West Seattle, Washington
26 Tuesday
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports on this Saturday, and both involve catalytic converters:
THEFT: The catalytic converter was taken from M‘s vehicle at 4:50 am in Gatewood, near California/Othello. Police report filed. No other details. (Added: M’s vehicle is a Toyota RAV4.)
ATTEMPT: Received late this afternoon:
Just thwarted a second attempt on my Prius in my driveway on Beach Drive. Interrupted thief while he was jacking up the car; he ran without the jack to a waiting older Lexus compact sedan, white, lic BXT—-, reported to SPD. I ran to get my phone, during which he came back for his jack and fled.
3:05 PM: Police are investigating a robbery at the Lucky 5 gas station/mini-mart at 35th/Henderson, and that’s why the Guardian 1 helicopter has just arrived in the area. We’ve talked to police at the scene and they tell us one person, armed, held up the store, and got away with cash, only description so far “African-American, male, gray clothing,” last seen heading northbound.
3:16 PM: No luck from the air, so the helicopter has moved on, but the ground-level investigation continues. Lucky 5 has been held up before – most recently just last month.
One more theft to report today – this time, Derek‘s motorcycle:
My white 2000 Harley Davidson Road King police motorcycle was stolen at 1 am this morning on 11th Ave. SW and SW Holden St. Neighbors say they heard it take off around 1 am so I assume ignition was busted. I am offering a cash reward for information leading to my bikes recovery and/or an arrest.
Plate is WA 8G1755; police incident # is 21-215522.
P.S. Motorcycle theft is technically “auto theft” by state law, and that’s one of the categories of crime addressed in this month’s newsletter sent today by Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner:
Christina’s stroller was stolen Sunday afternoon in Gatewood and a security camera caught this photo of the thieves:
(Here’s the theft on video.) In case you find an abandoned stroller – here’s what it looks like:
Police reoport # is 21-213914.
What happened toward the north end of Beach Drive last month has now happened toward the south end. We went to Lowman Beach after a tip about multiple vehicle windows being smashed overnight. We talked to the owner of the truck seen above; he said nothing was taken, but he had heard of at least three other vehicles that were targeted. We found one of them parked nearby:
The pickup owner said nothing was taken so far as he could tell; we haven’t heard from any of the other victims.
Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:
STOLEN RED LEGACY: The report and photo are from Valdies:
The car was stolen probably last night from in front of my house at 4th Ave SW and Cambridge Ave in Highland Park. 1998 Subaru Legacy sedan. The Plate is BKG8833. Incident # 21-212718.
Call 911 if you see it.
ANOTHER CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT: After three reports over the weekend, here’s another one. Brent‘s security cam recorded the thief approaching his neighbor’s hybrid Toyota Highlander, and then the sound of the theft. The video is not embeddable but you can watch/listen here. This happened around 4:46 am near Highland Park Way and SW Holden.
(added 9:27 pm) AND ANOTHER: Just received from Debbie:
After spending my lunch reading the weekend catalytic converter thefts on the blog, I received a text from my husband (I was at work) that he discovered the catalytic converter in his Ford Truck was stolen sometime between midday Friday 8/13 and midday today 8/16. His truck was parked on 39th Ave. SW between Thistle & Cloverdale.
All of today’s West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports have been about catalytic-converter theft. Hours after we.published this report, two more arrived:
IN A STORE PARKING LOT: Greg says this happened to his Honda Element today in the Delridge Home Depot lot, which happens to be next to the police precinct serving West Seattle and South Park:
Somebody attempted to steal my cat converter while I was in Home Depot. I was parked in the south side of the parking lot facing the Southwest Precinct car park.
I was in the store for 20-30 minutes. When I came out I noticed a large gray Suburban with tinted windows blocking my parking spot and the car next to me.
I thought this was odd but my brain didn’t really register what was happening. I started heading that way and the thieves were very calm in seeing my approach.
The driver was a white female, mid 30’s, dirty blonde hair; she turned to her accomplice, a man, mid 30’s, dark black hair, possibly Hispanic, and through the window of their car I saw him shove something in the back seat of their car, jump in the front and they drove away.
They were not driving super fast and surprisingly were not rushing to get out of there. It wasn’t until I started my car and the engine sounded like a motorcycle that I realized they had almost cut one side of my cat away when I inspected further. I found the Sawzall blade embedded on one side of my cat and provided that to the police.
This was 3 pm in a full parking lot. The lesson here is to park in the center stack with cars facing you and on either side because they were able to box in my car to hide their attempted crime, because I was parked along the perimeter.
The police responded quickly and took an incident report and contacted the Home Depot supervisor for the (video) of the attempt.
IN AN APARTMENT GARAGE: Reported by John: “Just to add to the pile of reports, the catalytic converter on my Prius was stolen sometime early in the morning on Thursday from the locked garage in my apartment building (4730ca in the Junction).”
STATS NOTE: According to this July news release from State Farm Insurance, Washington is #4 in catalytic-converter theft. The number of claims it’s received nationwide has tripled.
A texter reports their Prius’s catalytic converter was stolen early Saturday. The car was parked in a Harbor Avenue driveway near Seacrest, and the theft happened around 4:45 am.
Received today from David in the Alki Point area:
I had a yellow and orange Necky Kayak and paddle stolen between 3 PM and 9 PM on Saturday 8-7.
I wanted to warn others to be on the lookout for people looking around their property.
The kayak had a cinderblock attached to it to discourage theft and they took that too. SO – probably not just one person is my guess. And probably a vehicle involved.
A police report has been filed,
After reporting “two .40 cal handgun shots recorded at (2700 block 59th Avenue SW)” around 3 am, Edd “went outside this morning and (found) two shell casings on the ground.” He sent us photos of both; you can see one above. He had called police at the time, didn’t see anyone respond, but after calling them again about the casings this morning, he says the officer who responded to collect them as evidence said he was the original responder. No injury calls to that area overnight.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch reports tonight:
BUSINESS BURGLARY: Seattle E-bike (4517 California SW; WSB sponsor) was burglarized just after 3 o’clock this morning. Security video recorded the burglars smashing a window, grabbing a bike and trying to grab another before bolting:
The bike the burglars stole, manager Alex tells us, was a “BESV TRS1 valued at $6,500.”
It was “locked to a stand that was screwed to the wood platform,” but they still managed to tear it away. If you have any info, the case number is 21-208327.
DUMPED-LIKELY-STOLEN BIKE: Abandoned this week in the 5400 block of 23rd SW:
If you recognize it, let us know and we’ll connect you with the finder.
DUMPED-LIKELY-STOLEN LUGGAGE: In this case too, let us know if you recognize any of this:
The finder says it was ransacked and dumped in an open garden on Glenn Way SW.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this morning:
GARDEN ART STOLEN: From Naomi:
Just wanted to alert residents who have garden art they care about to think about securing it more tightly. We just had a rusty bicycle wind sculpture taken from our front walkway during the day. This is in the Highland Park neighborhood.
(added) If you have any info, the SPD report number is 2021-914094.
WINDOW SMASHED: Carl sent the photo of a smashed window at the Junction Starbucks:
He says the shop was closed for cleanup when he went by; we’ll be checking on its status a bit later. (10:25 am – just went by; they’re still cleaning up but expecting to reopen as soon as the window’s boarded up.)
Just out of the WSB inbox:
This is Kayla, owner of Opal Nail Studio (formerly Juniper) in the Junction. Just wanted to contact someone who could get the word out that there is an individual on foot who has walked into our business twice in the last hour and stolen merchandise and tried to run out the door.
One of our team members went after him and they got into a physical altercation and he tried to do it a second time shortly after.
I’m reaching out to you to help let our small-business neighbors know that this man isn’t exactly in his right mind and may try this at other businesses.The person in question is about 5’7″, Caucasian, male, medium build, Jeans, and a T-shirt. Seems under the influence of drugs.
Opal is at 4155 California SW.
Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:
GARAGE BURGLAR TAKES BICYCLES: DH sent the photos and report:
Around 3 am on Saturday, August 7th, we were victims of a burglar who broke into our locked condo garage and helped himself to our bikes, backpacking and camping gear, and suitcases full of clothes and shoes that were all packed into our car for our daughter’s drive over to WSU later that morning. A report has been filed with the Seattle Police department and a case # has been assigned.
Attached are the photos taken by our HOA security system. These do a good job of showing the burglar’s identifiable features.
I’m hoping these can be published in the Crime Watch section of the WSB with the goals of:
1) Asking if anyone knows this guy (if so, please notify the police)
2) Warning folks this guy is on loose, so protect your stuff or report him to the police if you see him lurking around
BIKE STOLEN FROM BUS: From Beth:
Bike stolen off Metro C-Line at approximately 9:45pm 8.9.21. Please be on the lookout for a Silver Allez Specialized road bike 56cm with multicolor handle bar wrap (green/yellow/red/black) or might be bare if they pull it off. Also has Grateful Dead Dancing Bear sticker on side. Reward if found!
ANOTHER CATALYTIC CONVERTER GONE: This report is from Neysa:
I wanted to share that my Honda Element’s catalytic converter was stolen from in front of my residence just two blocks south of the Fauntleroy Ferry docks. The theft happened sometime between Friday August 6th at 10:30 pm and Saturday August 7th at 10 am. I filed a police report. I have no leads or footage, but wanted to share to further alert those in the area of the ongoing cat thefts.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes:
ALKI SHOOTING MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN A SHOOTING: Seattle Police have released additional details on the Saturday night incident reported here, and they might explain why officers couldn’t find any evidence of gunfire, as noted in our coverage. Here’s the SPD narrative:
On 08-07-2021 at 2347 hours, officers responded to an unknown call, in the 6100 block of SW Admiral Way. Additional information came in that a male victim was shot in the face. Officers arrived to find the victim’s vehicle had collided with two parked vehicles. The victim was located inside a nearby residence, where he had summoned assistance. The victim reported that an unknown male on a motorcycle had shot him in the face, but he could not provide further information. Seattle Fire treated the victim on scene and transported him to Harborview Medical Center, with non-life-threatening injuries. Officers attempted to locate a shooting scene, with negative results. After being examined at HMC, doctors believe the facial wound was more consistent with being stabbed (no exit wound and no projectile located).
THREAT ARREST: Police say this happened around 8:18 pm Sunday:
officers responded to a Threat Call in the area of Fauntleroy Wy Sw/ Sw Graham St. The suspect threatened to kill the victim, while yelling racial slurs. The victim felt that the suspect targeted him because of his race. Officers located the suspect in the area. The victim positively identified him as the suspect. The suspect was placed into custody and booked into King County Jail.
The jail-register website has just completely changed format so we’re not able to deduce who the suspect might be an what their status is, but will see what we can find out tomorrow.
Two thefts in West Seattle Crime Watch – starting with one that just happened:
CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THIEF SPEEDS OFF: We heard the dispatch for this Arbor Heights theft moments before Lisa called our hotline to report what happened a short time ago. Somebody was taking the catalytic converter off a neighbor’s Honda Element – they could hear the tool, and see the sparks – and neighbors went out yelling at the thief, who, Lisa says, hollered back, before getting into a white sedan and speeding away, even as the 911 call was going out. Only description she has is that he was wearing a red hoodie.
ADDED 2:15 PM: The car’s owner has provided a security photo and video. First, here’s the getaway car:
Second, video of the entire incident. Of particular note, after a lookout person runs away, the would-be thief remains alongside the car – until its owner (2:20 in) runs up, wrestles him away, and then chases him off:
The car’s owner says that just off camera, the thief pulled a gun as he got away. He also clarifies that they did NOT get away with the catalytic converter – but they “cut it both sides and now it’s just dangling from the bottom of my car.” He says
(back to original report) BACKYARD BARBECUE THEFT: This report was sent by Jordan Sunday night:
I wanted to report a theft from our backyard of a Traeger BBQ (in the 5000 block of) 26th Ave SW. They accessed our backyard from a back alley and must have known it was there because I left for 30 minutes for a run and it was gone when I got back. Pretty unbelievable, but just wanted to get the word out to avoid anyone else losing something.
From Matt in North Admiral:
This individual was prowling our alley this afternoon between noon and 1. He walked up and down for about an hour; my neighbor caught him peering in their back door and confronted him. He then went to my house and tried to start my scooter. Eventually another neighbor confronted him again and he claimed to be trying to buy the scooter, then walked off.
A police report has been filed.
19-year-old Jackson U. Sullivan is in the King County Jail tonight, starting his nine-month sentence for raping a then-16-year-old girl during a party in November 2019. That’s the sentence recommended by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in the plea bargain that resulted in Sullivan pleading guilty two weeks ago, as reported here. The nine-month sentence was ordered by King County Superior Court Judge Josephine Wiggs-Martin in what we’re told was a crowded courtroom this afternoon, We were unable to go downtown for the hearing, and documents from it are not yet available in online files, but we got confirmation of the sentence tonight from the KCPAO. Sullivan was charged with second-degree rape in April 2020, accused of raping a girl who was incapable of consent, “intoxicated to the point of loss of motor functions … (during) what should have been an enjoyable high-school party.” In the plea bargain, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of third-degree rape, which carries a standard sentence of six months to a year.
Per Seattle Police policy, SPD has gone public with their video from last night’s deadly shootout in White Center. See it here – if you choose to; please note the warning, as you see and hear gunfire in the video, and you see the man who was shot by SWAT officers, before, during, and after the gunfire. We don’t know anything more yet about the man who was killed; he was described only as a 22-year-old man suspected of a Seattle murder that happened “earlier this year.” Officers had gone to the house near 21st/100th to arrest him, and after they announced themselves, police say, he came out of the house holding a gun, and fired at them; they shot back, as seen and heard in the video, and he was declared dead at the scene. Police have also released this photo of the gun with which they say the man was armed, adding that “The gun was reported stolen in King County in June 2021.”
SPD says three officers were involved in the shooting and that they are on paid administrative leave.
ADDED MONDAY: The Seattle Times says the man who was killed was Isaiah Hinds, identified in June as the suspect in a murder at a South Seattle church in March.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged the man arrested earlier this week after a West Seattle burglary/car-theft victim woke up to see her car, taken a day earlier, back outside her house. We reported on the burglary/theft Tuesday, and the arrest Wednesday. The suspect is 35-year-old Samuel M. Robinson, who remains in jail today, bail set at $25,000. It’s his sixth jail booking in a little over two months, first time a judge has set bail.
First, the new charge: Robinson is charged with residential burglary for this week’s West Seattle incident. This is the third felony charge filed against him this month; on July 8th, he was charged with auto theft for stealing a pickup truck from the 7900 block of 1st Avenue South in southeast West Seattle. On July 28th, he was charged with second-degree burglary for a break-in at a Kent business a few days earlier. In the new charge, documents reveal a few more details about the case: Robinson was identified in part because of a black-and-pink BB gun left in the victims’ house; an officer recalled stopping Robinson, who had a similar gun, a few days earlier. Security video helped make the match too.
Robinson, who has a Westwood address, has convictions for assault and robbery more than a decade ago. The $25,000 bail set for him today by King County Superior Court Judge Melinda Young is half the $50,000 that prosecutors requested, but it was the first time a judge set bail this year, according to background information we obtained from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. After his July 4th arrest in West Seattle, they asked for $10,000 bail, but a judge released him on personal recognizance. On July 8th, the KCPAO filed the auto-theft charge. He was arrested again that day by King County Sheriff’s Deputies, again for vehicle theft. After two weeks in jail, he was released again on personal recognizance; that case has yet to be forwarded to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office by KCSO for a charging decision.
Three days after he got out of jail that time, he was arrested for the Kent burglary. Prosecutors asked for $5,000 bail, but a judge again released Robinson on personal recognizance, two days after he was booked. The charge in that case was filed the following day. Then two days after his release in that case, Tukwila Police arrested him on July 29th, for investigation of possessing stolen property, Yet again, he was released on personal recognizance, this time after one day in jail – and four days later, the West Seattle burglary happened. (Tukwila Police have not yet referred that case to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for a charging decision.) We don’t have the judges’ names in any but today’s hearing, but will be reading through more case documentation to see if we can find any. Meantime, Robinson will be arraigned later this month on the charge filed today.
Watch for Edwardo‘s pickup truck:
My 2006 F-350 Super Duty Power Stroke got stolen from 60th Ave SW and SW Stevens St around 9 pm (Thursday). It was previously stolen January 21, 2021, then recovered next day after a (reader) reported it. Please keep a lookout … the front fender flares aren’t missing. Cash reward if you lead to recovery. Plate number (updated) C56492V
Call 911 if you see it.
6:03 PM: Seattle Police SWAT was serving an arrest warrant in White Center near 20th and 100th when shots were fired. We don’t know yet who fired but the person who was shot was described as a suspect. We are at the scene and will update.
6:06 PM: If you’re in the area, police have set off a ‘flashbang’ before entering the house to see if anyone else is inside. The shooting happened outside.
6:17 PM: The person who was shot has been taken to the hospital. (Correction: Police later said he was declared dead at the scene.) Officers are now searching the residence. The area’s been taped off, including SW 100th.
6:42 PM: SPD Chief Adrian Diaz is here. Officers are still trying to ensure the house is clear.
6:55 PM: They’ve set off another flashbang, to try to rouse anyone inside. Now a TV helicopter’s in the area.
7:24 PM: We and other media are awaiting a briefing from an SPD public-information officer.
7:55 PM: SPD says the person shot by officers has died. They confirm they had gone to the house to arrest a suspect in a Seattle murder case from earlier this year. Assistant Chief Deanna Nollette said the man who was shot and killed had come out of the house with a gun and it appears he shot first; they are not yet confirming that the man they shot is the one they were there to arrest. We recorded the briefing on video and will upload it shortly. (Added: Here’s the video.)
The distinction that the warrant was for a Seattle case is important because it rules out the recent unsolved White Center/North Highline murders – those were outside the city limits.
MIDNIGHT: SPD Blotter says the man who was shot was 22 years old and was the suspect officers had gone there to arrest.
Three reader reports:
STOLEN PICKUP: From Brian:
Stolen: Green 1996 GMC Sonoma pickup last night – August 3. WA license: C19646W. It was parked on the corner of SW Beach Dr. / SW Carroll St. next to La Rustica restaurant.
The truck has a few more dents than this picture shows, has a cracked windshield, and there is a lot of paint splattered on tailgate.
Call 911 if you see it.
CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT: From Benjamin: “Just reporting another cat stolen, off of my Honda Element near the Junction at 45th and Genesee; taken sometime last weekend.”
CC THEFT ATTEMPT: From Josh:
We’re just north of the intersection of SW 109th and 26th Ave SW. Somebody pulled up at noon and started cutting our neighbor’s cat out in broad daylight. I called the cops; they drove away without being caught (typical story…) but they were driving a white Chevy Equinox with a bright pink, large, Seahawks sticker on the back. 2 guys, one guy had a darker complexion with braided hair, white shirt, BRIGHT yellow shoes, The other guy was a white guy, had jeans and green shirt. This is the first in our neighborhood but I’m sure it won’t be the last.Thought you could post this and see if anyone has seen the same two guys.
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