West Seattle, Washington
27 Wednesday
That’s Scott‘s truck, stolen overnight from 39th/Webster in Gatewood. It’s a 1989 Ford F250. Call 911 if you see it.
Six days after a letter home to families disclosed that a staff member had been arrested, West Seattle High School‘s principal sent another message outlining some followup steps. Thanks to those who forwarded us the message sent Tuesday afternoon. Principal Brian Vance wrote:
As I mentioned last week, we are working with Seattle Public Schools(SPS) and the King County Sheriff’s office regarding the arrest of an instructional assistant, Mr. Smith. As a follow up to ensure the well-being of our students, we will be conducting safety check-in conversations with students with whom Mr. Smith may have worked with directly.
SPS central office-based investigators, who are trained to conduct conversations of this nature, will be coming to WSHS Wednesday and Thursday to conduct the safety check-ins. We will be speaking with students who worked directly Mr. Smith as part of his assignment. Parents/Guardians will be contacted with any follow-up, if needed.
If any other student has a concern they would like to report, please email title.ix@seattleschools.org, and provide your name and contact information (telephone number or email address) so a staff member may contact you.
Thank you and let me know if you have any questions.
As we reported last Friday, 34-year-old Brennan M. Smith is charged with attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor. Charging documents allege he showed up at a Seatac motel after arranging online for paid sex with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl but was really an undercover detective. Smith’s since-removed LinkedIn profile described him as a special-education paraprofessional; the district would not comment on his work aside from confirming he was placed on leave after word of his arrest last week. Smith is out on bail and due back in court next week.
From Patricia:
A dark gray Mercedes Sprinter cargo van (high top) was stolen right in front of the owner’s house in the 2300 block of Walnut Ave SW around 1 am today.
Neighbor saw a large white van type vehicle in the middle of Walnut Ave SW (not parked). Sounded like a diesel engine. Wondered if Amazon delivery, but so late. Then within literally a minute the gray van was stolen and driving down the street. Police were immediately contacted and it has been reported. Please watch for the gray Mercedes Sprinter but also beware of a very large white cargo van that is stealing vehicles quickly and quietly.
We will add the stolen van’s plate # when we get it.
TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE: The van’s been found, but with its contents stolen, Patricia explains in a comment below..
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes:
GUNFIRE: We got multiple questions/reports about a Friday night incident near 9th and Henderson in Highland Park. The scene cleared before we arrived, but we requested the report narrative from police today:
On Saturday at approximately 6:40 pm, officers responded to a report of shots fired in the 800 block of SW Henderson Street. Officers were flagged down by a woman who stated she was pulling out of her driveway when she heard shots and believed she was being shot at. There was no damage to her car and no one in the vehicle was injured.
However, officers did locate spent shell casings in the street on 9th Ave SW. It appears that there was some bullet damage to a house next door to the woman who called police, but fortunately no one was injured. Officers collected the evidence and the Gang Unit will handle the follow-up investigation.
BURGLARY: Though the recent spike appears to have subsided, burglars are still at work in West Seattle. From Jason, west of Fairmount Park:
I’m alarmed to say I witnessed a burglary as I entered the alley between 41st and 42nd last Thursday around noon. A silver Nissan Murano was idling there facing south, with a woman in the driver’s seat, while a man came out of the backyard of (a house in the 5400 block of) 42nd Ave SW with a plastic tub in his arms, his face covered with a cloth neck warmer, jumped into the car and they sped off south down the alley. I tried to take a picture of the car’s plate, but unfortunately didn’t do so in time to get a clear picture. I called 911 to report the crime.
I contacted my neighborhood watch group by email, and they eventually got in touch with the owner of the house, who confirmed her house had been ransacked. An officer from SPD followed up with me as well to notify me that this vehicle fits the description of one that has been implicated in several burglaries in the area. A Latino man and woman appear to be responsible.
This burglary’s incident # is 19-459483.
SCAM CALLS: So many lately – and so many different scam attempts. Maggie reports this one today: “Just got a recorded scam call saying it was from Seattle City Light and that my service would be turned off in 30-45 minutes. Beware out there! Don’t press one or any other buttons these recordings say.” Here’s City Light advice on protecting yourself.
The guitars in the photos were stolen from Jakob in a vehicle break-in early this morning:
Stolen guitars from (5600 block of) Delridge Way SW. Taylor Acoustic 814CE Jakob Singer written on the case. Tape holding in battery by jack. 2004 Les Paul Standard tobacco sunburst. No pick guard with warn finger marks by volume knob.
SPD incident # is 19-462306.
Charges are now filed in the arrest first reported here Wednesday night, that of a now-suspended West Seattle High School instructional assistant accused of arranging online to meet a 14-year-old girl and pay her for sex. 34-year-old Brennan M. Smith, a Ballard resident, remains free after posting bond on $20,000 bail. He is charged with one count of attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor. As noted in our previous report, he was arrested Tuesday night at a motel in Seatac. King County Sheriff’s Office detectives say he showed up there after communicating by text message with a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl and agreeing to pay “her” $150 for “unprotected sex.” They say the contact was initiated when Smith responded to “an online advertisement … on an escort-service website.” The charging document also said he was found to be in possession of $100 cash and the phone that was used to send text messages to arrange the encounter. In post-arrest questioning, the documents say, Smith claimed he had arranged the encounter because he had “helped prostitutes in the past in an attempt to help them out of the lifestyle. … Detectives asked Smith why he didn’t contact police for assistance if he thought a juvenile was in trouble; his response was he didn’t know and he thought he could just help on his own.” The district has described Smith only as an “instructional assistant”; his now-deleted LinkedIn profile said he was a “special education paraprofessional.” The district declined to answer questions including whether he was working at other schools besides WSHS. His arraignment is scheduled for December 26th.
11:37 PM: We’ve been working all evening to find out more about an arrest announced by West Seattle High School principal Brian Vance in an early-evening email to families. (Thanks to the many parents who forwarded it to us.) He wrote: “Earlier today, I was notified of the arrest of one of our instructional assistants by the King County Sheriff’s Office,” Vance wrote, adding that the staffer “was immediately placed on administrative leave by Central Office.” His letter named the man, but he is not charged, so we are not publishing his name at this point. The King County Jail Register showed that the 34-year-old man was booked after 9 pm Tuesday for “investigation of sexual abuse of a child” and released at 7 pm tonight after posting bond. According to the jail register, his bail had been set at $20,000. KCSO told us the arrest was one of seven related to what they announced was “an operation to apprehend subjects who have targeted minors for the purposes of prostitution. … Over the course of the two-day operation, detectives posed as an underage girl and engaged in over 900 texts/voice conversations. The ‘underage girl’ arranged to meet the suspects at a local motel. When the men arrived, they were arrested.” Meantime, Vance’s note to families stressed that “the arrest (was) not directly connected to WSHS.” We will be following up tomorrow with both the district and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
ADDED 11:17 AM THURSDAY: Just obtained the probable-cause document from the KCPAO. The potential charge is “Attempted Commercial Sexual Abuse of a Minor.” Investigators say that in communication with a detective pretending to be a 14-year-old girl, he agreed to pay “her” $150 for “unprotected sex.” He was arrested when he knocked on the door of a motel room in Seatac around 7:44 pm Tuesday. The document says that after his arrest, he told detectives he “worked as a special-education teacher in Seattle.” He is due back in court tomorrow.
ADDED 1:18 PM: The district is so far declining to answer further questions such as how long the suspect has worked for SPS and whether he was working at any other schools. His online resumé, which has been removed since we looked at it yesterday, said he joined the district early this decade.
(WSB photo, December 1st)
The robbery suspects arrested in West Seattle last Friday are now both charged. 18-year-old Omar Upham is charged with one count of first-degree robbery; the 17-year-old, whose name we are not publishing because he is being prosecuted (so far) as a juvenile, is charged with two counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree assault. Both are charged with robbery in the December 1st holdup at the Lucky 5 gas station/mini-mart at 35th/Henderson; the juvenile defendant is also charged with assault in that crime as well as robbery and assault in a shoplift turned violent at Roxbury Safeway on November 29th.
Upham remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail. His charging documents also note that he had gotten out of juvenile detention three months ago and that his juvenile record includes robbery and assault. The police-written probable-cause narrative says that when he was arrested at Southwest Athletic Complex last Friday and taken downtown for questioning, he was wearing the same gray sweatsuit shown in security video of the Lucky 5 holdup. He had a gun in one pocket and was also found to be in possession of the same types of cigarettes and cigars stolen from the mini-mart.
The 17-year-old also remains in custody, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. His charging documents say he was the robber who jumped the counter at Lucky 5 and started punching and kicking the man on duty, as well as ripping off his gold necklace. After SWAT officers arrested him at his family’s residence in High Point on Friday afternoon, the documents say, a loaded gun was found in a bedroom there, with its serial number scratched off. Police say he claimed he was drunk when he and three others held up the Lucky 5, and that he confessed to six other crimes, including the White Center and Burien phone-store robberies, the Junction alley holdup, a package theft (no date/time listed), a downtown business robbery in September, and the Roxbury Safeway shoplift-turned-robbery.
In the latter incident, investigators allege that he and an accomplice tried to leave the store without paying for food and a beverage that one security officer thought was liquor (but was actually water). When two security officers tried to stop them, the documents say, the 17-year-old pulled a gun on them, after his accomplice beat one officer. He will be arraigned in juvenile court tomorrow; Upham will be arraigned on December 23rd. As for the other cases and other possible suspects, the investigation continues.
Received via email:
Warning for females working in West Seattle.
Intended Sexual assault incident occurred on Thursday, December 5th at approximately 9:30 am on the 6500 block of California Ave SW.
Suspect is 6’2/4” in height, physically fit, approx mid-40s, African American, balding and has worn baseball caps at times. Targets shorter, Caucasian women in their place of business or in parking lots.
Has not been caught at this time but there is an active investigation to find him. If you have had any suspicions of this person or have photos, please contact the West Seattle police. People coming forward is one of the main ways he is being tracked and will be caught.
The Southwest Precinct number is 206-733-9800.
EDITOR’S NOTE, JANUARY 13: We tried repeatedly to verify with police that an investigation was under way. They were unable to. And then finally we were told this turned out to be a hoax. Publishing it without evidence of a police report was a departure from our usual policy so we apologize for that.
4:52 PM: Thanks for the tips about police “in tactical gear” chasing a suspect just south of Admiral/California. So far as we know, this is a warrant arrest. An SFD engine was dispatched because the suspect claimed to have gotten hurt in the process. Working to find out more.
5:32 PM: The scene was clear when we got there, so we won’t be able to find out anything more until tomorrow.
ADDED 10:10 AM MONDAY: A commenter said last night that this was an arrest of another robbery-spree suspect; a check of the jail register this morning confirms that (updated) one of the additional potential suspects named in court documents was indeed booked last night. We’re asking SPD for confirmation about whether a “flashbang” – used in some warrant/standoff situations – is what led to the “explosion” noise some reported last night.
11:12 AM: SPD confirms that what was heard was a noise-making device used by SWAT. The warrant on which the 19-year-old suspect is being held, so far, actually is related to a case from last year. Meantime, today is the rush-charging deadline for the two “spree” suspects arrested Friday so we’ll have a separate update later.
That’s Midget the Chihuahua, taken during a robbery in South Delridge. Shannon says it happened to her parents Sunday near Delridge/Barton:
Please be on the lookout for my mom’s Chihuahua, Midget.
On Sunday, December 8th (at around 1:45 pm), a woman and man pulled a gun on my parents and took Midget. The woman was described as being caucasian, with shoulder-length brown hair, tall and thin. The man was described as being caucasian, with reddish/brown hair and combed to the side. He was also very thin. My mom couldn’t give very much of a description because it happened so fast, she was in shock.
Midget, is a little over a year old and is a tri-colored Chihuahua. The (photo above) is when he was only 6-8 months old. He’s bigger now and weighs about 5-7 lbs.
The SPD case # is 19-454236. We’re also adding to the Lost/Found Pets page.
(WSB photo, Wednesday afternoon)
10:57 AM: We’ve confirmed that at least two suspects have been arrested in a recent series of armed business robberies, and that at least one remains in jail today, an 18-year-old held in lieu of $500,000 bail. His arrest traces back to last Wednesday’s stop of a stolen car near Roxhill Park (photo above), but he was not one of the four people taken into custody at the time. As a result of that stop, though, detectives developed information that led them to this suspect. Here’s how the preliminary probable-cause documents explain it:
The documents specifically mention a MetroPCS phone-store holdup earlier Wednesday afternoon in Burien, involving four masked robbers, one with a gun. Detectives who responded “were aware of an ongoing robbery series, which included the robbery of another MetroPCS store on November 30th” (this one in White Center) and a stolen gray 2014 Toyota Camry linked to some of the robberies, carjacked in Seatac on November 27th. But something else – not specified in these preliminary documents – led them to pull over the stolen black Toyota Prius at 30th/Cambridge. Not long thereafter, they found the Camry in High Point – we photographed it that night but couldn’t confirm its connection until now.
(WSB photo, Wednesday night)
The documents say police subsequently “found the cash register that was taken from the MetroPCS in Burien in the area …pried open (and) empty.” On Friday, detectives spotted the 18-year-old suspect at 27th/Trenton and followed him to Southwest Athletic Complex, where they arrested him. The court documents say they found an unloaded gun in his pocket, and that he’s a convicted felon so should not have been armed. The report indicates it was a theft conviction and that law enforcement would object to his release (a standard yes/no question on these documents) because “(the suspect) and associates have been on a robbery spree for the past few weeks. The robbery crew has been armed and physically assaulted victims.” Meantime, SPD has just confirmed to WSB that last Friday’s SWAT-involved arrest in High Point involved a juvenile suspect in the spree:
(WSB photo, Friday afternoon)
That unfolded not far from where the Camry was found Wednesday night. SPD says they’ll have more info on all this later today; we’ll update when it’s available.
ADDED 12:14 PM: Here’s what’s now on SPD Blotter. Additional details: The suspect arrested in High Point is 17; the spree involved “approximately a dozen armed robberies in West Seattle, Ballard, Sea-Tac, Burien and White Center over the past several weeks”; and they’re still expecting to arrest others.
ADDED 3:55 PM: We’ve just obtained the probable-cause documents related to the 17-year-old suspect. They say he confessed to eight armed robberies. The ones for which he is being held include the phone-store robberies, a shoplift-turned-robbery at Roxbury Safeway on November 29th, and two robberies we’ve previously reported on – the Lucky 5 holdup at 35th/Henderson on December 1st and an alley holdup in The Junction (which was followed up, police say, by the robbers returning to steal the victim’s car). The documents also say the 17-year-old was found, when arrested, to have a gun, and as was the case with the 18-year-old, that was illegal because he too has a felony record – two robbery convictions. (added) On second reading of the documents, we note the 17-year-old was also reported to have confessed to “various thefts of cash registers, packages from the porch of a residence, as well as liquor from grocery stores.”
The photo and report are from Rosalie:
While we were driving home last night at 5:45 pm on SW Manning Street at 36th Avenue SW, a red Toyota vehicle heading south on 36th, ran a stop sign and hit the right front side of our car. The Toyota left the scene headed west on SW Manning, then south on Belvidere Ave. A police report was filed. If anyone has a video surveillance system that possibly recorded the vehicle anywhere on 36th, Manning or Belvidere, we’d greatly appreciate that you contact the SW Precinct at 206-625-5011.
If you can help, refer to case # 19-453333.
Three notes in West Seattle Crime Watch this afternoon:
WARRANT: Several people have asked about this; the SWAT officers in High Point this afternoon were there to serve a warrant. No other details yet.
PROWLER: From Brian west of The Junction:
Caught someone looking through windows and trying to open our front door today. Near 47th and Alaska. Reported to police and they came by about 15 mins later to check on the house. He went North. Please post video.
The incident # is 19-451485.
PREVENTION: From Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner, the latest newsletter focuses on burglary/robbery prevention, with a seasonal emphasis:
(WSB photo from September 19, 2017)
2:22 PM: We’re at the county courthouse downtown, where the jury has just announced its verdicts in the trial of Anna Kasparova and Abel Linares-Montejo, charged in the September 2017 shooting death of 25-year-old Edixon Velasquez outside his Westwood home. Kasparova, 23, guilty of 1st-degree murder. Linares-Montejo, 21, guilty of 1st-degree murder. Both were found to have used a gun in the commission of the crime. He was accused of firing the deadly shots – ostensibly during a robbery attempt – after Kasparova, who had dated Velasquez, got him to come outside and help her park her car. She was arrested a few days after the early-evening shooting; he was arrested two weeks later. After closing arguments on Monday afternoon, the 8-woman, 4-man jury deliberated 2 1/2 days. More to come….
2:43 PM: Their sentencing date will be set later; both have been in jail since their arrests in fall 2017. The trial lasted a month, and Superior Court Judge Kristin Richardson thanked the jurors in open court for their service during a “long (and) difficult trial.” As deputies took them back to jail after the verdict, Kasparova was crying; Linares-Montejo told family/friends in the gallery, “I’ve got faith in God … I’m still coming home.” Someone said, apparently referring to the jury, “I hope they’re happy”; someone else responded, “No one’s happy.”
1:09 PM: From Jen: “Someone just notified me of an open suitcase in front of my house at 35th and Cloverdale. The suitcase is a green roller. Brand is Head. I brought it up to my porch. It looks to be all clothing and I don’t see any ID inside.” That’s in the general area that’s had a spike of burglaries/car prowls lately, so could be stolen/dumped. If you’re missing a packed suitcase like that, contact us and we’ll connect you.
1:37 PM: Photo added.
The photo and report are from Rick:
I would like to thank the person/persons who returned my sandwich board 2 weeks ago yesterday morning.
It was left on the side of my building at my new location after mysteriously disappearing from the old location 4 1/2 years ago. It seems to have been kept in a laundry room, as it had a heavy layer of lint on it, and I assume had been flipped inside out so the lettering was not visible. Anyway, it’s been returned to its new/old home with no damage, and best of all … no ransom was paid!
Rick’s Barber Shop
Even if you’re not a client, you might still know Rick from his “psychic barber” sign; after being displaced by development again, he moved earlier this year to 4845 California SW.
(WSB photo)
That was the scene at 30th SW and SW Cambridge, just west of Roxhill Park, around 3:30 pm. Police pulled over a stolen car; we were pointed to the King County Sheriff’s Office for comment, since the car was their case. KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Abbott tells WSB four people were arrested, and it’s likely more than an auto-theft case. We asked about radio exchanges indicating a possible link to robbery cases, as well as a possibly related car found in High Point. Sgt. Abbott’s reply: “We do believe they are involved in robberies; which ones, we don’t know yet.” The area’s been hit with several 4-robber holdups lately; we’ve covered two – last Saturday at a White Center phone store, and last Sunday at the 35th/Henderson Lucky 5 (here’s our followup) . Investigators are still working on all this; more information is expected tomorrow.
That security video just made public by Seattle Police shows the shooter in Monday’s South Delridge incident that sent a man to the hospital. Recognize him? Here’s another look:
SPD says the victim was shot during a robbery while he was “delivering an item sold on a secondhand goods website.” If you have a tip about the shooter, call the SPD Robbery Unit at 206-684-5535, or call 911.
(WSB photo, investigators at scene, September 2017)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Following an afternoon of closing arguments, the fate of 2 people accused in the deadly 2017 shooting of Edixon Velasquez is in the hands of the jury.
We were at the courthouse downtown this afternoon as jurors listened to the final pitches from the prosecution and defense lawyers for 23-year-old Anna Kasparova and 21-year-old Abel Linares-Montejo.
They are charged in the 25-year-old victim’s death outside his home in the 8100 block of 31st SW on September 19, 2017.
The three attorneys who presented closing arguments – prosecutor Wyman Yip, Kasparova defense lawyer Suzanne Pickering, and Linares-Montejo defense lawyer Kris Shaw – offered differing scenarios.
West Seattle Crime Watch miscellany tonight:
TREE THIEF: Got a call this evening from a Genesee Hill resident whose out-of-town visitors had a rude surprise. They bought a tree to take to Olympia and left it tied atop their car in the driveway overnight. This morning … no tree. Their saddened host wanted to warn everyone about this Grinchy theft.
TWO NOTES: We received a LOT of tips/questions about a full-code SPD response headed northbound around 6 pm. First – we wanted to thank everyone for the tips (text/voice 206-293-6302 any time) as that’s often how we get first word of something. But this time, we heard the dispatch, and as we told everyone who messaged us – it was called in as a possible burglary, west of The Junction, but turned out to be a a false alarm…. Right after that, an incident in The Junction was NOT a false alarm – a shoplifting suspect was caught and arrested near Junction TrueValue at 44th/Edmunds. No other details.
2:19 PM: Police are investigating a shooting in the 9000 block of 18th SW. They report “one male victim injured.” More as we get it.
2:34 PM: Police tell us at the scene that the victim’s injuries are not life-threatening. The shooting was the result of a robbery somewhere nearby – the victim made it to a construction site and called for help.
3:31 PM: Still no one in custody. No description made public, either.
3:55 PM: A bit more info from SPD: They say the victim is 24 years old and was shot while “delivering an item sold on a secondhand goods website.”
In West Seattle Crime Watch today, two robbery cases from the long weekend:
JUNCTION STREET ROBBERY: Thanks to the tipster who let us know about this incident early Thursday morning. We requested and obtained the report today. It happened around 12:30 am; the victim told police she had used the Chase ATM at California/Oregon and then walked into the alley, where two people approached her. One pointed a “black semi-automatic” handgun at her while the other went through her pockets. They took her phone, car and house keys, and wallet. Description: “about 27 and 29 years old … the male who pointed a gun at her was mixed race – White and Black – and about 5’8 … the male who was with him may have had a hoodie on.” Police searched but did not find the robbers. The victim called later to add one detail: One of the robbers had hit her in the face.
LUCKY 5 ROBBERY FOLLOWUP: We reported briefly last night on the holdup at the Lucky 5 gas station/mini-mart at 35th/Henderson. Today we requested and obtained the report, which has additional details: The robbers were described in the report as “four black males … wearing dark clothing, gloves and masks … At least two of the males were wearing backpacks … teens-20s, 5’7-5’9″.” They assaulted the person working in the store and knocked down displays, scattering merchandise on the floor. One held the worker at gunpoint and demanded that he open the cash drawer; the robbers also started loading their backpacks with cigarettes. One took a necklace from the person on duty, a lifelong keepsake described as gold, with “rectangular chain links, and a thin tiger pendant.” Surveillance video from outside the store shows their getaway vehicle was a “silver four-door sedan” with tinted windows.
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