Wave of robberies strikes SE Seattle

Beacon Hill and the Rainier Valley are seeing a wave of jewelry robberies, say Seattle Police. In just over a week, there have been more than 20 incidents of these robberies on streets, at bus stops, and at stores in Southeast Seattle.

According to police, the suspects typically either grab people from behind, or walk up to them, ask a question, and then grab the victims’ jewelry and purses. Police believe the series of robberies began on August 14, when two suspects robbed a woman on Beacon Hill after she left a local market.

One neighbor, Anna, commented here on the BHB about being victimized in a recent street robbery:

“I was robbed last week, and a shoulder bag was taken from me. It happened mid-morning, on Beacon Avenue near the golf course. It was two young African-American men; they came up behind me, grabbed the bag, and ran. I reported it to the police, but I wonder how many people this has happened to who didn’t report it.

“I’ve lived on Beacon Hill forever, and I am always aware of my surroundings and who’s around me, but this is the first time I’ve been afraid to walk around in my own neighborhood during the day. I’ve not been out walking much since it happened, and I don’t know when I’ll feel safe enough to do so on a regular basis.”

If you have any information about these crimes, please contact the SPD Robbery Unit at (206) 684-5535.

6 thoughts on “Wave of robberies strikes SE Seattle”

  1. you’ll be saddened to learn that one of the muggings occurred
    on the evening of WED 8/15 to a friend. similar MO. car driving slow, passenger ran over to couple and grabbed a gold chain off the victim. in the process, they dropped a cell phone. i tried for over a week to get the phone but the victim (non English speaking) refused to get involved, fearful of retaliation.

    I advised her to pull the battery, as owners can sometimes map the location of the phone via the Internet. I learned that there were photos of tattoos saved to the phone.

    When someone is so frightened, it can be a barrier to logic or rational thinking. So now we read of 20 reported muggings. who knows how many are unreported?

    the detective was heartbroken when I let him know how close
    we were to getting a key piece of evidence into their hands.

  2. I’ve been mugged before at around 11am in broad daylight by 2 black guys. Apparently they call it a strong arm robbery because they fought me for my stuff. I did report it though. Sadly I couldn’t give a good description of these people.

  3. Seattle Police reported today that one person has been arrested.

    There’s also a little more information about it here. Evidently, officers recognized who the man was from a victim’s description and notified robbery detectives. Somehow word must have gotten out to the suspect because he turned himself in on Friday.

    Police do say that they’re still looking for suspects and since there were two men involved in my incident and two men in all of the others that I’ve read about, obviously they don’t have all the people involved, but it’s very good to know that there is some progress.

  4. The large majority of home burglaries and robberies on BH are committed by black guys or africans from new holly. The south precinct needs to step it up, they know who the known suspects are.

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