One day after a man was arrested in the West Duwamish Greenbelt after allegedly bolting from a stolen vehicle driven into the forest (WSB coverage here), his bail was set at $50,000. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had asked for $75,000, but says District Court Judge Gregg Hirakawa went for a lower amount. We’ve been looking at the record of the suspect, 26-year-old Joseph Depaco, who we’re identifying as he is charged/convicted in other cases. He was just sentenced less than a week ago in a plea bargain involving gun possession, domestic violence, and burglary cases, all outside West Seattle. The sentence given to him on February 4th was credit for four months he’d spent in jail plus up to six months of residential drug treatment as a DOSA (Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative). Court documents from the plea bargain show Depaco’s conviction history – three 2017 felony convictions related to stolen cars, and three 2018 felony convictions including stolen property, a stolen vehicle, and drugs. The documents from last week’s sentencing do not indicate when he was supposed to report for the treatment. Tonight, he remains in jail while the KCPAO awaits additional police information so a charging decision can be made in the Highland Park case. Depaco’s last known address is listed on police reports as in South Park.

Thanks for the tip. The Domino’s Pizza in Morgan Junction was held up shortly after noon today. Police say the robber walked into the business, showed a gun, demanded all the cash in the tills, got money, told the employees to lie down, then walked out. Police didn’t find him. No description in the preliminary summary but from archived police-radio audio, we have one: white, male, 5’10”, medium build, black beanie, brown shoulder-length hair, dark blue shirt “with holes in it.” If you have any information, the police incident # is 22-034059.

ORIGINAL MONDAY NIGHT REPORT: Thanks for the tips. Police confirm Canna West Seattle (WSB sponsor) was robbed tonight. Detectives at the scene confirmed the holdup but wouldn’t discuss details, so that’s all we know so far; store employees weren’t commenting either. We found police at the store after multiple tips about a notable SPD response there. This is less than a month after a holdup at West Seattle’s other cannabis store, Origins; more recently, we’ve heard dispatches been a series of robberies at other shops elsewhere in and outside the city.

ADDED 11:08 AM TUESDAY: A bit more info from police today – two robbers, armed, who got away with cash.

The report is from Bismark, who lives near 30th/Charlestown:

On February 5 [Saturday] at around 3:30 am, our house was the target of a home invasion burglary.

My roommate and I were sleeping upstairs at that time and was alerted by my dog that someone was inside the house. We quickly assessed the situation and took appropriate action in equipping ourselves with our personal defense and called 911. The subjects ended up getting away with valuable assets and around 6 am we received a call from Kirkland PD that the 4 people responsible were arrested along with the stolen car they had at the time. They are currently in custody … and I am asking the West Seattle community if they have been a target of recent burglary or have footage of suspects entering homes to please contact Seattle and Kirkland PD with your findings.

We hope to bring justice and peace of mind that we don’t tolerate this criminal activity in our neighborhood.

We are also aware that our situation could have been a terrible outcome and luckily nobody got hurt or worse.

The SPD incident number is 22-030289. We don’t have the Kirkland PD incident number yet but will be following up.

Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes so far today:

ATTEMPTED LURING: The report is from Lynn:

I’ve been alerted that while my son was at the Whale Tail playground near Alki yesterday afternoon, a strange man beckoned to him and a three-year-old to “come over here”. My son ignored him and walked away toward his group of school friends and informed his teacher about it. I just want other parents to be on alert about this.

Lynn didn’t have a description, yet.

MYSTERY STABBING: From a preliminary police summary – a 911 call at 1 am today reported “a man in the road with red marks on his back” in the 3000 block of SW Avalon Way, but police didn’t find anyone. Half an hour later, the man called the AMR ambulance service to say he’d been stabbed. Officers went back and found him at the 35th/Avalon 7-11. The summary continues:

The victim shared no specific details that could assist in the investigation, location of scene, or suspect description. (He) had several small puncture wounds on his back.

SFD was called; they took him to the hospital for evaluation.

Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

UNUSUAL DUMPED/LIKELY STOLEN ITEM: HA emailed to say they “found an industrial heater/fan just off Delridge, south of SW Hudson. Based on the model number, it retails for about a thousand dollars. Rather than leave it where abandoned, I brought it home.” If you’ve had that type of item stolen (or otherwise lost), email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com and we’ll connect you with the finder.

MAIL THEFT TARGETING CREDIT CARDS: From MR:

I wanted to report repeated mail theft that strikes me as a bit odd and thought that perhaps others are experiencing the same. (I have filed police reports for both of the following incidents.)

My Capital One credit card was expiring, so they mailed me a new card. It never got to me, but I received notification from Capital One that someone was attempting to use it at a Shell gas station and also on the Square payment app in late January. I cancelled the card and Capital One sent me a replacement card.

I had not received the card, but this morning I was notified that someone was attempting to use the replacement card to make a very large purchase at a grocery store in White Center.

The thieves apparently were not able to activate the card in any of the cases and I was able to reject the charges and cancel the cards without them being able to use the cards.

What is odd is that I have a keyed mailbox which doesn’t show any indication that it’s been forced open or tampered with. Also, I signed up for the USPS Informed Delivery service after the original theft, and the Capital One envelope showed up on the scan on 2/1, but it was apparently stolen before it made it to my mailbox.

Another stolen pickup truck to watch for – this one belongs to Miles, who sent the photo and report:

My truck was stolen this weekend parked on the corner of 42nd Ave SW and SW Andover St. The license-plate number is C28337Y (The old plates from the previous owner were in the cab, those plates had the number C56269K.) Gray 1999 GMC Sierra.

Call 911 if you see it.

Four reader reports about thefts:

STOLEN PICKUP: That’s Joanne‘s white 1999 Chevy Silverado pickup with white rack over the bed, “stolen between 5:07 pm January 31 and 7:00 am February 1 from in front of our house near Madison Middle School. WA plate C01899A. Let us know if you see it, please.” And call 911. (UPDATE: Found.)

STOLEN BICYCLE: The photo and report are from Jeffrey:

Between Saturday night and 10 am 1/29/22 Sunday my Gary Fischer “Marin” mountain bike was stolen from my back yard, then walked out thru my neighbor’s yard. It was a well-used, XL frame, and would be hard to ride for anyone less than 6′ tall. It is orange, with stickers on it, and a custom seat.

STOLEN CATALYTIC CONVERTER: Brittany reports, “On Friday at the old Roxhill elementary school building across from the 76 and the Safeway on Roxbury, my catalytic converter was stolen from my Kia Soul, right in the parking lot at my school I work at.”

STOLEN CLOTHING: Drew reports that a box of “inventory from my new business venture” was stolen in a car break-in outside his home in Gatewood last Friday – a box unintentionally left in the car. In the box, about $2,500 worth of apparel, which he describes as “beach volleyball clothing (that) we just recently started selling online, so no one in the Seattle area has the clothing except for me (yet!). … Every piece of clothing has a “V” (for Voller) logo … The V logo on the clothing is in gold.” You can see here what the clothing looks like – the stolen items were shorts and T-shirts.

For the second time in 15 hours, we’ve received a reader report of a stolen green CR-V. This one is from Jessie:

This is an old photo of Jessie’s green 2000 Honda CR-V – it now has Washington plates, BFP5162, but still had the Virginia Tech Hokies tire cover when “stolen from 44th Ave SW between Dakota and Genesee … sometime between about 6-7 pm last night and 9 am this morning (2/1).” It’s been reported to police; call 911 if you see it.

From Brenda: “My 1997 green Honda CR-V was stolen last night. License plate AIZ6066. North Arbor Heights.” Call 911 if you see it.

Three incidents in West Seattle Crime Watch, all from SPD summaries:

SOUTH DELRIDGE GUNFIRE: 911 callers reported hearing what sounded like gunfire around Delridge and Trenton at 1:17 am. Moments later, someone called 911 to say bullets had hit his vehicle as he was turning onto Trenton from Delridge. No injuries, but police found evidence, including three bullet holes in the rear of the victim’s vehicle. He thought a “dark-colored vehicle” might have been involved.

ANOTHER 7-11 ROBBERY: For the second time in three days, a West Seattle 7-11 was held up. This time it happened at the 35th/Barton store, just before 5 am Sunday. Before the robbery, the clerk told police, the robber was in the parking lot, handling his handgun. Then he came into the store and said he wanted beer and a hot dog. The clerk said it was too early to sell alcohol. Eventually the man grabbed a hot dog while continuing to display his gun and left the store with it.

STOLEN CAR RECOVERED: Police say this started at 2:42 pm Friday, when “officers observed a suspicious vehicle with subjects loading up copper in the area of 29th SW / SW Brandon.” They determined it was a stolen car, but it left the area before they could take action. Later, the summary says, “Officers located the vehicle at a West Seattle recycle center and detained the driver as he exited the business. The driver denied any knowledge of the vehicle, but then asked to retrieve his cigarettes from inside the stolen vehicle …” Officers identified him as the same person they saw driving it from 29th/Brandon, and arrested him. Since the owner of the stolen car had given consent to search it (something you’re asked when reporting vehicle theft), they searched it and found stolen items inside – including a handgun and construction tools. The suspect was booked into the King County Jail.

ORIGINAL REPORT, 11:34 AM: From JC:

I just wanted to give a heads up of another vehicle theft in the neighborhood.

My blue 2005 Dodge Dakota was stolen from Brandon, near 41st Ave SW, last night or early this morning (Sunday 1/30). It has black racks and the bed was currently super full of construction debris for the dump. Washington license plate C99823V. Police incident #22-024965.

Call 911 if you see it.

(6:05 pm update – JC has the pickup back – see comments.)

1:40 PM: Just got another reader report, this one from Kat:

We wanted to let the community know that at 5:30 am on January 29th my wife woke up to an odd sound, and she went to the window to see that two individuals were stealing our catalytic converter from our 2007 Toyota Prius. She ran out to stop them but they quickly fled in a gray sedan with very dark tinted windows and a small shark fin on top of the car. This happened at 41st and Raymond. A police report was filed.

Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

STORE THIEF: The Beer Junction reports a costly one-item shoplift:

We wanted to put the word out that we had an incident here at the Beer Junction on January 26th. This past Wednesday afternoon, a man came into our store wearing a backward ballcap, red and black pajama pants, a bright orange rain jacket, dark patterned button-up shirt and green wired headphones.

He spent a long time looking through our coolers, asking our staff a lot of questions about the products. He left the store and returned within the hour before taking a bottle worth $350 from our cellared beer collection. He grabbed the bottle and walked out without paying. We have filed a police report with the Seattle Police Department, Case # 2022-902113. If anyone can identify this man, we ask that they let us know or give the information to the police. We appreciate the support of our West Seattle community!

CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT THWARTED: Another interrupted under-the-car theft, reported by Gary:

About 6 a.m. at corner of 45th and Juneau: Catalytic converter attempted to be stolen from my car. I heard a noise that woke me up and yelled at him out the window and they sped off.

Went out and saw he had cut through a pipe, but I caught him before it was taken. Gray newer extended cab pickup truck. Young person. A police report was filed.

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports:

STORE ROBBERY: The 7-11 at 35th/Avalon was robbed just after midnight, according to a brief report summary from Seattle Police. It says the store was held up by multiple people, at least one armed with a handgun; no descriptions in the summary, but we have requested more info from SPD and will add it if/when we get it.

PACKAGE TAKEN: Via email:

Had a package stolen from our porch (Wednesday) at 8:20 am. Looks like it may be teenagers in an older Honda Ridgeline. Hope a parent can see this and maybe stop future behavior. This was at California/Brandon. SPD (incident #) 2022-902092.

From Tommy:

My 1999 Honda CR-V was stolen in front of my house on Tuesday morning at roughly 2 am. I’m guessing they had a set of “jingle keys” that were used to open it and then start it.

I would love to find it. The car was parked in the 1600 block of 42nd Avenue SW.

It is a 1999 forest-green CR-V with tinted windows. It also had a rear bike rack and basket roof rack, but they are both easily removable.

License # BZF2536.

Call 911 if you see it.

That catalytic converter was “hanging by a thread” when Edgar photographed it near his house at 42nd and Brandon. He’s the guy who, as reported here in October, literally kicked a would-be catalytic-converter thief out from under his own car. Early today, 2:30 am-ish, Edgar says, his wife scared off the people trying to make off with the one in the photo. When he emailed us this afternoon, he and his neighbors hadn’t yet figured out whose car that is. But regarding catalytic-converter theft in general, Edgar says, “This has got to stop.”

So here’s what’s being done at the state level: We noted earlier this month that four bills addressing catalytic-converter theft have been introduced in the State Legislature session that began earlier this month. The city of Seattle is advocating for HB 1815, which has more than two dozen co-sponsors, including West Seattle’s 34th District State House Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon. From the bill text (which you can read in its entirety here):

The legislature finds that rates of catalytic converter theft have rapidly increased statewide and nationwide, due in part to existing challenges with accurately identifying stolen catalytic converters. The legislature further finds that victims of catalytic converter theft often incur costs that far exceed the monetary value of the catalytic converters themselves. The legislature further finds that catalytic converter theft is a multifaceted issue that requires collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies, insurance companies, scrap metal dealers, and other involved parties to identify comprehensive solutions.

Therefore, the legislature intends to establish a pilot project to mark catalytic converters with unique, permanent identifiers, thereby enabling law enforcement agencies, insurance companies, and scrap metal dealers to more effectively track the ownership of catalytic converters and identify stolen property. The legislature further intends to gather and utilize data from the pilot project to inform additional efforts to address catalytic converter theft in Washington state. The legislature further intends to establish a task force with the goal of developing effective tools and methods for deterring catalytic converter theft, identifying and recovering stolen catalytic converters, and lowering costs to victims of catalytic converter theft.

The pilot project would be overseen by the State Patrol and would focus on “vehicles that are most frequently targeted for catalytic converter theft …” The WSP would have to provide a report on the pilot project by October of next year. Meantime, the task force would be established with members including legislators, law enforcers, judges, reps from the scrap-metal and recycling industries, plus “two members representing individuals with lived experience being charged with, or convicted of, organized theft.”

Last week, West Seattle/South Park City Councilmember Lisa Herbold testified in support of HB 1815 at a legislative hearing. She wrote about it in her weekly online/email update and mentioned it during yesterday’s council-briefing meeting. Herbold also is advocating for a repeal of the state law that says only the state can regulate scrap-metal processors, recyclers, and suppliers.

HB 1815 has been referred to the state House Public Safety Committee, which is expected to review it in executive session this Thursday. As for the other three bills, SB 5495 had a hearing today; the other two – HB 1873 and HB 1994 – have been referred to committees and are awaiting action.