Category Archives: Crime

Crime

On the BHB Forum: Burglary on Beacon Avenue

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If you haven’t browsed the Beacon Hill Blog site much, you might have missed the link to the Forum. The Forum is an area where readers of this blog can post questions, ask for recommendations, and participate in discussions.

Recently, a neighbor reported the following crime in the Open Line Time section of the Forum:

“I live at 3026 Beacon Ave. S. #101, on Beacon Ave. between Stevens and Hanford. Between 2:30 PM and 3:15 PM on Sunday, June 21st, in broad daylight, my apartment was broken into and numerous items were taken. A civilian’s camera in the back parking lot showed no activity during those times. Since one of the items taken was a large, heavy television, the burglars must have had a vehicle parked in front of the building on Beacon Ave. Did anyone see/hear anything suspicious or unusual in this area during those times?”

Please post in the Forum discussion if you can help.

Crime

Charges filed against two attackers of Beacon Hill man

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Charges have been filed against two men accused of the recent attack on Beacon Hill resident Dawit Alemu. Kenneth Anthony Fisher Jr., 19, and Justin Lee Phillips, 20, have been charged with first-degree assault and first-degree attempted robbery, and remain in jail on $200,000 bail and $250,000 bail respectively.

Alemu suffered severe brain injuries in the June 18 attack, in which five men beat and kicked him in the 1900 block of 13th Avenue South, then ran, leaving him for dead.

The Seattle Times and Seattle P-I both have further information on this case.

Crime

Further details emerge about last night’s assault at 13th and Holgate

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KING5 News has posted more information and a video report about the victim in last night’s attack in North Beacon Hill. 25-year-old Sudanese immigrant Dawit Alemu, who was celebrating his upcoming graduation from Seattle Central Community College, was attacked by a group of men, knocked unconscious, robbed, and left for dead on the sidewalk in broad daylight. At least one witness took photos, which led the police to two suspects, aged 19 and 20, who are being held on $200,000 and $250,000 bail on suspicion of robbery pending the filing of charges. The other attackers remain at large. Alemu would have walked in his graduation ceremony tomorrow; instead, he remains in Harborview, unconscious with life-threatening injuries.

Police currently believe the attackers did not know Alemu.

(Post edited at 7:40 pm to add additional information about the bail, the age of the attackers, and that the attackers did not know the victim.)

Crime

Assault near Beacon Hill International School

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Around 6:30 this evening, as many as seven individuals assaulted a man in the 1900 block of 13th Avenue South, on the sidewalk near Beacon Hill International School, leaving him unconscious.

Via the Seattle Police Department’s SPDBlotter:

Preliminary investigation indicates that the victim, a male in his 20s, was assaulted and robbed by a group of males who then fled the scene on foot. Responding patrol officers apprehended two suspects and turned them over to Homicide Detectives for further investigation. There are several suspects still at large. SFD Medics responded to the scene and transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. The two suspects in custody, a 19-year-old male and a 21-year-old male, will be booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery. Homicide Detectives continue to actively investigate.

Scanner reports from Beacon Hill Neighborhood Watch indicated a witness photographed the assault taking place and identified one of the suspects in custody.

Crime

South Precinct crime trends report released

SPDs South Precinct major crimes by month
SPD's South Precinct major crimes by month, click for full graph in PDF
SPD just released crime trend reports for all precincts recently. Some highlights from the South Precinct PDF report.

The top-line summary:

…there has been an overall increase in Major Crimes in South Precinct for the first four months of 2009, when compared with the same period in 2008. Robberies and aggravated assaults in South are both up through April in 2009, when compared with 2008, resulting in an overall increase in Violent Crimes.

Among Property Crimes, larceny/thefts have increased from the same period a year ago. Burglaries and vehicle thefts, on the other hand, are at the same level in 2009 through April as they were in 2008 in South Precinct.

SPDs South Precinct major crime trends
SPD's South Precinct major crime trends, click for full graph in PDF
And:

…despite increases in specific crimes, the trend line for crime in South Precinct is downward, with total Major Crimes declining each month in 2009 compared to the previous month and falling below the monthly April total from 2008. This is a different pattern from that seen in 2008, when Major Crimes increased in each of the first four months of the year.

Comparative, historical precinct stats are also available for each month individually as PDF and Excel files. We’ve also made them available as Google Docs spreadsheets.

Crime

Plant thieves target Lewis Park

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Pink flags marked new plantings in Lewis Park a few weeks ago. Photo by Wendi.
Pink flags marked new plantings in Lewis Park a few weeks ago. Photo by Wendi.
Native plants and shrubs were recently stolen from Lewis Park, a small park at the north tip of Beacon Hill near the PacMed/Amazon building and the Jose Rizal Bridge. The plants were planted by volunteers who have been reconstructing this park recently, with support from the City.

Vinh Nguyen has been spearheading this project, and reports that on May 28, volunteers found that more than a dozen plants had disappeared from the park, including lady ferns, red flower currants, and evergreen Oregon irises. While parks are public property, the plants within them are not free for the taking, and stealing them is a crime. If anyone knows anything about this crime, please call 911.

If you would like to help with the reconstruction of the park, please join other volunteers at the Friends of Lewis Park work party every Sunday, 9:00 am -1:00 pm. Tools and gloves are provided.

Crime

Help find a stolen wheelchair

The missing chair is this model, in all-black
The missing chair is this model, in all-black
Neighbor Erin Musser’s wheelchair was stolen as she picked up her son from school last week. She writes:

My name is Erin Musser and my family and I have lived on North Beacon Hill for over 12 years. I rode my power wheelchair as usual to pick my 6 year old son up from Beacon Hill International School at 4:45 pm on Friday, May 8. I signed him out, descended the dozen or so stairs balancing myself with a cane and was puzzled when my chair wasn’t there.

I called the police and 2 different squad cars came after making a few sweeps around the neighborhood to no avail. I spoke with one of the teachers who said he saw my chair heading north on 13th Ave South ridden by a young male with dark curly hair and dark skin. He could only see a short tuft of curly dark hair above the back of the seat which indicated the alleged suspect was most likely fairly young.

The entirely black chair is a Jazzy Power Chair Model 1122.

Any information can be e-mailed to me at: epoly@aol.com or you may call our home number at (206) 860-6928. Thank you for any leads you can give.

KIRO TV has a video report.

Thanks Sara for the video link.

Crime, Health and Safety, Local Events, Urban Planning

Parties, crime, and alcohol touched on at NBHC meeting

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The North Beacon Hill Council met tonight at 7 at the Beacon Hill library. Very briefly, here’s what went down:

  • Reps from DPD present talked about outreach and prep for the next planning meeting May 30th.
  • An ad hoc committee and an outreach subcommittee of the Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee is seeking a six month delay in the DPD neighborhood planning process to get outreach to more of the community and focus more closely on neighborhood issues specifically instead of Southeast Seattle issues generally.
  • Beacon Mountain Playground is moving forward with phase 1 of the project.
  • An SDOT representative will be at the June meeting to provide an update.
  • Some background on the Sound Transit tunnel voids was given by Roger Pence. There are believed to be only two unfilled voids remaining and they are being actively worked on.
  • Some discussion of the pedestrian safety, zoning, and environmental issues around the new car wash occurred, leading into a proposal to form a committee to work on attracting additional businesses to the hill and a motion to write a letter to the DPD concerning the zoning conflict with the transit overlay area.
  • Police updates included notice that staffing hours will likely change soon, focusing more bodies during the times of day when they’re needed. Also brief discussion of car prowls, burglaries, graffiti, car accidents, prostitution, etc.
  • Asian Express’s liquor license renewal is mentioned to be coming up soon, and it may be an opportune time to work out a “good neighbor” agreement to reduce the sales of high-alcohol beverages.
  • Volunteers were sought to staff the NBHC booth at the Jefferson Park festival on June 6th.
  • Michael Richmond mentioned the possible upcoming city council and mayoral candidate forums this fall. Previous candidate forums are said to have been especially well attended here on the hill.
  • The Piñata Party will be on July 18th this year — the same day as the Sound Transit Link Light Rail grand opening. This may be both good and bad.
  • Newly elected board members:
    • Matthew Stubbs
    • Sara Hasan

Did I miss something or get something wrong? Let us know in the comments.

Crime

Thief stealing plants from Beacon Hill gardens

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Spring is here, and Beaconians’ thoughts are turning to gardening — but at least one person around here has turned his thoughts to theft. Two posters on the mailing list have reported thefts of shrubs, trees, and flowers from neighborhood gardens.

One neighbor, April, reported on Monday, “We had two shrubs stolen a little after midnight on Sunday, our neighbor had several newly planted shrubs stolen recently and El Centro has had some flowers that were donated to them stolen.”

Another neighbor, Cat, added today, “On April 21 – 22, 2009 four of the recent plants I had put in the ground in front of my fence on 16th Ave S were stolen. Last weekend my neighbor on Bayview had another large plant stolen. She has also had a tree stolen, some pavers, and other small plants taken from the side of her yard. The Cesar Chavez memorial garden at El Centro de la Raza has also had plant thefts. The thief is watching and making sure to target houses that have just recently planted new shrubs or trees so he could be local.”

This is not necessarily a new situation around the Hill. Garden thefts have been happening in the area for the last year or so, including a theft of two large planters from in front of The Beacon condominiums near the Red Apple last September.

The current series of thefts are generally occurring at night, between 11:00 pm and midnight. A suspect has been photographed by security cameras; he’s a middle-aged balding man who smokes.

Has your garden been a victim of this thief or thieves?