Category Archives: Crime

Volunteers search near Jefferson Park for signs of missing woman

Kelsey Collins.
by Kiersten Throndsen, KOMO Communities (Beacon Hill Blog news partners)

More than three dozen volunteers with King County Search and Rescue spent Sunday scouring wooded areas near Jefferson Park Golf Course, searching for evidence of Kelsey Collins who went missing from her home three years ago.

“We have strong reason to believe she was murdered. We have seen or heard nothing since early May 2009,” said Jim Pugel, assistant chief of police with the Seattle Police Department.

Pugel would not go into to detail but said they have obtained credible information leading them to believe Collins may be buried somewhere along the greenbelt or wooded areas near the golf course.

According to Pugel, Collins was forced into prostitution by a violent pimp at an early age. She was 18-years-old at the time she went missing.

“This was a particularly tragic case. As we know young girls do not voluntarily do that, they are kept in prostitution by coercion and violence, so this one is very important to us,” he said.

The hope behind Sunday’s search was to find any evidence indicating Collins may have been buried or kept in the area at some point but Pugel admits, search crews were challenged by the environment and the conditions.

“As you can see it’s very wet out here. There are years and years of environmental debris, leaves, steep terrain in certain areas, and human garbage as well.”

Pugel says there are no particular suspects at this time but detectives do have strong leads and suspicions about who may have been involved with Collins’ disappearance and possibly her death.

19-year-old gang member arrested for September drive-by shooting

A 19-year-old member of the Insane Boyz gang has been arrested for the drive-by wounding of a member of rival gang Tiny Raskal Gangsters on September 5, according to Seattle Police.

Police say that the two gangs have been violently battling for months. In the September 5 shooting, a 17-year-old youth was shot in the thigh while walking in the 5200 block of 29th Avenue South, a couple of blocks north of Dearborn Park.

The victim refused to co-operate with detectives, but police say they were able to find some evidence at the scene. Earlier this month, King County Prosecutors filed gun charges against the 19-year-old man, and then SPD gang detectives arrested him on a warrant. He then confessed to the shooting, according to police.

The accused shooter is being held on charges of assault, drive-by shooting, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Trick, no treat: Armed Grim Reapers rob Mid-Beacon Hill family

by KOMO Staff
(Beacon Hill Blog news partners)

The search is on for three armed men who robbed a family while dressed up as the Grim Reaper on Halloween night.

Police said three men dressed in black “grim reaper costumes” knocked on the door of a home near 17th Avenue South and South Ferdinand around 9:15 p.m.

When the family opened the door, the men pulled out handguns and made their way into the home.

The gunmen forced a man who lives at the home into a bedroom where they took “a large amount of cash, gold earrings and a necklace, and a CD wallet,” according to police.

The men fled on foot, heading east on Ferdinand, and remain at large. A description was not available.

No one was injured in the incident.

Anyone with information on the case is urged to call police immediately at 206-684-5535.


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Robber threatens victim by putting gun in baby’s mouth

By KOMO Staff at KOMO Communities
(Beacon Hill Blog news partners)

Police are looking for an armed man who threatened a purse-snatching victim to keep mum by placing a gun in her baby’s mouth.

The incident occurred just before 8:30 p.m. Monday in the 6500 block of Shaffer Avenue South.

Investigators said the woman had just gotten into her car after placing her baby in the car seat when a man jumped in.

Armed with a gun, the man demanded she give him her purse. The woman handed over the baby’s food bag and confirmed for the man that all her valuables were inside.

The man grabbed the bag, exited the car then opened the door next to the baby.

The man shoved his gun in the baby’s mouth and said he would kill them both, the baby first, if she screamed or told anyone about the incident. He added her he knew her license plate number with which he could track her down.

The man ran off and no arrests have been made.

Neither the woman nor the baby was injured.

(Edited to add:) Police describe the suspect as “an Asian male in his late teens to early 20s, with a thin build, wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt.”


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Two men attacked, one injured in greenbelt under I-5

by Ray Marcham, KOMO Communities
(Beacon Hill Blog news partners)

A man is being treated at Harborview Medical Center after an attack at the Jungle, near the Beacon Hill greenbelt.

According to Seattle Police, two men arrived at the Metro bus facility at Airport Way and Atlantic Street at around 1:30 a.m. and said they had been attacked nearby. Police were called soon after, and they were told that the men had been attacked nearby.

Officers were told that the men were under I-5 in the Jungle when two other men approached them. One man was hit with a rock by one of the suspects, while another suspect bit the victim on the neck and bit off part of the victim’s lower lip.

The two suspects then grabbed the victim’s wallet and left on a bicycle. The man who was with the victim was not injured.

The uninjured man told officers that the attackers had been seen in the Jungle a few weeks earlier, but they were not known.

Fire leads to landslide risk at Rizal Park

By Elizabeth Dinh, KOMO Communities
(Beacon Hill Blog news partners)

A fire at Dr. Jose Rizal Park on North Beacon Hill Saturday night did more than ruin a viewpoint—it has put some motorists in danger.

The area at Rizal Park is prone to landslides—and now that the plants have been destroyed in a fireworks-sparked blaze, the risk of a slide has re-emerged.

Volunteers have spent years beautifying this park, and Saturday night’s fire ruined some of their work. And if heavy rains sweep in before this charred land is reinforced, it could pose a threat to the many people who walk and jog there.

Nine years have passed since Craig Thompson first started putting a lot of time and effort into the park that’s a few minutes away from his home.

“And we’ve done quite a bit of good work,” he says.

Volunteers have planted an apple orchard and put in more vegetation—including thousands of trees.

“We’ve managed to put ivy control measures around about 1,000 trees. We’ve planted upward of 7,000 trees,” says Thompson. He has even worked with Seattle police on how to take back the park from drug lords.

Then, at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, fireworks touched off flames that raced across the dry land.

“I live about block and a half away from here, and we heard the bottle rockets go off,” Thompson says.

Below the beautiful Seattle skyline is now a charred patch of land that—with rain—could pose a danger to people who visit the popular park.

“This is a historically landslide-prone area,” says Thompson.

The devastation bothers David Choy, a visitor from Texas who’s been coming here for more than two decades.

“That’s a terrible shame,” he says. “I always come through here because this is such beautiful scenery. I brought my uncle and my aunt over here to look at the scenery.”

But Thompson isn’t mad about having to clean up and bring in more plants. He’s only looking forward.

“I look at it, and rather than becoming depressed or angry, I see what needs to be done,” he says.

He sees yet another opportunity to make this a better place. Volunteers already had plans to come out here on September 21 and 22 to clean up the park. Thompson says that with the added work needed to fix up the area where the fire was, it would be nice to have even more helpers come out.

17-year-old shot in thigh on 29th Ave. S.

Seattle Police report that a 17-year-old youth was shot in the thigh yesterday afternoon in the 5200 block of 29th Avenue South, a couple of blocks north of Dearborn Park. The victim refused to cooperate with investigating officers. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening wounds.

The shooter is at large. Police say that there was a vehicle seen leaving the area of the shooting, but it is unknown whether the car was involved in the incident.

The Gang Unit will be handling the investigation.


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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.

Armed robbers strike on South Waite Street


View Armed robbery on Waite Street, 8/15/12 in a larger map

A neighbor wrote in to describe a strong-arm robbery she experienced last week:

Last Wednesday evening, August 15th, at 10:15 p.m., a friend and I were assaulted and robbed by two armed assailants as we talked in the street on Waite Street between 21st and 22nd Avenues South. Both men were African-American, approximately 6 feet tall and heavy-set, maybe 220 to 240 pounds. One man grabbed my purse from behind me; I initially held on because I did not realize they had weapons. I was thrown to the ground and kicked in the head; my friend was forced to the ground and his wallet was taken. The two robbers then ran west on Waite and around the corner on 21st to a waiting car which sped off. We were assisted by a couple out for a walk who saw the men running away and then saw us on the ground. Police were called, reports were made, but the suspects were not found.

I wanted to let my community know about this so they could be more vigilant to the possibility of this level of random and serious violence. I work downtown, lived in the Central District prior to moving to Beacon Hill 5 years ago, and am normally very aware of my surroundings. I feel I let my guard down because I did not expect this type of crime in bucolic residential Beacon Hill. It was not terribly late at night, I was with a male companion and I was feet from my back door. The officers who responded said they have seen an uptick in crime on Beacon Hill, especially stolen cars, home break-ins, and armed assaults.

I post this as a reminder to all my wonderful neighbors and all who live in our great area to take precautions, stay aware, and look out for each other. Thank you.

According to the police report about the incident, the robbers may have driven west on Waite Street past the victims in a light-colored (possibly silver) car just before the robbery. The robbers then approached the victims from the west, and after the crime, ran to the getaway car around the corner on 21st.

Shots reported near Maple Park; man falls from freeway

A 20-year-old male fell more than 40 feet from Interstate 5 last night, while another was arrested and a gun was recovered following reported shots fired on Mid-Beacon Hill near Maple Park.

According to Seattle Police, officers responded to a shots fired call in the 4800 block of Corson Avenue South around 9:30 p.m. last night. When the police arrived on the scene, they saw several male suspects running away. One suspect was caught quickly, and a gun was recovered. Another suspect ran across the northbound lanes of I-5 and fell (or jumped) over the barrier between the northbound and southbound lanes at Airport Way South and South Snoqualmie Street, landing 40-50 feet below. A third suspect was found hiding in nearby bushes.

The fallen suspect was transported to Harborview with life-threatening injuries. The investigation continues.


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