It’s gardening season. And … gardening-related-theft season. Two reader reports:

STOLEN SOIL: Sue e-mailed to report, “Someone stole 2 large, Costco bags of soil from the alley behind us. They were right next to our garage. If you have them, please bring them back. If someone shows up near you with them, please let me know.” This was in the west Admiral area. Blue bags with the Costco logo.

PILFERED PLANT (AND MORE): John sent these clips recorded last week in the 7700 block of Delridge Way SW. First – a pot of flowers:

Then, something bigger:

Got something for Crime Watch? Email westseattleblog@gmail.com. Breaking news: text or call 206-293-6302

Two reader reports of dumped-and-likely-stolen two-wheelers:

MOTORCYCLE: The photo and report are from the anonymous finder:

Recognize this motorcycle? Honda CRF-230F – This motorcycle was dumped in the Puget Ridge neighborhood around May 2nd. Presumably a stolen motorcycle since an attempt was made to camouflage it in the woods. Seems to be in good shape. Love to get it back to its owner.

It’s been reported to police. If it’s yours, we’ll connect you with the finder.

BICYCLE: This has been visible in the Lowman Beach vicinity for at least two days:

Contact us and we can connect you regarding that one too.

The photo is from Leshawn, who says, “I found this backpack last night at 44th and Walker on the sidewalk, it has clothing, shoes and cords in it, would love to reunite with the owner. Appears more likely to have been stolen/dumped than lost/forgotten, but either way, if it is yours, contact us and we will connect you.

One more stolen vehicle to watch for – from Jonathan:

My car was stolen from my driveway (9800 block of 32nd Ave SW) Monday night. Hoping to put the word out in case anyone sees it.

2006 Nissan Xterra, Silver, a couple of dents in the doors, cracked windshield. License plate AGY2166.

Call 911 if you see it.

A West Seattle Crime Watch report tonight from Jacques:

Our white 1998 Isuzu Oasis van was stolen in the last 24 hours from the parking strip on the side of our house. The car is in very good shape for its age and had a black Yakima ski rack on top.

WA plate 687XKC. If you see it, call 911.

Three reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

THEFT SUSPECT SOUGHT: From Jason at Bellevue Rare Coins in The Junction:

This suspect ran with high value item (over $4,000) from the West Seattle location of Bellevue Rare Coins at 5:22 pm today (Saturday, 5/18). There is a $500 reward for any information leading to the suspect’s arrest.

The SPD incident # is 2019-179175.

CONDO BUILDING BREAK-INS: The video was sent by Barbara:

The break-in is one of two that happened at her condo building at California/Juneau May 9th and 11th; suspect photos are at this link. If you have any info, the SPD incident # is 2019-166843.

MORE CONDO BUILDING BREAK-INS: This alert was circulated by Mark Jaroslaw of Alki Blockwatch:

It has come to our attention that three Alki BlockWatch condos – two along Harbor Ave and a third along Alki Ave – had their front-entry KnoxBox broken into between the end of April and the beginning of May. In two of the cases, the small locked box that holds master keys or fobs for fire and police personnel, was literally pried or broken off the exterior wall between midnight and 4 a.m.

In the third case, the thief penetrated the box and stole the master key.

It was further reported that within days of the break-ins, thieves at two locations returned to the scene of the crime with the master key. But by that time, the condos had already replaced the box and re-keyed the building. Apparently deterred, one thief attempted to break into the condo by prying off the faceplate of the front-entry intercom.

In one of the three break-ins, two thieves wearing gloves – a woman in her 20s with long blonde hair, and her boyfriend – somehow managed to get into the building, steal some lobby mail, and broke into a car downstairs. In the second occurrence, the thief broke into downstairs storage lockers and main storage room.

One of the condo surveillance cameras videotaped the thief in the act of breaking into the KnoxBox,
and police they know his identity. Apparently this is his MO.

There are more than 4,000 KnoxBoxes on condos and commercial buildings throughout Seattle. The
recent West Seattle break-ins aren’t the first time these crimes have been reported. In the summer of
2016, KIRO-TV reported that thieves struck KnoxBoxes throughout city, and it occurred again – on a
smaller scale – two years ago this month.

P.S. If you have concerns/questions for police, the next West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting is Tuesday (May 21st), 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster).

A little over a month ago, a King County Superior Court jury found 43-year-old Chayce Hanson guilty of five felonies including rape and witness tampering. Today, Hanson was sentenced to 25 years in prison – 304 months, including a 24-month “enhancement” for committing assault with sexual motivation. The victim, also a West Seattle resident, was an acquaintance; the jury found Hanson guilty of vehicular assault for getting into a crash that left her seriously hurt, and then raping her while she was in such bad shape she couldn’t even yell for help. He was convicted of witness tampering for later trying to get her to sign a document saying he had not raped her. The 25-year sentence is at the upper range of what the prosecution recommended for Hanson, who has served time in prison before, for killing his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter in Renton in 2000; that case gained added notoriety because a state Supreme Court ruling known as the “Andress decision” overturned murder convictions including his. He then pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He has been in jail more than two years already this time, arrested in April 2017, and that will be credited toward his sentence.

(WSB photo, March: Sean Lowry’s motorcycle post-crash)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“This man left my son for dead, face down on the road.”

Merle Zahniser‘s son is 44-year-old Sean Lowry, who was riding his motorcycle on Admiral Way two months ago when “this man” hit him and drove away.

Sean wasn’t expected to survive. He did. Merle has more to say about that. But the main reason she contacted WSB is this plea:

“We really need the witnesses who saw the driver to step up and work with the detective.”

The driver, she says, is not a mystery; the vehicle was found. The witnesses are not a mystery – at least, some of them.

What is a mystery is why they are not fully cooperating with police.

As she talked with us by phone this morning, she was in Sean’s room at a nursing/rehab facility, where she and his girlfriend have been with him almost around the clock.

“Sean is doing amazingly well, considering what he has been through.” He was in a coma for six days; she says doctors at Harborview Medical Center thought he had only a “one percent chance” of emerging from it. “Fortunately he has a strong desire to come back … he is improving every day.”

He cannot – yet – walk, but he just achieved a milestone, Merle says – he was able to transfer himself from bed to wheelchair. Also, “his cognition is better” – he is writing in a journal, including simple things to help that cognition – as simple as what happened, why he is in a rehab facility. They are hoping and praying that improvement continues, both mental and physical; next milestone would be the ability to bear weight on his left side, which in a few weeks would allow him to go back to Harborview for an intensive rehab program. “He’s had to relearn everything.”

And yet, that’s a miracle, his mom says. “His neurosurgeon is so happy his assessment was wrong” – that Sean survived.

But while his will can help him accomplish a lot, and while his loved ones can offer seemingly boundless support, there’s one thing they can’t do.

The witnesses need to work with police. Merle points to WSB commenters following our coverage of the crash, which included at least one person who said they had seen the hit-run driver.

“(People) were talking about the driver not doing the right thing. They’re doing the same by not stepping up.”

If witness(es) see this and want to talk to Merle, we can connect you. Or maybe you lost the detective’s contact information? (Det. Feuerstein, 206-684-8934; case #19-098823)

Meanwhile, Merle and Sean’s girlfriend Mel remain at Sean’s bedside. “I hope that he will come back,” fully, Merle says. And don’t even ask about the bills – since he is still in care, there’s no final tally yet; the GoFundMe remains open.

One more time, Merle repeats her plea, through tears: Witnesses, please “step up” and help police so the driver who left Sean for dead can be fully prosecuted.

Burglary and auto theft reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

BURGLARY: Adam sent that photo of his garage being burglarized Wednesday afternoon in the 8400 block of 22nd SW. No one was home at the time. Police were called. “Officers responded fairly quickly, but the men pictured were gone.” He is not sure yet what if anything they took.

AUTO THEFT: Posted this morning in the WSB Community Forums – a 2000 emerald green Honda Accord SE was stolen overnight Tuesday into Wednesday in Gatewood. Plate AQV4868. Call 911 if you see it.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Dan hopes you can help find that truck, stolen today in North Admiral:

2007 Toyota Tundra SR5 Quad Cab
Silver
Plate # B28671L
Damage to passenger side, back quarter panel

If you see it, call 911.

WEDNESDAY MORNING: As Dan mentioned in comments, his truck was found in Edmunds. He told us via email: “I got a call from the Edmonds police around 2:15 am this morning to say that they’d found my truck! Nancy and I drove up and got it at a hotel on 99 where they’d, by chance on a routine drive=through observed a guy get out of it and go into the hotel. They ran the plate, found out it was stolen, watched the video footage of the suspect paying for a room and promptly arrested him in that room. The truck is dirty and stinky from cigarette and meth smoke, but will be detailed today.”

(October 2017 photo by WSB’s Christopher Boffoli)

A year and a half ago, that was the scene in Admiral before police arrested Kierra M. Ward, 27, after she attacked a woman who was walking along the street with her baby. Today, the case against Ward was resolved with a ruling that she was not guilty by reason of insanity, and she has been committed to Western State Hospital. Ward had been charged with two counts of assault – first degree for attacking the mother (who was seriously hurt; her baby was unharmed) and second degree for threatening a man who came to the victim’s rescue. Last July, Ward was found not competent to stand trial and sent to Western State Hospital for attempted restoration of competency; in December, we reported, she was found competent, and her lawyer indicated the insanity defense would be pursued. With today’s ruling, according to court documents, Ward acknowledges committing the crimes but is acquitted because, the court finds, she “was insane at the time of the commission of the act(s) charged.” The order finds that “detention in a state mental hospital” is called for because she is a danger to herself and others. What the documents don’t say is how long that commitment might last or what the criteria would be for its end, so we’ll be following up.

26-year-old Keelan T. Malone, charged in a sexual assault and burglary near 13th/Roxbury almost a year ago, has been ordered to be sent back to Western State Hospital for attempted restoration of competency. We last updated his case in December, when he was found competent to stand trial after treatment at WSH, but since then, a new evaluation changed that assessment and led to the new order. Malone is due back in court in July. He is charged with burglary with sexual motivation and indecent liberties for one in a series of break-ins that terrified the neighborhood last year.

That was the scene on Monday along SW Thistle by Chief Sealth International High School, after a hit-run driver struck a 16-year-old student, sending him to the hospital (WSB coverage here). At least one witness got a license-plate number that led police to Top Hat, where they arrested 29-year-old Carlos M. Villalovos on suspicion of DUI and hit-run. He’s been in jail ever since, and today the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed felony charges of vehicular assault, hit and run, and reckless driving. His bail is set at $302,000.

This isn’t Villalovos’s first DUI arrest, according to online records and the charging documents, which list one case in 2008 and two in 2016. In yet other traffic stops, prosecutors say, he was cited for violations including cell-phone use while driving, not having insurance, and driving with a suspended license. He also was found guilty last year of attempted vehicle trespass after a Burien incident in which he was described as acting aggressively, while intoxicated, toward a couple whose car he kept trying to get into. At the time of this week’s arrest, prosecutors say, warrants were out for Villalovos, related to his failure to appear for separate hearings last month in two prior DUI cases. Prosecutors called Villalovos “a grave danger to the community,” saying he’s apparently been through substance-abuse treatment and a “victim impact panel” yet refuses to stop driving while impaired.

On Monday, the probable-cause document says, when officers found Villalovos’s car before finding him, bottles of beer and hard lemonade were in clear evidence. His Honda CR-V also was reported to have damage consistent with what would have happened when the victim – who is reported to have suffered a broken pelvis – was hit. Police say Villalovos blew .16 – twice the legal threshold for DUI – three hours after the crash. We’ve looked up records from his past cases; in one of them, he was described as having blown .19. In another, when he was found driving without the ignition interlock he was under orders to use, he told officers he just used a screwdriver to start his car. His arraignment is set for May 15th.

The last stolen vehicle reported here on WSB was found by a reader. So let’s try another one:

The photo is from Angie:

My truck was stolen yesterday morning. Police report filed. Dark gray ‘98 Toyota Tacoma license B79399P. Taken from 12th Ave SW and Elmgrove early in the morning of 4/29.

Call 911 if you see it.

(WSB photos)

Tim and Lori McConnell at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) report, a bit wryly, that their store was broken into overnight:

Well, 5 1/2 years after our first burglary, seems we were due for another, and last night we got it.

Luckily this time the burglar(s) must have panicked due to our incredibly loud alarm, as they chose to steal a bunch of hoodies with our logo on the front, as well as a bunch of men’s short sleeve and long sleeve shirts, which also had our logo on the front.

Now I appreciate people shopping local and all, and if stealing our logo’ed merchandise was a way to help us advertise to offset our losses, well, I guess I appreciate that too. But they also took a bunch of men’s running shorts. And yes, men never have as many shorts as they should have, and they hang on to them way too long, but when they get new ones, the almost always pay for them, so this was disappointing.

Also disappointing, our GPS watch display was picked over. And by disappointing, I mean for the burglars. I now have to order a new Garmin dummy display watch to replace the one they took, and the Polar watch still in our display case is really lonely since they stole the box that it came in.

They also took 2 pairs of 8.5 Saucony women’s shoes, one regular width, one wide, I guess they weren’t sure of their size.

So be on the lookout for someone wearing a bunch of men’s apparel with our logo on it and a pair of women’s shoes, struggling to get their watch to work, they may know where our stuff went.

The door lock (top photo) is being replaced today.