A tragedy on the extreme southern tip of Beacon Hill, in the 9000 block of 39th Avenue South, just off of Beacon Avenue before it doubles back as Carkeek Drive. Very early this morning, a bit after 2am, a man, high on PCP, shot and killed his 50-year-old father. Details in the SPD Blotter and at the Rainier Valley Post.
Category Archives: Crime
Crime Notes: Inviting open windows, empty suitcases, and purported paperboys
On Saturday, Shea near 16th and Stevens wrote:
Due to the hot weather, we opened a small window on our first floor to get some extra ventilation. In the ten years I have lived in our house I have only opened this window one other time. We left this window open for several days but yesterday we noticed someone had tried to crawl in this window. It looks like two people were involved and one hoisted either a child or female (the long thin handprints left on the window sill).
Thankfully they were not able to get far and didn’t actually make it into our house. We think this happened either while we were asleep or between 2:30 and 3:30 pm [Friday] (the only time we were gone).
Near the north end of Jefferson Park, Hazel noted:
On Wed night at about midnight we heard breaking glass on Spokane, John went to take a look, saw three people (2 females, one male) carrying something. He called after them, they ran east on Spokane tossing something into the bushes. John found 3 suitcases, empty. We called the police, they took the suitcases. One had an address in West Seattle. All were lovely old-fashioned style suitcases.
Today, Whitney near 22nd and Horton wrote:
Last week, a young-ish man came up to our porch, put down a small box, and knocked on the door. When I opened it, he said, “Is the lady of the house around?” I asked if I could help him. He looked at the newspaper that was still on our porch and said, “I was just wondering if you still wanted that delivered there or in the street?” I said something about the current arrangement being fine, and he said, “We just want our customers to be happy,” picked up his box, and left. Then I saw him head to the next house down to knock on the door, and I know that neighbor does not subscribe to a newspaper.
Should I be suspicious? Does anyone know what this is about, or did anyone else get a similar visit last week?
Kelly, a few blocks away at 18th and Horton, responded:
We got the same visit and we don’t subscribe to the paper. I was not home at the time but the guys remodeling our kitchen described the exact same scenario as you. They said the young man did not look into the house but given all the recent break ins it is certainly worth mentioning to the group.
Phone snatchers, gold grabbers near the hospital
Debbie writes with an account of a couple of brazen robberies last night along Beacon Avenue near Jefferson Park:
I was walking north along Beacon Ave yesterday evening, using my earbuds with my iPhone on a call. The phone was in my left hand. At about 7pm, I passed by two young black guys in white T-shirts and shorts. One was wearing a light gray knit cap. They turned around and one of them grabbed the phone from my hand and the two took off down the sidewalk. When they turned and saw I wasn’t pursuing, they slowed to a walk and cut into the VA parking lot. They had pulled the earbuds off the phone and tossed them to the ground. I ran to pick them up and caught up to them. I demanded my phone back, but they denied having it. I didn’t think it was worth physically fighting over, so I turned back as they continued to walk through the lot.
A man who had just parked his car saw me run toward the thieves. When I was within earshot of him, I said they had stolen my phone, so he called the police. The two crossed Beacon Ave and jumped the fence into the golf course. After our reports were taken, the officer took me to the Jefferson Community Center, where there was another report. A woman had a 14 kt necklace ripped from her neck about 15-20 minutes earlier than my incident. It sounded like one or two of the men involved with her necklace were the same as the ones who stole my phone.
She also passes along some advice:
I had a first generation iPhone, so it isn’t worth a whole lot these days. But when I get another phone, I’m going to get black third party earbuds so it won’t look like I have an Apple product. I will be more careful when I have the phone out on the street, I’ll save involved and lengthy conversations for indoors, and I will be more aware of the people around me and make eye contact as the officer advised. The part of Beacon Ave that the theft occurred in is also somewhat empty, so as much as possible I’m going to walk along 15th Avenue instead until it connects to Beacon to avoid walking around the VA area.
I’m not sure I’d agree about that stretch of Beacon being much less ‘safe’ than the sparse stretches of 15th, but I’ll add another safety tip: instead of keeping your i-device in your hand, put it in a pocket.
Juan Carlos Bonilla sentenced for 2008 slaying of Debra Bonilla
Juan Carlos Bonilla was sentenced today to 23 1/2 years in prison for killing his wife, Debra Lynn Bonilla, at their Beacon Hill home last year. Juan Carlos stabbed Debra at least a dozen times with a 13-inch barbecue fork in front of their two young children.
Bonilla pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month. Standard sentencing would be between 13 and 21 years in prison, but prosecutors argued for — and received — an exceptional sentence in this case.
Crime Notes: Clueless caller could be casing
From the mailing list, Heidi from near 19th and Lander writes:
I think we might have been cased for a burglary. A 40ish black woman came to the door saying she was looking for a lost dog. When asked what the dog looked like, what it’s name was, or where she lost it, she could not answer any questions at all. Never looked us in the eye, just craned her neck looking around the house and past us. Very uncomfortable situation. She left quickly and as she walked down the steps and across the street, a big black SUV with 2 men in it pulled up to get her. When they noticed us watching them, they screeched off quickly down the street. Didn’t get a license number or great description because they rounded the corner and took off so fast.
She notes that the police think they were likely just wanting to see if anyone was home and checking out what sort of lucrative easy pickings might be inside to be burgled. Hopefully they’ve been scared off and won’t be back soon, but be aware of this now-common sort of ploy.
South Precinct: Adiós Capt. Liggins, hello Capt. Emerick
Captain Dave Emerick, a 25-year veteran of the police force, is leaving the Violent Crimes Section to become the new South Precinct commander. Captain Emerick will lead approximately 83 officers assigned to Patrol Operations, including a Community Police Team and a plain-clothes Anti-Crime Team. Captain Emerick has previously served in the Gang Unit, Narcotics Section, Homicide Unit and Harbor Patrol. This will be Captain Emerick’s first precinct command.
Captain Les Liggins, a 24-year veteran, is departing the South Precinct to assume command of the Narcotics Section, where he will oversee three squads of detectives and the Drug Court Liaison. Captain Liggins brings to the assignment experience leading the Metropolitan Section (SWAT, Mounted Patrol, and K9 Patrol), Fraud, Forgery and Financial Exploitation, Auto Theft, and Audit Accreditation and Policy.
For more details on other changes in the SPD command structure, see the this article on the SPDBlotter.
Beacon Bits: Jungle shooting, health inspections, Night Out block parties
- Another late-night shooting in the jungle leaves a man dead with no arrests and not even a description of the suspect — SPDBlotter
- Health inspections turn up violations at Asian Express, C&C Food Store/Valero, and Fiesta-Mex — Seattle/King County Public Health
- The annual neighborhood Block Party and Night Out Against Crime is coming up on Tuesday, August 4th. Registration deadline for hosting one on your block is July 31st. Please let us know if your block is hosting a party — we’ll do a run-down and reminder before the Night Out.
Captain Liggins on recent burglary arrests, more break-in activity
“Thanks to timely phone calls, we’ve been able to make significant headway,” performing an arrest during a burglary in progress, and then getting them to roll over on their associates, leading to the recovery of 300 laptop computers and other electronics.
He also said that the police have been “fortunate lately… to get significant hits on fingerprint evidence… placing people inside the houses…” and “also fortunate… our numbers are increasing… almost at 100 (officers, up from 70)”. They are trying to get their staffing up throughout the department to match workload and “get most officers out on the days and times when most activity occurs.”
Unfortunately, the impact of that well-timed arrest, the leads coming from it, and the accumulation of fingerprint evidence has not fully quelled the rash of break-ins and burglaries nearby.
Kevin on the mailing list wrote about a break-in yesterday, 7/13, at his home near 21st & McClellan. Alma responded with a note about the theft of garden tools and such the same day, 7/13, from her neighbor’s new shed near 15th & Nevada. Suzanne wrote to us about her home being burglarized last Wednesday, 7/8, at 18th & Bayview.
Keep your eyes open and don’t hesitate to call 911 if you see something suspicious.
Update: a number of additional burglary calls today on the scanner, reported by BHNW: 18th & Lucile, 3700 block of Holly Park Drive, 5100 block of 20th Ave S, and the “6500 block” of 19th Ave S (I suspect that’s a typo).
Update: Corrected some dates. It’s not Wednesday yet.
Mailing list minutes: Fruit trees, vacant space, and disappearing mail
Some recent activity on the neighborhood mailing list:
- Jon Gould is looking for a tenant for the 2200 square-foot (1100 upstairs, 1100 downstairs) space at 3315 Beacon Avenue South formerly occupied by Buggy (opening today in Madrona, by-the-way, with an opening party on the 11th). He’s asking for $1300/month in rent. Email Jon for further details.
- Jon also notes that The Stranger‘s Christopher Frizzelle is looking to speak with people who have experienced Sound Transit-related sinkholes.
- Several neighbors have discussed outdoing mail thefts, including the pilfering of bill payment checks, in the northerly areas near 16th Ave S recently. Shea Bajaj (of Viridian Design, an architect with an interest in building Detached Accessory Dwelling Units) passes on some information he received from his postal carrier: If you’ve suspect or have experienced mail theft, contact your local postal inspector. Additionally, through the same contact, you can lodge a request that recently removed blue postal drop boxes be replaced and/or petition for the establishment of a neighborhood postal collection unit like newer townhouse complexes have.
- Hazel points us to a new website cataloging fruit trees around town: City Fruit. For more information, see the project’s home site. Relatedly, Theresa points us toward the Community Fruit Tree Harvest project from Solid Ground, a program looking for donations of tree fruit. They’re also considering fruit tree care classes and volunteer arborist services for donators. For more information, visit the website or contact Gail Savina.
If you’re not already on the mailing list, join here. It’s a great way to get recommendations from your neighbors for drywallers, plumbers, electricians, etc. or announce your garage sale or whatnot.
Thanks Jon, Theresa, Hazel, Shea, and everybody else on the lists!
Man killed in late-night shooting in the Jungle
At around 11:30pm Friday night in the wooded area on the west side of the hill by the freeway known as “the Jungle”, a man in his 50s was shot. He died in surgery after being transported to Harborview.
Additional details from the SPDBlotter:
Preliminary information at the scene indicates that the shooting might have stemmed from an argument between the victim and another individual who camps in the same area.
The suspects, two or three males, ran southbound underneath the freeway. Officers set up containment, the King County Sheriff’s helicopter, Guardian One, was called in, and K9 tracked for while, but officers did not locate the suspects. Detectives from Homicide and CSI responded to process the scene. The Homicide Unit will be responsible for the follow up investigation.