise” or something, yelled some more hoping to scare them off. My husband also came out and yelled. They paused but started up again. I yelled about calling the police and headed down from our upstairs unit toward the street. A man in a gray hoodie with a flashlight got into the passenger door of the stopped vehicle — a dark sedan, I think, but I couldn’t see the license plate — and the vehicle backed down the street toward W Marginal Way SW.

A “dark sedan” has been described in some recent catalytic-converter thefts in the area.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has filed two felony charges against the suspect in last Thursday morning’s shooting near 26th/Andover. 38-year-old Justin A. Weiland is charged with second-degree assault, with a firearm enhancement, and unlawful gun possession. The charging documents note that his criminal record goes back 25 years; in that time, prosecutors say, he’s been the subject of 50 warrants. As reported here last week, he was arrested hours after the shooting, leaving the Junction apartment of a woman who was reported to be with him when it happened. Prosecutors now say she factored indirectly into the shooting – though the victim is reported to have told police he didn’t know who shot him, the woman told police the victim is her former boyfriend, and that he and Weiland had been “feuding.” The entire incident was recorded by a security camera at the nearby West Seattle Health Club, and that’s how police identified Weiland as the suspect; an officer wrote that he and a partner “patrol the area of that encampment regularly and make a habit of getting to know the subjects that frequent that area. Justin Weiland is extremely recognizable to us as we have spoken to him on many occasions. Furthermore Justin Weiland’s signature look is a black jacket, blue jeans, a flat billed ball cap worn forward, and almost always fancy tennis shoes.” The 41-year-old victim suffered a gunshot wound to his calf. Weiland remains in the King County Jail, bail set at $300,000. (We obtained his photo from the state Department of Corrections, the only area agency that releases photos on request, provided the person has been in their system.)

Two reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

ANOTHER CATALYTIC CONVERTER THEFT: After this week’s earlier reports of a catalytic-converter thief in a “dark sedan,” another reader sent this:

We just received the police report number for a catalytic converter theft that occurred in our garage in the Avalon Way area over this past weekend. It occurred just past midnight Sunday morning. We don’t have images of the theft, but the cameras in the area leave no doubt that this person was responsible. Police report T22008061.

Black or dark blue Infiniti sedan, off-color left front quarter panel, no license plate. He tailgated a resident through the security gate. (The targeted car) was a Toyota Prius and it took him about 10 minutes.

CURSIVE TAGGER: This is part of the tag scrawled on Kim’s car near Cove Park in Fauntleroy, more like cursive handwriting than a typical tag:

She reports the same tag on a sign at Lincoln Park as well as two garages and a van in the area.

Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

ANOTHER CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT: The three reports we received over the weekend all involved Hondas, but in this one, the thief/thieves hit a 2010 Lexus 350 SUV, near the Fauntleroy ferry dock. It happened just after 3 am Sunday. The reader reports, “Same black sedan. Driver remained in car. Two others removed the converter.”

BROKEN WINDOWS: The photo shows one of two houses where windows were broken:

Two homes on SW Yancy St. had their windows broken by stones (broken concrete) thrown at them last night and today. Are there any other reports in the neighborhood?

BROKEN WINDSHIELD: Noah reports that the hammer-wielding man in this video has been “terrorizing” the 5200 block of Delridge Way SW.

Neighbors saw the man slash Noah’s tire on Friday and break the windshield of his girlfriend’s car early Sunday.

Two Three Four reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

STOLEN WORK VAN: The report and photo are from Brenda:

Our housecleaner and her husband had their work van with all of their tools was stolen last Saturday night/Sunday morning (March 19/20th). The white Ford van, license plate C56039L, was parked near 27th and Roxbury and had an alarm system.

The family had a difficult time during the early days of COVID and built an outdoor window washing, power washing, and landscaping business to earn income during the time when service people couldn’t enter homes. Sadly, this work van had all of the tools inside to do their work — construction tools, ladders, power washer, lawnmower, weed whacker, etc.

Spring is their busiest time of year and now they don’t have the tools to run their business and make this income for their family. Please keep your eyes out for the van and ladders with the name “Obed” clearly marked on them. If you have any information on this incident or see these items, the police report number is 22-069329.

CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT: From Christina: “Last night at 130 am, we were woken up by the sound of someone stealing our catalytic converter. We saw a black sedan drive off. We called the police and they said they would drive the neighborhood looking. We live in the Admiral District near West Seattle High School.”

(added 1:05 pm) AND ANOTHER: Just received email from Liz, who says, “I saw the post this morning about a catalytic converter theft near West Seattle High School and mine was stolen last night as well just a few blocks north of WSHS. I parked my car around 8 pm and came back to it at 11:30 this morning and it was gone. I assume the people stealing converters must have hit a few cars as well last night – I wonder if more were stolen.”
.. .
ADDED 7:48 PM: The comment discussion below includes other recent victims of catalytic-converter theft. Meantime, we asked Christina and Liz about the types of cars hit last night. Both were early-2000s Hondas (CR-V and Civic).

ADDED 9:11 PM: One more reader report, emailed anonymously: “Our 2003 Honda CR-V was hit at 2:15 am (Mar 27). Heard extremely loud grinding noise and noticed a vehicle stopped in the street alongside the car. It was a large black SUV that took off after we yelled out. Neighbor’s camera caught the activity – took 1 min, 20 sec. Unable to see suspect (s) or license plate. We are east several blocks from WSHS. Online police report filed.”

11:02 AM: Another stolen vehicle to watch for:

The green Honda Civic LX belongs to Angie‘s nephew. She reports via email that it was stolen Friday in Highland Park, near 9th and Roxbury.

4:32 PM: Angie just reported the car’s been found.

We start this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup with a followup:

ANDOVER SHOOTING SUSPECT IN COURT: As noted this morning, police arrested a 38-year-old man hours after Thursday’s early-am shooting near 26th/Andover. They identified him through security video. He had a bail/probable-cause hearing this afternoon, and the documents from that hearing have more details on what police say happened. First, the document says the suspect shot the victim after a “verbal altercation.” The security video showed a woman was with the suspect at the time; 10 hours later, after 1 pm Thursday, police were called to a “domestic disturbance” heard by other tenants in the woman’s Junction apartment building. Police watched security video showing the same two people, wearing the same clothes as in the shooting-scene video, arriving in the suspect’s vehicle. Officers were waiting in the hallway when the suspect left the woman’s apartment, and arrested him. Along with the shooting, he is also under investigation for domestic-violence allegations including threatening to kill the woman, and for unlawful gun possession, as he has “multiple felony convictions.” Prosecutors asked for $500,000 bail; a judge set it at $300,000, and he remains in jail

BUS ASSAULT: Harold was on the C line headed downtown with his wife and children when, he reports, a woman “suddenly reached out and smacked me over the head with a long, plastic object she quickly tucked away in her bag. She screamed that I should get away from her or she would do it again.” He was not seriously hurt but is troubled that the bus driver “said he couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything about it, or even report it to Metro police because they have other things to deal with. He said just stay away from her. He said he would only do something if I wanted him to pull the bus over so I could call the police and wait until the woman is arrested. I chose not to do that. The driver declined to talk to her or ask her to leave.” Harold did end up calling transit police directly because he “just wanted to make sure she didn’t stay on the bus and assault other passengers. They had the bus driver stay put downtown and would send someone to ask her to get off the bus.” This sort of situation was not addressed in this recent announcement about a Metro safety initiative; we’ll be following up Monday about what the protocol calls for, as well as drivers’ ongoing safety concerns.

CAR BREAK-IN: Andy‘s car was broken into after midnight last night on 37th SW near Providence Mount St. Vincent. The thief/thieves stole two longboards and a laptop in its bag. If you’ve seen any such items dumped, let us know and we’ll connect you. Andy’s also reported the theft to police.

4:53 PM: From Janna:

Someone shot my 11-year-old with an airsoft gun as he rode his bike home from school today. Hit him in the ear. It was a little after 3:00 around 42nd/Manning. The shots came from a dark gray Honda Element or Kia Soul – one of those boxy cars. He thinks there were four people in the car and that one of them had a beard.

If anyone has a clue who this could be or has experienced something similar, please contact me at janna@lka-legal.com

No police report # yet. Janna says her son is doing OK.

5:51 PM: Adding Haley‘s car-prowl report that just came in via email since Crime Watch is still atop our main page:

On March 23rd around 10 pm, my car was broken into in my driveway on Southwest Hill and California Avenue in the North Admiral area. They took everything from my car and stole my garage key. I just wanted to share for others in the area.

Two reports in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:

CAR THEFT/BURGLARY FOLLOWUP: Last year, we reported on what happened to Amy – first, her car was stolen, then, hours later, her house was broken into while she and her daughter were asleep. Security video and a reader tip led to the identification of a suspect, who was subsequently caught hundreds of miles away. We reported in December that Nevada authorities had worked out a plea bargain with 28-year-old Jordan J. Edmonds. Amy emailed today with this followup:

Jordan Edmonds was sentenced today in NV for the following crimes there: felon with a firearm and eluding police. He fled WA state three weeks after our home invasion in November, and was caught after taking officers on a 100-mile car chase at 120 miles/hour in the NV desert. He has been in jail since the end of November and was sentenced today in Mineral County, NV for the NV charges.

His sentence is a minimum of 29 months and a maximum of 72 months. He will be extradited to WA after serving time in NV, and then he will be tried for our invasion + three other crimes he was wanted on.

Jordan apologized to me and my daughter in court, and I told him I forgave him as a human.

It was the community at the WS blog that got him identified and ultimately led to his capture. Thank you, Tracy and the WS community!

The photo is from the Department of Corrections, taken while Edmonds was in DOC custody in 2018. As we reported in December, the other cases in which he was charged before Amy’s break-in involved residential burglary and unlawful gun possession.

KNOW WHO LOST THIS WHEEL COVER? It was left behind in the hit-run Sandra emailed to report:

I am reaching out to report a hit and run that occurred at the intersection of Fauntleroy and Oregon on Wednesday evening (the 23rd of March) at 8:15 PM. My sister was turning left onto Fauntleroy from Oregon on a green light when a silver Toyota sedan, possibly an early 2000’s model, driving south on Fauntleroy, ran the red light and crashed into her, causing severe damage to the front passenger side of her car. The driver did not stop. The driver was a white male with a long beard, wearing what looked like a work shirt or jacket. His Toyota likely has extensive damage along the passenger side, and is missing one of the wheel covers. If anyone in the area happened to witness the incident or has any information about the other driver involved, please contact SPD and reference incident number 22-072678.

THURSDAY MORNING: A 41-year-old man is in stable condition after being shot at 26th/Andover early this morning. Here’s what SPD just published about the incident:

Around 3:20 (am), officers were called to the 2600 block of SW Andover for a report of a shooting. The victim was reportedly shot in the leg from behind, and sought help from a person in an RV near the scene.

Officers found the victim and applied a tourniquet to his wound. Seattle Fire Department medics then transported the man to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

If you have any information about this incident, please call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000.

ADDED THURSDAY AFTERNOON: One additional detail from SPD – the victim was described as being “on a bike” when shot. Whether moving or stationary, police did not say.

ADDED FRIDAY, 11:39 AM: A suspect is in jail in connection with the shooting. Police say they got surveillance video “from a nearby business” and “recognized the suspect and his female companion who was known to them.” At 1:18 pm Thursday, they were called to a residence in the Jefferson Square area “which happened to be the address for the same female companion.” They saw the suspect’s vehicle in the parking garage, went into the building, and arrested the suspect when he walked out of the apartment. Police add, “Two handguns were located and submitted as evidence.” The suspect should have a probable cause/bail hearing later today, so we hope to have more information after that.

WEDNESDAY: The truck-theft trend continues. This report and photo are from Finlay:

This morning, sometime between 6:30 and 9:00, our black 1997 Nissan King Cab pickup was stolen from the street in front of our house. This happened in North Delridge, on 26th Ave SW between Delridge Playfield and the golf course. License # B73872W.

THURSDAY UPDATE: Finlay reports the truck was found blocks away.

Two reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this morning:

WATER TAXI DOCK THEFT: Thanks to commenter RodgerM for the tip on this. Metro confirms that thieves hit the West Seattle Water Taxi dock at Seacrest overnight. Spokesperson Al Sanders tells WSB, “Several weights were reportedly stolen. They were located underneath the passenger boarding ramp at Seacrest Dock and are used as counterbalance. The Water Taxi’s engineering team installed a temporary system to replace the weights early this morning with no disruption to service.” We have followup questions out, including how much the stolen weights are worth.

GUN SEIZED AT 7-11: This photo tweeted by SPD this morning is related to a West Seattle incident last night:

According to the report narrative we just obtained from police, the call to 911 around 9 pm was that someone was inside the 35th/Barton 7-11 with a gun. Officers arrived and quickly took a 45-year-old man into custody. The clerk told them he saw the suspect “concealing merchandise in his coat,” the report says, and confronted him, at which time the suspect threatened to kill the clerk (which turned the case from shoplift to robbery). But then the suspect allowed the clerk to check his pockets, in which the clerk found the gun (as well as merchandise) and took it away. The suspect reportedly said he would leave if he got his gun back, and the clerk told him no, he had to wait for police. The report says the gun “had a purchase history from 1978” that was traced to a deceased person. Officers also found “six unfired .22 caliber rounds of ammunition” (as shown in the photo). The suspect, who has a felony record so shouldn’t have been in possession of a gun, was booked into King County Jail. (Wednesday evening update: He remains in jail tonight, with bail set at $30,000.)