In West Seattle Crime Watch, the topic is bicycle theft:

STOLEN E-BIKE, MINUS BATTERY: Tom‘s Rad City 4, black with orange trim, no battery, was stolen from West 206 Apartment’ cyclone-fence bike cage overnight last night. He says it was last seen there last night; then early this afternoon, he noticed it was gone, and found the cut lock and cut fencing, plus “a box that may have been a package theft from up the street.” A large black aluminum basket, also manufactured by Rad Power Bikes, was mounted on the front of the bike; Tom says it had a dog bed inside.

DON’T BUY A STOLEN BIKE: About the same time Tom emailed us, we got this note from Jay:

Last night I spotted a teenager riding my wife’s bike, which had been stolen from our apartment’s bike storage. I chased him down and verified that it was in fact the stolen bike. After a confrontation and intervention from SPD, I recovered the bike. The owner was unaware that purchasing stolen goods doesn’t give the buyer ownership.

Bike theft, particularly from bike storage areas, is really prevalent in West Seattle right now. Thieves often store bikes for a year or more before selling them, so that the owner isn’t actively looking. This is what happened in my case. The bike was stolen on April 20, 2020, and the person riding it had purchased it from the thief on OfferUp two months ago.

OfferUp is the most popular website for selling stolen goods. A large portion of bikes on the app are stolen. But there is a way for honest buyers to tell if a bike they’re buying is stolen. Bike Index is a site where people register their bikes and report them as stolen. If the buyer had checked, they would have found my wife’s bike there. They could have looked it up by make and model or serial number and then contacted me.

That site’s been mentioned here many times before, but not in the context of checking there before you buy a bike.

Three brief reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

ARSON: A car fire early this morning in Admiral was arson, according to a preliminary police report, SPD says it was just before 5:30 am when “officers observed a car fire in the 2600 block of 42nd Ave SW. SFD responded. The victim was on scene. It appeared someone broke out a passenger window and set the vehicle on fire.”

CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT: In Gatewood, a Honda Element was left parked outside a home whose residents were away for a week. They just came back and discovered someone stole its catalytic converter while they were gone.

ATTEMPTED CC THEFT: Meantime, an attempted catalytic-converter theft was thwarted last night in Highland Park, This happened around 8 pm at 12th/Trenton: “Someone tried to cut off my catalytic converter; my wife yelled and they left quickly, in a white Dodge Durango with a black box with tools on the back.” The victim says the plate started with BKU (the full number/incident has been reported to police).

Criminal cases often take many months to work their way through the legal system. In recent months we’ve received multiple inquiries about one case in particular, the rape charge filed in April 2020 against then-18-year-old Jackson U. Sullivan. He was accused of raping a 16-year-old 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 November 2019. Both were West Seattle High School students at the time. As with many cases, there have been routine status hearings during those months. A notation appeared in the online case file recently, saying that a plea agreement was expected. We checked back on the case tonight and learned that Sullivan, now 19, pleaded guilty Thursday to a reduced charge, third-degree rape; the original charge was second-degree rape. The standard sentencing range is six months to a year; case documents say prosecutors are recommending a nine-month sentence. Sullivan has been out on bond since spending four hours in jail shortly after he was charged last year. His sentencing is scheduled before King County Superior Court Judge Josephine Wiggs-Martin on August 6th.

Three reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

TWO GUNFIRE REPORTS: According to emergency-radio communication, police are investigating both of these reports right now – someone reporting that a person on a motorcycle shot into their house in the 9200 block of 14th SW, and someone else reporting their house was fired at in the 7000 block of 16th SW. No injuries reported so far. THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: No additional info on the 16th SW report but the preliminary police summary on 14th notes: “No one was hit, but bullets did penetrate through the residence – into the living room where minor children were watching TV.”

FAIRMOUNT-AREA ATTACK: This happened Tuesday afternoon and we’ve been pursuing more information but didn’t get it until finding online court documents tonight. A 38-year-old North Shorewood man is in jail after two incidents a short time apart. Police first got a call that a man jumped into a car with two women – mother and daughter – inside; the daughter fought back and he bolted. While they were on their way to that call, they got a report of a man trying car-door handles a few blocks away. Officers who detoured to that call detained what turned out to be the attack suspect. The victims told police they were getting into their car in the 5900 block of Fauntleroy Way SW when the man came up to their car, knocked on the window, then jumped in through the unlocked back door. He grabbed the older woman by the shoulder; the younger woman took out her pocket knife and started hitting him with the handle. She kept hitting him and finally he got out of the car – leaving his phone behind. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested at the other scene near Fauntleroy/Edmunds, and identified by one of the victims, neither of whom needed medical treatment. The suspect is being held in lieu of $15,000 bail, including $10,000 for a prior drunk-driving charge.

ANOTHER AXE ARREST: Police got a call about a burglary in progress in the 3400 block of Harbor Avenue SW around 3:45 pm today. According to the preliminary report, they were told that a man “was using a hammer and axe to break into vehicles and units.” When police got there, they reported finding the man “hanging out the front windshield of a vehicle he had bashed in.” They arrested him and booked him into jail.

Some asked today in comments and email about a Washington State Patrol plane flying over West Seattle repeatedly overnight. We inquired with WSP, and here’s what they told us: It’s related to the ongoing investigation of people throwing rocks at vehicles along I-90. WSP says it’s had a plane up using FLIR – infrared radar – in hopes of spotting trouble before it happens, in areas where someone’s “heat signature” might reveal what troopers can’t see on the ground. They’ve been mostly flying “rounds” – circle the emphasis area (particularly I-90 at Rainier) for a while, go away for 15 minutes or so, come back. And WSP says they’ve been trying to fly high enough that it’s not a noise problem for neighborhoods, but they have to fly lower when there’s cloud cover, and that’s why you might have heard them overnight but not other nights. WSP has arrested some suspects – including one just yesterday – but the problem persists. (The plane, by the way, is based in Olympia. WSP does not fly helicopters.)

Three reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this morning:

BUSINESS ROBBERY: Police are investigating an armed robbery last night at Canna (WSB sponsor), the cannabis shop at 5440 California SW. Police say it happened just before 11:30 pm as the shop was preparing to close. Four masked people entered the store, two with guns drawn, according to a witness, who says they ordered three staff members and one customer to get on the floor. They took phones from the security guard and a customer, threw the phones over the counter, then stuffed cash and marijuana products into plastic trash bags and took off. Some of the products were found in a nearby alley. The robbers have not yet been found.

BURGLARY ARREST: A reader reported hearing police making amplified warnings early this morning in Highland Park. Here’s what that was about. The early police summary says officers responded to a domestic-violence disturbance around 2:30 am near 9th/Trenton but the person reported to have caused it was gone. Two hours later, they were called back to the same residence after the same person forced their way in, then ran off, jumping fences to get away. A K-9 search ensued – that’s what the amplified warnings were about (police policy is to warn suspects that a dog is being deployed to look for them) – and a suspect was found and arrested.

BICYCLE THEFT: The photo and report are from an Arbor Heights resident:

This guy came into our yard with bolt cutters in hand and rode off with one of our bikes (he left his own bike behind). If he’s riding around with bolt cutters then I assume he’s looking for other bikes as well. (Stolen) bike is a black Novaro Buzz.

The victim says this has been reported to police.

From Derek McCloud, manager of the Seattle Public Schools-owned Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex:

Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex had the locks cut to the equipment shed and had a chainsaw, two weed-eaters, a hedger, and possibly more (taken). If anyone sees power tools with an SPS logo that would be from the complex.

The photo and report are from LL:

Just wanted to shoot out a warning for people to check their tire; somebody tried to slash 2 of my tires.

Happened sometime between Saturday midnight and this morning. In the alley 42nd & Raymond.

11:52 AM: The photo and report are from Lisa in Upper Fauntleroy:

Our 2006 white Toyota Sienna – plate ABK5160 – was stolen from in front of our home this morning. The kayak rack was attached. Please keep an eye out for it.

If you see it, call 911

3:51 PM: Update from Lisa – her husband went driving around looking for their car and found it, at 15th/Cambridge.

Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

CATALYTIC CONVERTER STOLEN ON THE STREET: Jeff saw it happen:

I witnessed a catalytic converter theft on Alki this afternoon.

At approximately 12:00 PM, I was jogging down the hill at California Way SW leading to Harbor Ave SW (near Marination Ma Kai) when I saw a man underneath a parked silver Toyota Prius. Another man was standing next to the car. They were both white, in their late 20s or early 30s, and wearing backward baseball caps and undershirts. A woman in a parked silver Nissan Pathfinder without rear or front plates was looking back from the driver’s seat at the 2 men. After a few seconds, they had retrieved the Prius’s catalytic converter and ran toward the parked SUV, and then all 3 drove off. I took a picture of the Nissan and attached it.

Hopefully I got the make/model of the getaway car correct, would appreciate input from anyone who might be better at identifying cars from suboptimal pictures. I filed a police report and am awaiting a case number.

Jeff also left a note for the Prius’s owner and has connected with them.

ABANDONED BICYCLE: Mason saw this abandoned bicycle both days this weekend:

There was a bike left on the side of street on Holgate & 44th … (Sunday) it was still around, maybe someone stole it, then left it? Any reports of a missing old blue road bike?

Three reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

MAILBOXES BROKEN INTO: From AL:

While walking my dog this morning I noticed that my mailbox on Cloverdale and most mailboxes on the 8400 block of 25th Ave SW were busted open. I’ve reported to SPD non-emergency but thought your readers would like to know.

TENNIS COURT VANDALISM: Players arriving at the Solstice Park tennis courts this morning noticed two nets had been tampered with and another appeared to have been cut down and taken, with only this (lower left) left behind:

It’s been reported to police.

AXE SUSPECT CHARGED: One followup today – a felony charge is now filed against the man accused of swinging an axe at a West Seattle Junction 7-11 employee on the Fourth of July. 29-year-old David D. Ailep Jr. is charged with second-degree assault. The charging documents say that the employee had asked Ailep to leave the store because he was acting aggressively, yelling, and throwing items on the floor. Her shift was almost over; her husband was waiting outside to drive her home, and she went out to tell him she needed to do a few more things. Ailep had just left and confronted her outside the store, the documents say, pulling out the axe and swinging at her; she told police that if she hadn’t backed up to get out of the way, he would have hit her in the head/neck/chest. The employee’s husband subsequently got out of his car and used bear spray on Ailep, who police say then fled; they found him in an alley a block away, lying on the ground, the axe under him. Ailep remains in the King County Jail, bail set at $150,000.

Two reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

CARS VANDALIZED: The photo and report are from Pelicans:

Sometime overnight, someone broke windows in 5 vehicles on both sides of the street on the 3300 block of Beach Drive SW, at Constellation Park. One had five broken, some one, two or three. The perps worked from the street side, as well as the sidewalk side. All vehicles were SUV’s. The only other cars parked there were a Prius and a sedan, which were untouched.

An SPD officer was cruising by sometime after dawn and noticed all the damage and the glass in the road. He took photos and filed a report. The incident # is 2021-171103. He said he thought this was vandalism versus done for the purpose of car prowling.

Apparently no car alarms nor anything else was heard. Please, if any one has overnight video, or heard/saw anything, contact SPD and reference the above incident number.

AXE ARREST FOLLOWUP: We reported Monday on a Fourth of July arrest – a man accused of trying to attack a Junction 7-11 employee with an axe. Here’s what more we’ve found out about the suspect: He’s 29 years old, still in jail as of this morning, and held not only in connection with this incident, but also on a failure-to-appear warrant in an unrelated assault case, We looked up the documents in that one; it’s a Municipal Court case in which he is accused of attacking a man on Capitol Hill in 2019. His prior criminal history includes an assault conviction from a 2018 random attack on a woman and her father walking downtown. Those case documents say the woman tried to defend herself with an expandable baton she pulled from her purse; he took it away and injured both her and her father. The case ended in a plea agreement and a 9-month sentence; he’d already served that much time when the case was resolved, and he was released. In this week’s West Seattle case, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is awaiting a referral from police for a charging decision.

In West Seattle Crime Watch:

ABANDONED BICYCLE: Ruth Anne says that Peugeot bicycle was abandoned on Puget Ridge near South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) in April, and she’s tried a variety of ways to find its owner, So farm no luck, so she’s trying here too. If you think it’s yours, we’ll connect you.

HIT-RUN #1: From Mike, who says this happened around 8:40 last night:

I wanted to report a hit and run that totaled the front end of my car on 39th and Stevens in Admiral. Luckily no one was hurt and the person was caught by SPD. But I really wanted to give a huge shout-out to my neighbors, who all came out of their house to share video doorbell footage, told me what they saw, and help clean up the debris on the street. One my neighbors who got outside first, flagged down another neighbor who was driving by, and it was that neighbor who was driving followed the vehicle, called the police while she driving and got the police to stop the person who hit my car. It’s good to know that even we’re in a big city, we still have good neighbors that come together and help each other out.

HIT-RUN #2: SA reports this happened Saturday:

I was in my living room when I heard the sound of multiple impacts on vehicles. I ran out the front door in time to hear tires screech as somebody sped off south, and saw a white car pull over with the driver emerging. His car was pretty damaged, leaking radiator fluid everywhere, and he was very shaken.

Apparently a black or dark gray Toyota (Camry?) hit him from behind, and pushed him into the blue Ford truck (parked), which ramped the curb and came to rest partly blocking the road. The victim then tried to steer away from the Camry and veered into the parked Ford Focus which was facing north in the south-bound lane. That car was also leaking radiator fluids.

This was reported to SPD but we don’t have the incident number, so far.

One more incident from the Fourth of July. The preliminary police summary says this was reported just before 9:30 pm last night – here’s the narrative:

Officers responded to the 7-11 located on Erskine Way to a report of an assault. Upon arrival, officers contacted the victim, who is an employee. The victim told officers that an unidentified male came into the store acting “crazy” — throwing things around and yelling. When the male left the store, the victim followed him outside. The male turned and retrieved an approx. 2-foot-long axe from his pants pocket. The male swung the axe at the victim — who managed to get out of the way — narrowly missing the victim’s head and neck area with the blade. Another store employee pepper-sprayed the male, who fled the area on foot. The suspect was located by officers a short while later a short distance away — still in possession of the axe.

He was arrested and booked into jail.

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports:

PEEL & PRESS BURGLARIZED AGAIN: In Morgan Junction, burglar(s) have again struck Peel & Press (6503 California SW), whose proprietor Dan Austin sent the photo and report:

This should be a celebratory weekend with the Fourth of July and 100% capacity for the first time in 16 months at the restaurant. Instead we walked in and found that we’ve been burglarized again. We are frantically trying to replace some critical equipment with hopes of being able to open later tonight.

ADDED: Some followup information:

Security hard drive was taken. They also got a week’s worth of my kitchen’s tips :-(. I just want neighbors to be aware and if folks want to buy some food over the next … it wouldn’t hurt. Thanks to White Center Glass for moving as fast as possible to get the glass replaced early next week and to the folks at The Bridge for helping me, temporarily securing the back door. The business community and neighborhood always rally.

CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THIEVES’ GETAWAY CAR: The video is from Sarah:

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My husband caught these guys taking our catalytic converter on our Prius. Older model white Dodge Durango, tinted windows, silver rims. End of the license plate is 793P or 723P. Contact police if you see this vehicle.

This happened before 6 am today in the Fairmount Park area.