West Seattle, Washington
27 Wednesday
A Fairmount Park Elementary parent forwarded a letter sent to families today by principal Julie Breidenbach. The parent noted, “Because there is a community park adjacent, this should probably (get( community-level attention.” Here’s the letter:
Dear Fairmount Park Parents,
I want to share information about an incident in our neighborhood. This morning before school, one of our students reported to her parent that an adult tried to lure her into his private vehicle. The child ran home and the parent did call the police. The parent reports that the adult male was in a silver pickup truck. Our school district security has been in that neighborhood several times today and will be watching that bus stop closely this afternoon and in upcoming days.
The safety of our students is a top priority. You can help your children stay safe by talking to them about personal safety. Having these conversations, especially with younger children, can be difficult. We encourage you to be sensitive to your child.
As a precaution, we are reminding our students this afternoon about safety tips for walking to and from school. We would appreciate your help by having a similar conversation at home. The walking safety advice includes:
GENERAL SAFETY TIPS:
Pay close attention to your surroundings, avoid “automatic pilot.”
Walk with a purpose; project an assertive, business-like image.
Use common sense; plan your route to avoid uninhabited parks, parking lots, garages and alleyways.
Stick to well-lit areas.
Develop a plan before you see trouble. Crossing a street or entering a store may get you out of a potentially bad situation.
If a car follows you or beckons you while you are walking, do not approach it. Instead, turn and quickly walk the opposite direction.
Consider wearing clothing and shoes that you can move freely and quickly in, especially when walking or waiting for the bus.
Carry minimal items; overloading yourself can make you appear vulnerable.
Always plan your route and stay alert to your surroundings. Avoid shortcuts. Walk confidently. Scan your surroundings and make eye contact with people.
We’re checking to see if police have any further information about the incident.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has filed eight felony charges against the West Seattle man whose arrest followed warrant searches that found drugs, guns, and cash. 40-year-old David Vasquez is charged with six counts of drug violations plus one count of money laundering and one count of unlawful gun possession. The police narrative accompanying the charging documents is 11 pages long and tells a tale of a months-long investigation, prefaced by this case summary from prosecutors:
The impetus for investigating the defendant in this case arose from the overdose of a three-month-old baby. This overdose was the result of fentanyl, the product the defendant was knowingly selling under the guise of M30 oxycodone pills.
The police narrative explains that the baby died almost a year ago in Southeast Seattle, apparently ingesting the fentanyl through breast milk. Eight months later, the death was ruled a homicide.
The baby was not related to Vasquez. But when police searched the parents’ home, the charging documents say, they found drugs and paraphernalia. The investigation led police to their alleged drug dealer, who they addressed as “Benny” but who police say was Vasquez.
Once police identified “Benny” as Vasquez, the narrative says, an undercover invetigation began. It included multiple drug buys, by undercover officers, at multiple locations in and outside of West Seattle. Factoring into that part of the narrative is an incident covered here – police gunfire behind the Admiral Pub on October 24th. The narrative doesn’t go deeply into detail, aside from detailing an undercover buy at the pub that night, then saying “There was a disturbance at the rear of the bar not long after this narcotics transaction involving Vasquez and several others. He was observed staggering through the pub from the back door,” then leaving with another man through the front door, departing in that man’s pickup truck.
Subsequent buy locations detailed in the narrative included the Admiral Safeway parking lot, the Metropolitan Market parking lot, and the Ballroom Lounge in north Seattle. Police wrote that their surveillance also followed Vasquez to Life Storage in Luna Park and an apartment he had rented at The Whittaker in The Junction, though he also had a house near 41st/Hinds. The Whittaker is where police say they arrested him just before 3 pm last Friday. Meantime, police say the money-laundering investigation revealed that the suspect had started an LLC through which he processed tens of thousands of dollars and used some of it to pay his rent. As for the gun charge, police say he had a .45-caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun at the time of his arrest, illegal for him to possess because he has a felony conviction, attempted burglary, in 1997. Other convictions listed in charging documents are also from the ’90s, when he was a teenager, including two cases of taking a motor vehicle without permission.
Prosecutors asked that his original $100,000 bail, on which he posted bond and was released last weekend, be raised to $250,000, and that request was granted. Vasquez is due back in court February 10th for arraignment.
From Anne:
Wanted to report and share with the WSB that our car was stolen out of our driveway last Friday 1/24 between 2-5 am. Our driveway is on SW College Street in between California and 44th Ave. Our car is similar to the attached image: forest green 1997 Honda CR-V license plate #AHB6541. The vehicle did not have much gas so assuming it was ditched somewhere in West Seattle. Only thing really worth of value in the car were two 5-point harness car-seats in the back seat. We filed a police report. Sadly this occurrence seems more common then not but hopefully our car is just parked on a side street waiting for us to find it.
Call 911 if you see it.
Three incidents in West Seattle Crime Watch:
BUSINESS BURGLARS ON CAMERA: The images above and below are from a burglary this morning at Admiral Pub. (For those who tipped us to a big police response in the Admiral District, this is what it was about.)
The images are from the Admiral Pub’s owners, who tell us nothing was taken, but: “In the process of breaking into the bar, they busted a pipe.” That led to an SFD “water job” response. “Officer told us there have been multiple business break-ins in the area. They went in, saw our cameras and left. To all local businesses, be on the lookout.”
HOME BURGLARY: From Sue:
We’re so sad to report that our house was broken into at 2:30 PM (Tuesday). We think that our backyard shed was the initial target, since these guys broke the door of the shed first and likely moved towards our house.
They threw in a rock to break into our window and opened it to gain access. Luckily, we are safe and we spoke with the cops and filed a police report.
The thieves took a Samsung laptop with them, an empty Fossil purse, tools, and rifled through our documents… Though unlikely, we hope they get caught!
The SPD report # is 20-34163.
STOLEN SUBARU: Stephanie‘s Subaru was stolen in the Alki area, with this distinctive hood art:
1995 Subaru, 4-inch lift, plate BRG7668. If you see it, call 911.
The photo and report are from Anne:
Our family member’s truck was stolen across the street from our house today between 3 and 4:30 p.m. on the 3900 block of Barton Street.
It’s a 2008 Silver Ford Ranger Truck; license is CO7307P. Police incident # is 2020-34392.
Call 911 if you see it.
When residents near 41st/Hinds texted about plain-clothes police activity last Friday afternoon, all we could find out was, warrant service. But now we know more. The report and photo are from SPD Blotter:
SPD Narcotics seized fentanyl pills, cocaine, xanax, methamphetamine, and cash while serving warrants last Friday in connection with an investigation into drug trafficking and money laundering in West Seattle.
Officers from the South Precinct’s Anti-Crime team arrested the 40-year-old suspect in a West Seattle parking garage and found he was carrying 62 fentanyl pills, 28 grams of cocaine, and a small number of xanax pills, as well as a handgun.
Narcotics detectives and the West and South Precinct’s Anti-Crime Teams then served warrants at two homes and a storage unit – in the 4700 block of 40th Avenue SW and the 3400 block of 41st Avenue SW – and recovered a .22 rifle, documents pertaining to money laundering, and additional narcotics, including 140 fentanyl pills, 10 grams of cocaine, 20 xanax pills, a small amount of meth and over $4,000 cash.
Investigators booked the suspect into the King County Jail for narcotics delivery and money laundering.
We’ll add anything more we find out about the suspect and his status.
From Pat:
My maroon (red) 1988 Honda Accord 4-door sedan (WA Collectors Vehicle License Plate 4079A) was stolen this morning from in front of our house in the 2700 block of 48th Ave SW. The car was locked and had a steering wheel club lock in place, but I guess the thief was skilled. Anyway, the car has been reported as stolen to the SPD and they took a report this morning (Incident 2020-032350).
If you see it, call 911.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports:
BURGLARY ON VIDEO: That video is from inside Steve‘s home in the 9000 block of 35th SW, after burglars broke a window to get in around 5 pm January 17th. Some items were stolen, says Steve, who adds that the SPD case # is 2020-020431.
MAIL THEFT/VANDALISM: The report and photo are from Parker near Delridge/Juneau:
(Wednesday) morning my wife found that our locked mailbox, along with all the others in the cluster, had been broken open and emptied of their contents. We have no idea who did it but I wanted to tip you off to keep an eye out for what might be a larger problem in West Seattle. I can only speculate about what they were targeting but people are receiving their W-2s this time of year. It may be the first step of an identity theft operation.
If mail theft happens to you, in addition to reporting it to police, be sure also to file a report with the Postal Inspection Service.
Just in from Cinthia:
My car was stolen between the late evening of January 22nd and early morning of January 23rd. 2014 Chevy Cruze. Dark gray with black interior (no tinted windows). Washington plate AYS6208. It was taken from the 8500 block of 16th Ave SW. Police incident number 20-27059. If you see it, please call 911.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged 25-year-old Solomon D. Whitt with first-degree murder in the death of his roommate, identified by authorities as 41-year-old Jana Layman. As reported by Seattle Police yesterday, Ms. Layman died January 13th, three days after she was taken to the hospital after Whitt claimed she had fallen down the stairs in the Junction home where he lived with her and her two children. He was arrested six days later. The charging documents say he attacked her after she asked him to move out. Prosecutors say Whitt has no criminal history but asked that his bail remain at $2 million because of “the danger he presents to our community.” He remains in jail awaiting arraignment. The charging documents say the defendant and victim met while working in a youth-sports program, and that he moved in a little over a year ago to help with her children. A commenter following our Wednesday report says donations are being accepted via this church website – choose “Jana’s Family Care Fund.”
Here are the toplines from the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council‘s first meeting since October:
CRIME TRENDS: Southwest Precinct crime overall was down almost five percent in 2019 from 2018, said the precinct’s operations commander, Lt. Steve Strand. They’re hoping to repeat that in 2020. Lt. Strand stressed the importance of reporting all crime so they know what’s happening and where to focus patrols. (If it’s happening now, call 911; if not, most crimes can be reported online – go here.)
(WSB photo, January 10th)
12:24 PM: After none in 2019, West Seattle has its first homicide case of 2020. On January 10th, neighbors told us about a police response in the 4500 block of 40th SW. Police would only tell us that they were investigating a serious injury suffered by someone in the residence but weren’t sure if a crime was committed. We’ve been following up but received no new information, until today. SPD now says the victim died and her 25-year-old roommate has been arrested:
On January 10th, the 25-year-old man called 911 and said he had found his roommate, a 41-year-old woman, unresponsive at the bottom of a staircase in their shared home in the 4500 block of 40th Avenue SW.
Patrol officers, concerned about the circumstances of the incident, called for homicide detectives to respond to the scene. Medics transported the woman to Harborview Medical Center, where she died three days later.
Homicide detectives conducted an initial interview with the 25-year-old man, and then released him from the scene. The detectives continued to investigate and, after the woman’s death on January 13th, police interviewed the man once again, leading them to book him into the King County Jail for homicide.
The King County Jail roster shows the suspect is jailed in lieu of $2 million bail. We’ll be checking with prosecutors for bail-hearing documents and will add anything more we find out.
12:59 PM: Added a photo we had taken while checking with police on January 10th. Also just received the probable-cause document from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. It says the victim never regained consciousness and “had injuries on her neck that were inconsistent with a fall down the stairs”; the suspect had “what appeared to be fresh scratches/abrasioons to his arms and chest.” The document says that after the Medical Examiner determined the victim was killed by strangulation, the suspect told police he strangled her and “threw her down the stairs to make it look like an accident.”
10:19 PM: Patrick reports someone stole his set of 4 winter tires from his apartment parking garage near 35th and Avalon. Though even locked garage doors are not burglar-proof, in this case, he says, the garage door has been unlocked and in need of repair, “so someone just walked (or drove) right in and snatched them. I’m sure I’ll never see those tires again, which is frustrating, but if any WSB readers need a reminder to hide your possessions from the public and/or lock them up, there it is.”
ADDED 11:10 PM: Caroline just emailed to report this business burglary weekend before last at The Whittaker:
We started construction on the new City Sweats location last month in suite 170 under Whole Foods. Over the weekend our lockbox that we had for our contractors to access the key was taken. We later noticed that our contractors’ equipment was stolen.
I saw on the blog that there was a lockbox burglary at a residential property just a few blocks from us. It’s scary and everyone is really bummed about it.
I’ve asked our neighboring businesses BECU, T-Mobile, and Mod Pizza for their surveillance coverage but they can only release it to the police. The police said it’ll take a few weeks for the detective to even contact me for followup.
(WSB photo, Longfellow Creek north of Genesee, Saturday)
4:58 PM: “Gas theft has been a problem at all our golf courses, from tanks and from vehicles.” That’s part of what we learned today from Seattle Parks spokesperson Rachel Schulkin, responding to our followup questions about last Friday’s theft from a West Seattle Golf Course tank that led to gasoline going into a storm drain leading to Longfellow Creek. We also learned how the gas was stolen: “They removed the vent and used a hose to siphon out the gas.”
(WSB photo, West Seattle Golf Course parking lot, Saturday)
The exact amount that got into the creek still isn’t known: “Around 300 gallons were in the tanks and 70 gallons left behind in gas containers.” That 70 gallons of gas was subsequently “filtered and then put back into the tank,” which is used, Schulkin said, by Parks vehicles. One of those vehicles, as we mentioned in our Saturday followup, was stolen; it has not yet been recovered; we obtained the police report today. According to the report, a Parks employee noticed the vehicle, a white 2016 Chevrolet Colorado, missing when he arrived for work just before 5 am. No other new information in the report. Schulkin says Parks is “developing some solutions for better securing the fuel tank.” Meantime, we have a few other followup questions out to the state agencies that were involved in the cleanup, but haven’t yet heard back.
ADDED 6:16 PM: We just got an update from Ecology spokesperson Ty Keltner:
As of earlier today, responders are not observing any fuel in the creek. There is still some upland soil contamination that may need to be dug out, so sorbents were left in the creek and storm drains in case something migrates downstream. At this point, SPU’s portion of the emergency response has concluded, and Seattle Parks is taking over. Ecology will be on scene tomorrow morning to determine if there are shoreline impacts and if any additional cleanup work needs to be done. We don’t have any updates to quantity spilled.
We also asked about the cleanup cost and how that would be handled. “Way too early” to estimate, he replied.
Catherine is hoping someone in the 31st SW/SW City View area can help solve their burglary:
Our home was broken into last night while we slept sometime between 12:30 and 7 a.m. We live in the Luna Park neighborhood and numerous valuables were taken including heirloom jewelry and all our personal information, purses, wallets, checkbooks, electronics (cell phone, x box, tablets…) and access to all our personal and credit accounts. A bag was left behind from another property or car prowl by the intruder that has been turned over to the police.
Police reports and fingerprints have been taken but we are looking for anyone who may have camera footage or noticed anything between those hours to please contact us or SPD with information. The incident number is 2020-023214.
Burglaries at night, while someone’s home, are far rarer than daytime break-ins.
First, two report about purses:
LINCOLN PARK CAR BREAK-IN: From Allison:
At around 10:15 AM this morning, my family and I went to Lincoln Park for a walk. As I was helping my 4-year-old out of the car, my husband put my purse in the trunk of our SUV, under the privacy screen. Upon our return about 1 hour later, we realized that our back window on the passenger side had been broken and my purse, and only my purse, was gone. We filed a police report but am looking to understand if any witnesses got a picture or if anyone has found any of my belongings. I suspect my ID and others things that don’t have any value may have been put in a trash can or thrown on the side of the road. We’ve made a police report and are now going through the processing of suspending all the necessary accounts. If you have any information or see my belongings, which will be a pain to re-establish, please let me know: allisonmichellec (at) yahoo.com. We so appreciate our friend and several kind strangers who helped us clean up and offered their support!
PURSE FOUND: A reader found this at Delridge Playfield – hours before Allison’s was stolen, so it’s not hers.
Yours? Let us know and we will connect you to the finder.
SAXOPHONE FOUND: Tim brought this in after it turned up:
Possible stolen/lost alto saxophone. It was sitting in the rain last night and a neighbor saw it the grass against our front wall this morning. It’s banged up. North Admiral.
With this too, let us know if it’s yours and we will connect you to the finder.
ANOTHER TIRE-SLASHING: Jeff reports: “I just saw a post on the blog about a tire slashed in Westwood Village and wanted to share that we’ve had 3 tires slashed over the last 2 months at 35th x Barton right next to the Super Deli Mart. Even one on Christmas Eve. Parked on the street, usually happens late at night/early morning.”
Crime concerns or questions? The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets Tuesday at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster), all welcome, 7 pm.
(WSB photos/video)
The cleanup continues at Longfellow Creek, one day after gas drained into the creek after an apparently interrupted siphoning operation at a city-owned tank at the northeast end of the West Seattle Golf Course/Stadium lot. We have some new information, mostly thanks to Seattle Public Utilities, which responded to the spill because it involved their drainage system. The actual spill/siphoning site is some distance from where the creek crosses the golf course:
But as SPU explains it, like many drains all over the city, these lead to the nearest body of water – and here, that’s the creek. The area where we photographed boom work this morning is on the north side of SW Genesee, across from the golf course:
The material they’re using just soaks up the gas, not water, SPU explain. They still don’t know exactly how much fuel got into the creek, because they don’t know how much the thief or thieves got away with. We did learn a little more today about the crime itself: SPU says the 70 gallons recovered by Parks included gas left behind in various containers, suggesting the siphoning may have been interrupted.
Also, an SPU memo sent to City Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s office, which provided it to WSB, also mentioned a truck had been stolen at the scene. Seattle Parks has yet to comment on the situation so we don’t know anything more about that. Back to the spill, cleaning it up is what SPU is focused on; spill program lead Eric Autry talked with us by the targeted tank, and we recorded the entire Q&A on video:
We haven’t reached other departments involved in this, including the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, to which SPU deferred questions about what kind of fish, and how many, the spill has killed. So many remaining questions might have to wait until after the 3-day weekend. The cleanup, however, is proceeding; as Autry mentioned in the recorded interview, the contractor is likely to be on scene at least through tomorrow. The state Department of Ecology has been on scene too:
SPU’s Autry also noted that “as environmental responders … we don’t like to see this.” Nor do the many who have long worked to restore urban greenspaces like this one – a reminder of their work was along the trail as we left the creek, blue-tagged plants awaiting placement:
Longfellow Creek ends at the Duwamish River, so this has the potential to have affected that beleaguered body of water too. We’ll continue following up.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports:
STOLEN CAR TO WATCH FOR: From Karissa, “Stolen car. Silver 2003 Honda Pilot, West Seattle, on January 17th between 10:30 pm-10:30 am, plate # BGJ6112.” Call 911 if you see it.
SLASHED TIRE: From Sheryl: “Just wanted to inform you that my tire was slashed in the Westwood Village parking lot (Thursday) sometime between 1pm – 7pm. It was parked next to the Massage Envy. I’m hoping it was just an isolated incident, but wanted to at least make everyone aware.”
7:02 PM: A reader texted us that photo late today, saying the state Department of Ecology was investigating a reported fuel spill into Longfellow Creek at the West Seattle Golf Course. “Dead fish and odor in the creek on the 12th hole,” the text said. We contacted an Ecology spokesperson, who had not heard about it; since then, Seattle Public Utilities has tweeted, “Vandalism of an approximately 250-300-gallon gasoline storage tank has caused a fuel spill at City of Seattle’s West Seattle Golf Course. Gasoline has reached Longfellow Creek. SPU’s Spill Response team is on site and coordinating with (Ecology).” More as we get it.
7:51 PM: Just talked with the Ecology spokesperson we originally spoke with earlier, Ty Keltner, as well as with SPU spokesperson Sabrina Register. Keltner said Seattle Parks first discovered the spill early this morning, then contacted SPU, and notified Ecology this afternoon. A cleanup contractor already has been hired, they said, and they confirmed that dead fish were found and so the Department of Fish and Wildlife is involved in the investigation. Register said the cleanup and SPU personnel have booms out and will be on scene overnight; she’s not sure exactly how much got into the creek and how much of the fuel was stolen, but she says Parks recovered about 70 gallons.
9:13 PM: Our original tipster says they first reported this to Parks after noticing it while walking the golf course this morning. They shared a photo of what they described as the area where the tank is, by the golf course’s maintenance shed:
“The gas was flowing from there and then into the catch basin by the 18th tee box,” they said.
12:25 PM SATURDAY: We’re working on a detailed followup (coming up separately later this afternoon) after talking with SPU at the spill site and seeing cleanup crews at the creek. Not much additional information yet but cleanup work continues.
They still don’t know exactly how much got into the creek. pic.twitter.com/tmWqnDskAV
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) January 18, 2020
Three items in Crime Watch:
(1/26/2019 SDOT cam framegrab showing investigation scene)(January 2019 SDOT image)
SENTENCING TOMORROW: 89-year-old Roger Mize will be sentenced tomorrow for shooting another man to death almost a year ago shortly after both boarded a C Line bus in SODO. Mize pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter; prosecutors are recommending a 7 1/2-year sentence. As we reported last year, Mize and the victim, 51-year-old Ronnie Tyler, got into a fight aboard the bus after Mize took offense at Tyler walking past him. He pistol-whipped the victim and then shot him. Mize was arrested for shooting another man in 2013 but was never charged; that victim survived.
Two reader reports:
MAIL THEFT: From Chris, whose Arbor Heights neighborhood has been hit by mail theft before:
We have a new mail thief that struck every mail box this morning at 5:20am on SW oceanview Dr.
I can’t quite make out the make and model of the car this time.
Chris says the thief’s car is the dark one at the top of that image.
CAR PROWL: Gatewood again. This report is from Christine:
Just wanted to let you know that our 2004 Audi was rifled through this morning while I was up and making breakfast for my daughter around 6:15 am. I almost caught them because I heard a car with a loud motor rumbling outside and began to walk to the front door but by the time I got to the window and saw the light on in our car, they took off.
The car was parked in the front of the house and accidentally left unlocked but luckily nothing of value was in there. All they took was our Leatherman multi-tool set. The sound of their car certainly drew attention so surprised they’re out casing when people are up and getting ready for work and school!
Seen this stolen car? The photo and report are from Ana:
Our car was stolen last night or early morning today from 42nd and Graham. Washington plates #BEN3517. It is a black Subaru Impreza, 1998. Please contact 911 or call (425) 623-5448 if seen.
SPD case # is 2020-017186.
1/19 UPDATE: Found, per this comment.
Three items in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:
VANDALISM ON VIDEO: The video and photo are from Samuel, who says this has happened to him four times in three months.
He is at 36th/Thistle.
MAIL THEFT ON VIDEO: Pardon the profanity in the video titles, but Carolyn, who uploaded it, is furious about what happened early Monday:
I wanted to share video of mail being stolen in Highland Park. These same people broke into my neighbor’s car. Another neighbor had their gas tank drilled and gas stolen. Another neighbor said mailboxes on 7th Ave SW were hit too. One video is of them at the mail box, the other is them driving up to 8th Ave, turning to the dead end, where they broke into the car.
My neighbor confirmed that where they stayed parked on the second video was their car. I know not much can be done, but want to get this out there as much as possible.
TRENDS: The Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting tonight included a crime-trend update from Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand. He said crimes against persons – robbery, assault, etc. – were down last year; auto theft was up, with cars taken in our area turning up all over the county. Also, a meeting downtown today focused on the abandoned-building problem and streamlining permits to get them boarded up more quickly. Got questions for police? First West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting of the year is one week from tonight – 7 pm Tuesday, January 21st, Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster), all welcome.
Police are at and around the South Delridge 7-11, looking for a robber. According to radio dispatch, the robber was armed with a handgun and got away with cash. The preliminary description broadcast so far: Black, male, 5’10”, thin, black clothing, masked, last seen leaving on foot northbound on 20th SW. A K-9 team is joining the search. We’ll update if we hear anything more.
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