Category Archives: Crime

Crime

Car chase through Beacon Hill yesterday ends with 3 injured on I-5

A conflict began with eye contact in Seward Park and passed through nearly the entire length of Beacon Hill along the way, ending with a man shot, multiple vehicle collisions, and closure of I-5 southbound last night.

According to police, the situation began at about 4 p.m. at a festival in Seward Park where the victim and suspects made eye contact. The 20-year-old male victim, with his 17-year-old nephew, then went to park his car outside the park, and noticed the suspects following him in a gray or green car. The victim then tried to get away from the suspects, who followed in a car chase over Beacon Hill.

The suspects began shooting at the victim in the 9000 block of Beacon Avenue South. Shots were also fired by the suspects at Beacon Avenue South and South Juneau Street, and it appears that the suspects fired again at South Columbian Way and South Spokane Street.

The chase then continued onto I-5 South, where the suspects shot at the victim again as they were passing Boeing Field. This time, a shot struck the victim in the shoulder. The victim’s vehicle collided with a Kia occupied by two women, both unconnected with the ongoing altercation. The Kia driver lost control of the car, hit another innocent motorist’s Toyota, then flipped over.

The shooting victim did not have a firearm, and there is no indication that he every shot back at the suspects or their vehicle, police say. He was transported to Harborview along with the two women from the Kia with non-life-threatening injuries. The victim’s 17-year-old nephew was not injured, nor was the driver of the Toyota.

Another innocent driver’s car was struck by a stray bullet and his windows were shot out. He was uninjured and drove back home to West Seattle to call 911. A parked car in the 5900 block of Beacon Avenue was also found with gunfire damage.

The suspects are still at large.

See a video report by Beacon Hill Blog news partners KOMOnews.com here.


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Crime

Man arrested in shooting at 15th and College

Seattle Police report that they have made an arrest in the shooting that occurred July 20 at 15th Avenue South and South College in which a suspect shot at a vehicle containing two adults and two toddlers. No one was injured in the shooting.

According to police, the suspect was found staying in an apartment at 48th Avenue South and South Henderson in Rainier Beach. Undercover officers contained the location, then SWAT officers took the suspect into custody late Sunday night. The 21-year-old male was booked for investigation of assault. A bag of bullets was found during the initial search of the suspect’s apartment.

Crime

Updated: Vehicle chase and gunshots; one injury

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Update, 12 midnight:

Seattle Police report that an automotive confrontation followed by multiple gunshots sent one man to the hospital with a non-life-threatening wound to the bicep late Sunday night.

At about 10:35 p.m., three men in a Honda at Beacon Avenue South and South Spokane Street were fired at by suspects in “a small, foreign-model sedan.” The shot missed, and the victims took off. They ran into a planting strip in the 2200 block of South Lucile Street, got out of their car, and ran north on 22nd Avenue South.

The suspects, in their car, caught up to the victims at 22nd and Lucile. One suspect got out of the car and fired multiple rounds at the men, striking one in the right bicep. He then got back into the car and fled.

The suspects are still at large and there is no description available yet, nor is it known how many suspects were in the car, or what precipitated the original confrontation.

The original version of the story follows:

Seattle Police are currently investigating a shooting in the 2200 block of South Lucile Street (Mid-Beacon Hill) at around 10:45 p.m. late Sunday night that wounded a 24-year-old male in the bicep. The injury is not life-threatening, and the victim has been transported to Harborview by medics. Stay tuned for more information.

One neighbor in the area tweeted that it “sounded like 2 weapons firing back and forth” and another told the BHB “Lots of shots. Scary.”


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Crime

At least 17 shots fired in rolling gun battle on Beacon Avenue

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by KOMO Communities Staff
(Beacon Hill Blog news partners)

At least 17 shots were fired during a rolling gun battle between two vehicles Thursday evening on Beacon Avenue near Jefferson Park, sending a family of bicyclists running for cover and damaging cars parked along the street, police said.

Witnesses reported seeing the two vehicles–a cream-colored Ford Bronco and a gold Honda–rolling south on Beacon Avenue, exchanging gunfire as they passed the Jefferson Golf Course at around 8 p.m.

No one was injured in the shooting, but two vehicles parked on the street were struck by gunfire.

A family riding their bicycles on Beacon Avenue also had to run for cover to avoid being hit by bullets during the shootout.

Gang unit detectives responded to the scene, talked to witnesses and gathered evidence.

Investigators are still working to identify the suspected shooters.

Crime, Life on the Hill

Van vs. light pole on Beacon Avenue

This light pole was knocked down by a van Thursday afternoon. Photo courtesy of Angela Castañeda, Beacon Hill Merchants Association.

Reported yesterday (Thursday, June 28) on the Beacon Hill Merchants Facebook page:

Unneighborly neighbor, potential tragedy averted: At approximately 3:10pm this afternoon a group of summer camp kids and another smaller group of middle school boys were walking toward the library when this once lovely light pole was knocked flat behind them by a large camper van. One boy said he felt the swoosh of air as it fell behind him. The man and woman were said to be hanging out there for a while, possibly arguing and drinking, before they rammed the pole as they pulled away from the curb.

Your dear Merchants staff gathered data, provided details to SPD and reported to City Light. In no time Dan and Scott from City Light’s emergency crew were onsite to disconnect wires and make the sidewalk safe again. Thanks guys!

(Thanks to Angela Castañeda for the scoop!)

Crime

Police: 70-year-old man tied up as suspects tear through home

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

A burglary turned home invasion left a 70-year-old man with cuts to his wrist, according to police.

It happened Friday, around 1:30p.m., near 12th Avenue S. and S. Nevada Street.

The victim told police he heard noises coming from the back of the house. When he went to check it out he found the two men inside.

The victim tried to fight the suspects off but they pulled out a knife. He told KOMO News they used a telephone cord to tie his hands and feet together and left him in a bedroom while they went through the home.

Nearly 30 minutes later the victim’s granddaughter came home and found him. She called 911.

The man was treated at the scene for cuts to his hands.

An iPad, jewelry and money were reportedly stolen from the home.


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Crime

3 arrested for allegedly macing and robbing 12-year-old girl

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By KOMO Staff
(Beacon Hill Blog news partners)

Three people have been arrested for allegedly macing, then robbing a 12-year-old girl in Beacon Hill Monday.

The girl was walking near 25th Avenue South and South Dawson Street around 2:45 p.m. when a group of three people in a car drove past her and pulled up on the street, Seattle police said.

As the girl walked toward the car, a man and woman got out, asking for directions to nearby South Brandon Street.

The girl complied, but as she started to walk off, one of the suspects sprayed the girl in the back of the head with mace. Then they grabbed the girl’s backpack, knocked her to the ground, and demanded she give over her cell phone.

The attackers then jumped back into the car and sped away. The victim wasn’t seriously hurt.

However, several witnesses called 911 and officers found the car near 46th Avenue South and South Othello and arrested the three people inside.

Taken into custody were a 20- and 22-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman. All three were booked into the King County Jail for investigation of robbery.

Once at the jail, the woman set off a metal detector, and officers found she had hidden a can of mace inside her bra, police said.


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Crime

Sunday morning shootings included two on Beacon Hill

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Four Sunday-morning drive-by shootings in South Seattle — with 60 to 70 rounds fired — included two shootings on Beacon Hill. KOMO News (Beacon Hill Blog news partners) has a good round-up of the shootings here.

The Beacon Hill shootings were at the 4800 block of Columbia Drive S in mid-Beacon Hill, and the 4200 block of South Henderson Street on far south Beacon Hill. According to police, the Columbia Drive house is known to house gang members. A possible vehicle involved in the Columbia Drive incident is a white Acura or Honda.

No one was injured in any of these incidents; the police are investigating.


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Crime

Bike thefts aggravate North Beacon neighbors

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This bike was stolen from a garage on North Beacon Hill recently. Have you seen it?

Today is Bike to Work Day, but if you participate, don’t forget to lock up your bike! Neighbors on the Beacon Hill mailing list have reported several bike thefts recently. The thefts were from the areas of 19th and Waite, 19th and Horton, and 18th and Horton. One neighbor reported “two bikes [were] stolen from our garage while we were doing yardwork.” Another bike was stolen while parked in an alley. “I haven’t been able to keep a bike more than a season,” added another neighbor. “It’s cheap bikes and security cameras from now on for us.”

If your bicycle is stolen and its value is less than $500, you can file a police report online here. If the bicycle stolen is worth more than $500, report the theft by calling the police non-emergency number, 206-625-5011.

Crime

SPD officers tour greenbelt investigating recent gunfire

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On Monday, about 40 officers from the Seattle Police Department and the Department of Corrections searched the “Jungle,” the greenbelt on northwest Beacon Hill, looking for possible weapons and shooting victims after nearby neighbors reported the sounds of gunfire within the greenbelt. Jonah Spangenthal-Lee (formerly with The Stranger, Seattle Crime, and Publicola, now with the SPD) wrote an interesting post (with photos) on the search at the SPD Blotter blog:

After a day of crisscrossing overgrown, muddy pathways along the west side of Beacon Hill Monday, three South Precinct officers stand on a leaf-covered hillside just below Holgate Street, digging up a patch of dirt.

They’re looking for a body.

The officers, along with dogs trained to find weapons or human remains, spent seven hours trekking through the woods and interviewing more than 150 people living in and around the greenbelt. No weapons were found, and the only remains found turned out to belong to an animal.

The Community Police Team will revisit the greenbelt with social workers and representatives of the Department of Neighborhoods over the next week to assist those living in the “Jungle” in connecting with needed social services.