No touching brown bear
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raspberryteacup

SPD is using its fancy new blog to tout the collar of a 'prolific' tagger allegedly responsible for graffiti on "multiple buildings, including several car dealerships, and several businesses in the areas of 700 East Pike, 700 East Pine and 900 East Pike street."

Report sez the 20-year-old suspect was out to mark the recent death of Bay Area graffiti legend Kerse BTM and was caught in the act early Sunday morning. Hopefully they don't try to nail the kid for all the Kerse-work they find out there on the streets because this gentleman has company.

Will give SPD a call to see what else I can find out.

UPDATE: SPD confirmed that the suspected tagger is being charged with a felony level count of malicious mischief. From my understanding, if there was less than $1,500 damage, maximum sentence would be around 5 years. You can read more about the charge on the Avvo legal site. Also, no specific location of where he was apprehended.

Kerse tag on 10th Ave<...

UPDATE 2:12 PM:
The woman attacked in an alley near 17th and Howell around 3:30 AM had given her assailant a ride to the location, Seattle Police Department spokesperson Sean Whitcomb tells CHS. The 24-year-old woman suffered minor injuries in the assault. Whitcomb said it does not appear the man was armed. Whitcomb said the suspect managed to elude the subsequent helicopter and K-9 unit search. The suspect is described as a black male in his 20s, approximately 5' 8" and wearing a black sweatshirt, blue jeans and a black beanie at the time of the assault.

UPDATE 1:25 PM:
CHS just talked with area resident Nathan Williams who e-mailed us this explanation for the helicopter search. We'll follow up with SPD to see what else we can learn. Here's Nathan's mail:

I was awakened this morning at 3:30am or so by a woman screaming "help" (alley between 17th, 18th, denny, and howell). I dressed quickly and found her sitting on the ground. She had been beaten pretty badly and said a man had tried to rape and kill her. I asked her if the man was still around, but she said he had driven off. She had already called the police by this point and soon an ambulance came down Denny which I flagged down.

They started treating her and I went back inside. Soon after cops started arriving and searched the area pretty exhaustively (at least 6 cops, a dog) and the helicopter started circling around that time. I'm guessing it was a police helicopter looking for her assailant, though if he actually drove off I can't imagine it would have done much good. They roped off the area around her car with police tape but it was gone (as was the car) by the time I was up again at 8am.

The woman was in rough shape but none of her injuries seemed life-threatening. I hope she's doing alright.

bits of police tape morning after mystery
helicopter circling in middle of night 2009-08-27
Originally uploaded by pmocek

Here's the picture of the alley where SPD was investigating that Phil links to in the comments on this post.

Original Report:
Back on the CHS mystery helicopter beat. A flurry of reports of a late-night copter buzzing the Hill early this A.M. Looking into the why of it. Know anything? chs@capitolhillseattle.com

any idea why there was a helicopter hovering over my bedroom (16th & e olive st) last night at 3:52am? it was terrifying. i thought we might be under attack, but i guess not. i didn't see anything in the incident log, either. eventually, it circled a little until about 4:03am, when it left the area. i never heard any sirens (thank goodness) so i guess they didn't find the person/people for whom they were searching...

 

just curious (and sleepy.)

thanks,

alison

Thanks for the tip, neighbor Alison. Here are a few more Hill reports of the buzz:

• x03: Awake thanks to the Capitol Hill stealth helicopter special 4am edition. Internet proves useless in helping me get back to sleep...
• RobLaGatta: Anyone know what's up with this helicopter hovering like 20 feet above Capitol Hill with no lights on at 4 in the morning? Weak.

We'll check in with SPD and other powers that be to see what we can find out. A man was shot and killed around this time in the Mt. Baker area -- a subsequent search by helicopter could be an explanation.

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UPDATE:
The $1 value came from the report but might have been just a filler amount for the officer completing the report. I've asked SPD for clarification. Regardless, one buck doesn't make any sense for an entire ounce so revising the headline. Does the new amount change your thoughts on the incident?

UPDATE:
Here's some additional info and a good note for future crime report perusal from SPD spokesperson Mark Jamieson:

On the new reporting system it is important to read the narrative in its entirety.  The total amount of marijuana was 27.2 grams, which, as you can imagine is way more than $1.00.  Here is the explanation for the why $1.00 was entered:

All property entered on a property report must have a value.  Either enter the estimated value, $1.00 for UNKNOWN value, or $2.00 for NO value.

Since it was unknown what the exact value was, the officer chose to enter $1.00 for UNKNOWN.  The value could be anywhere $270.00 on (since marijuana prices currently run anywhere from $10 to $20 a gram, depending on location, quality, demand, etc.) Hope that explains it for you.

Original Report:
Last week, we shared a look inside a small-time drug arrest in the neighborhood: A $10 heroin bust in Cal Anderson Park

This week, in the interest of diversity and in celebration of this weekend's Seattle Hempfest 2009, we bring you another tale of the Seattle Police Department's war on drugs: A  $1 (to $270 depending on quality) marijuana bust in Dick's parking lot

The passive aggressive note left on your vehicle to inform you of the crime against humanity you have committed is a rite of urban passage. In small towns, they bake you cookies, knock on your door and ask you nicely to move your International Harvester off their lawn. On Capitol Hill, they leave a mean note. Sometime this works for tagging, also.

But in this incident culled from the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct reports from last week, one such note went far beyond mean.

Victim came to the East Precinct on 2-24-09 at 0930 to report that an unknown person left a threatening note pinned to the seat of his XXXX Vespa Gran Tourismo scooter. Victim had parked his scooter on the street, in the XXX block of XXXX on 2-23-09 at approx. 2100 hrs, when he returned to it on 2-24-09 at 0900, he found the note which said "You greener-than-thou sanctimonious retard: Take up an entire car-sized parking space with this scooter again and you'll be shopping for a new tire ... " Victim said that this is the second...

This account of an attempted home break-in in Radio Point will make you want to go double-check your deadbolts -- or be thankful you live in a condo or apartment building. The post showed up on CHS Monday morning but I didn't want to bring it to everybody's attention until I was able to get more details and confirm a few facts with SPD. Here's the description of the attempted break-in:

12.30am Sunday morning January 11 we experienced an attempted break-in to our townhome on 18th Avenue. We were home upstairs, with the lights on. The door bell at our upper door (split level entry) rang a few times in quick succession, followed by a brief wait, and another few rings. We stayed quiet; discussing whether or not to see what was up.

Shortly thereafter, they tried to kick in our lower door and break the frame. This shook the front of the house and was very forceful. At this point I (Matthew) came downstairs while Tricia phoned 911. I looked out the window and noticed there were two young gang members (confirmed later...

We won't have stats from East Precinct for months but, trust us, we're seeing a lot of car break-ins in the police reports for Capitol Hill. What we do have are anecdotes like this from neighbor Phobia in the CHS Classifieds:

I am trying to help my friend who was a victim of auto crime. Her car got broken into last night, Nov. 13, at the corner of Union and 11th. She lost her Coach tote bag with some important documents and a hard drive inside. All she wants are the things that have very little value to anyone. If you are out there, please take the cash and the bag but please send all other things back to her. I know it's really rare that a criminal would read a neighborhood blog, but I don't have other ideas. Thank you

The chances are very slim that Phobia's friend will get her stuff back but the incident can do some good. You can take a lesson from this and make sure you remove anything and everything of value -- and, really, everything -- from your car.

While we don't have the stats, we do have a powerful new tool we're continuing to build on at our partner site SeattleCrime.com.

Here's a map of the last 30-days of reported car prowls in the Capitol Hill area.

Click for latest map

Locations are approximate -- we only get block locations from SPD -- but you can see the Hill hot spots. And, of course, for every prowl reported, there are probably three that somebody didn't bother to call in.

So, time to clean up your car. Here's a comment from neighbor Lolalaptop to inspire:

Rash of car break ins in my neighborhood

I am sorry to hear that your friend lost her valuables.

My car was broken into a few weeks ago, 13th and Mercer, and thankfully nothing of value was taken, but the interior had been thoroughly torn apart in what was probably a quick, expert manner. I posted a note about it in my building, and learned that the same had happened up and down the block to many, many cars.

Yes, there were visible bags (of paper to recycle, nothing of value!) in my car that may have led them to bother breaking into my car.

Lesson learned: my car is now fastidiously empty and will remain so. People are desperate and while you can't stop them from breaking into your car, you can lessen the probability that they'll bother with your car by keeping it visibly empty.

It's a rare day that goes by without a shoplifting report at 523 Broadway E. Here are the latest Central District News Scanner reports for the area. This week, Seattle Weekly adds another report to the pile from way back in January. But this one comes from a source other than the police scanner or the media reports I dig through to learn about arrests and crime on the Hill.

Here's what the Weekly reported:

Everyone has the occasional trouble with the law and the cross-town rival news editor (and former SW writer), Erica C. Barnett, had her own run-in earlier this year. According to a police spokesperson, the SPD received a shoplifting call from the northern Broadway QFC on Jan. 28 at 6:50 p.m. Barnett is accused of attempting to steal an $8.99 bottle of wine. The spokesperson says SPD records indicate she wasn't arrested at the scene, but the city attorney's office did file a misdemeanor theft charge in Seattle Municipal Court. Barnett is scheduled for a hearing March 17. She declined to comment.

Given the way this kind of information is gathered, it's likely that the Weekly reporter got a tip on this -- either that, or she monitors the hundreds of muni court filings that go through Seattle each week. There's no (ethical) way to have figured out it was Barnett from the redacted media reports that SPD provides so the only way to get a name is to get the court documents involved with the case. Also note the clever turns of phrase in the write-up -- SPD won't confirm names and the media report they provide is redacted so the SW write-up uses the pronoun 'she' when talking about the incident (I initially referred to the incident as an 'arrest' when this was first posted but the Weekly notes there was no arrest at the scene). The Weekly reporter is putting two and two together just like any other crime story. But, in this case, seems like she had a good deal of help to get the ball rolling. We'll see. I have a question out to ask about the reporting.

In the meantime, Barnett joins the long line of QFC accused. She won't be the first reporter accused of having sticky fingers on Capitol Hill.

CHS does not condone this woman's actions. But we're also kind of tired of the Hitler thing.

First, let me say that sharing this Seattle Police incident report isn't an attempt to add to any freaking out over the kinds of illegal stuff that goes on in Cal Anderson Park even though the Slog just churned up this report of a 'roving gang of hooligans' supposedly committing acts of thuggery in the park at night. It's not a call for increased police patrols or more surveillance cameras (though we are checking in with City Hall to ask them a few questions about the efficacy of Cal Anderson's spy cams).

Instead, CHS is running this report because it sheds light on something we know happens in the park -- people doing drugs -- and describes the small drug bust with more detail than the average Seattle Police Department report. I'm ready for Mike with Curls to take me to task for covering another small crime. I'll take the heat. These things happened on the Hill. The way they occurred is interesting to me and I'm here to report interesting stuff. I'm not here only to cover what the TV helicopter camera crews say is news. Also not here to glamorize the cops and bad guys thing -- the details do a good job of making sure that won't happen -- but to understand a bit more about the culture and logistics behind an every-day drug bust in Cal Anderson Park. (Anybody know a better way to embed a PDF? Flickr slideshow is a pain -- make sure to hit pause in bottom control bar)

While some complain that Starbucks is stealing the look and feel of indie businesses on 15th Ave, one woman recently turned the table on the coffee giant by making off with a few hundred dollars of Starbucks drinks and pastries over a two-month period until she was caught and fired two weeks ago from her job at Safeway. From the East Precinct police files comes this tale of employee theft and Frappuccinos at the corner of 15th and E. John:

On 7-21-09 at 1600, while working uniformed police security for Safeway at E. John St, the store afternoon manager introduced me to [redacted] who is internal security for Safeway. [redacted] told me that... Safeway store manager received a complaint that the suspect (Safeway employee barista in the store Starbucks Kiosk) had been taking pastries and blended drinks routinely at the end of her shift from the Starbucks Kiosk inside Safeway at [E John] and not paying. [redacted] told me he reviewed the in store tapes (entered into evidence) and witnessed that the suspect did...

A 22-year-old man was arrested when he left his gun behind after a visit to the restroom at the newly opened Lookout on Bellevue Ave, according to a Seattle Police Department report.

Witnesses in the report said they believe the man and his accomplice were casing the bar for a possible robbery when they entered the Lookout around 4:40 PM on July 1. Witnesses said one man looked around the bar nervously as the other asked to use the restroom. A bar employee asked the waiting man for his ID. He said he didn't have one and was asked to leave. When the other man returned from the bathroom, both men left the bar.

But one had left something important behind.

According to the report, the Lookout employee entered the restroom and found what appeared to be an old, rusted .380 semiautomatic pistol on the bathroom counter just to the left of the sink. The employee removed the weapon and called 911.

Meanwhile, the two men had returned to the Lookout. The first man asked about the bar menu and then re-entered the restroom....

12:43a No word on injuries but report of assault with weapons tonight at 1325 E Madison tonight just before 12:30a. Got scanner report that officer believes he has the shooter in custody but that the weapon was taken from the scene by another suspect.

UPDATE 1:04a Slog reports three people taken to Harborview.

UPDATE: 5:15a I still don't have official word on any of the victims. Slog says at least one had died.

UPDATE: 6:33a Heard KOMO AM report on the story. They are also reporting 1 dead, two injured. BTW, Baltic Room shooting just under 1 year ago, Jan. 26, 2008.

UPDATE: 7:00a Here's the release from SPD on the incident:

Homicide, shooting in Central District
On January 4th at 12:27 a.m. officers responded to 911 calls of shots fired at a nightclub in the 1300 block of East Madison Street. Officers arrived on scene in under a minute and discovered three gunshot victims, all males apparently in their 20’s. SFD Medics were summoned immediately and subsequently transported all three victims to...

Received this e-mail about a Wednesday night mugging from a Hill neighbor who forwarded it from a neighborhood safety group she is part of. For context, robbery on the Hill is down so far this year according to Seattle Police Department statistics, but we're seeing plenty of reports like these, often targeting electronics like iPhones.

Last night R and I were driving home from a show when a guy flagged us down in the street. He'd was out for a jog around Aloha and 11th when a group of about seven teenagers mugged him and ran off with his iPod. He needed someone to call 911 for him. So here are some thoughts for you:

* First: Don't go for a walk or a jog alone at night with your headphones on. Alas, you're an easy, easy, obvious target. On a related note: You should probably keep that iPhone of yours in your pocket when you're strolling around at night. Don't go texting and walking at the same time. You may as well hang a sign around your neck that says: Mug Me!

* Second: This guy said he saw the group of...

KOMO reports a woman was robbed at knife point and cut on the wrist:

A woman sustained cuts to her wrist when she was robbed at knifepoint in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood early Wednesday morning.

Police said a 20-year-old woman was robbed at 10th Avenue East and East Highland Drive just after 2 a.m.

UPDATE 8:07 AM:
CHS found this eyewitness account posted to Facebook:

... after getting halfway down the stairs, then running back inside for my cell phone, I made it outside and saw a woman bent over at the corner, holding her arm out and crying. I ran down the block and got there just as a few other guys came up. One dude had almost witnessed the attack and had ran inside to grab something to put over the gash in the woman's wrist. He ended up grabbing a grey pair of underwear. At least they came from a freshly laundered pile of clothes. I used it to hold the bloody cell phone she handed me, so I could call her friends. One after another, her friends weren't there.

She wasn't going to die from that cut, but there was blood spattered all over, a knife laying a few feet away and the cut wasn't helping her keep her composure any. Overall I think she was handling herself pretty damn well.

The police pulled up almost right after I got there. Nice dude. Calm. Not the hyped up, yelling type.

Poor girl had almost made it home when the guy following her had attacked. She held onto her purse as long as possible, because it had her green card and other necessary documents. She was from Britain and was supposed to fly back on Monday for a wedding.

UPDATE 8:17 AM:
Here's the report from the Seattle Police Department. We'll talk with them to see if we can get any more information and updates later this morning.

On 7/8/09, at approximately 2:18 a.m., an officer was driving northbound on 10 Av E., when he was flagged down by the victim. The victim was screaming and pointing at the suspect who was running east on E. Highland Dr. The officer followed the suspect and engaged in a foot pursuit. According to the victim, the suspect confronted her and demanded her property at 10 Av E. and E. Hightland Dr. The suspect pulled a knife and cut the victim’s purse straps. A struggle ensued and the victim fell to the ground at which point the suspect cut her once on the wrist. When the suspect saw the police car, he fled on foot. A K-9 unit attempted a track but did not locate the suspect. All of the victim’s property was located and returned to her. The victim sustained a minor cut to her right wrist and slight bruising to her head. She was treated on scene by Seattle Fire Personnel and transported to an area hospital as a precaution. The suspect is described as a black male, 6′ tall, short hair, wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants.

Two accounts on CHS of a police chase near 10th Ave early this morning.

First, from Dejilg Ko:

My neighbor was awaked by helicopters overhead for 1/2 hour, police cruising down our street (10th Ave E, near Brix) multiple times (no siren), and she's sure she saw a cop with a police dog walk down the street. She was scared and called the police, they would only tell her that they were chasing a robber. Anyone else have any info?

The other from aurorafix:

Hia, So I woke up at 3am this morning(July 8th) to some helicopter/large planes practically dive bombing my apartment for like 20 minutes. It got to the point where I thought they might be trying to land on Broadway or Volunteer park.... I'm on Broadway & Aloha. I looked on the news and couldn't find any escaped convicts/ crazy traffic reports or similar explanations for the wierdness.

Does anyone know what the deal was? Or did they hear it too?

Two men were robbed at gunpoint of cash and a cell phone early this morning in the 1700 block Boylston Ave E. Seattle Police Department spokesperson Jeff Kappel said the two men were robbed by 'between 1 to 3' assailants around 12:37 AM.

The nature of the crime and the description of the suspects fits into a string of armed robberies this week around Green Lake and North Seattle, the Seattle PI reports. Hours before the Boylston hold-up, SPD says the three suspects robbed five victims near Green Lake Thursday night:

On 9/10/09, at approximately 11:25 p.m.,  a citizen was robbed in Greenlake Park followed by the subsequent robbery of four more victims who had been walking along the Greenlake path. The three suspects were wearing bandanas (sic) across their face and at least one suspect brandished a handgun during the robberies. A K-9 unit and King County Guardian 1 helicopter responded to assist.

A man was robbed of his cellphone, iPod, backpack and wallet in the same area of Bolyston on July 20. The...

UPDATE - 1:27 PM: Not a lot of new information though the Slog has now caught wind of the story and added some unattributed information about a resident of the building being 'involved' in running a 'card room' in the past. Oh and they also have the time of the bust wrong. But we can't talk given we reversed the number of women vs. men busted in the original post.

More info about the building. It's owned and managed by Capitol Hill developer Anne Michelson. She is also developing the 1111 E. Pike project up the street. Businesses in the location include the Wild Rose, Houthouse Spa & Sauna and the apartment units above.

UPDATE - 8:57 AM: CHS spoke with SPD's head of media relations Sgt. Sean Whitcomb who said he could not clarify the nature of the search warrant or the arrests as the situation is part of an "ongoing investigation" and detectives are still processing evidence collected during the raid. If we don't learn more in the meantime, some light will be revealed when the affidavit required for the department to get the search warrant comes through the county court system in the next few days.

Original Report - 8:37 AM: Seattle Times seems to be hot on the tracks of vice squad raids as they happen these days. They've got the scoop on a big bust that went down on Pike last night:...

According to Capitol Hill Triangle, the Obama Mural on E John St has been restored.  Let's hope the taggers show a little respect this time around. 

Speaking of tagging, there was some talk a while back about possibly asking neighborhood stores to restrict the same of spray paint.  Another way that may be easier to help control the persistence of tagging is to be aware of what's going on in the neighborhood.  Keep an eye out, report taggers to the police, install lights near popular tagging places, and keeping our neighborhood clean.  A study, echoing the "broken windows" theory, has shown that the present of graffiti (not art, but plain graffiti) tends to raise the persistence of littering and theft.

Haven't posted this one yet as I've been trying to find out a little more about the incident. Not my job to draw a line between insane behavior and hate, but the initial report from SPD and the write-ups from the PI and KOMO leave me wanting to know more. In the meantime, here's the report from SPD:

Malicious Harassment Arrest in East Precinct
On 1/15/09 at approximately 9:45 PM East Precinct Officers responded to a call of a man chasing a woman in the 100 block of Broadway Ave. E. Upon arrival, officers located the suspect, the victim and several witnesses. Investigation revealed that the victim was taking a cigarette break from her job, and had walked outside with her friend. The suspect fixated on the victim and made threatening statements that referenced sexual orientation. The suspect than attempted to assault the victim and threatened to kill her because of her sexual orientation. The victim was able to run away from the suspect and was not injured. The suspect was arrested and booked into KCJ for Investigation...

In 2 days, I have seen at least 8 license plates with a black slash of spray paint in the upper right corner, covering the month/year tab stickers.  Most of these cars were parked near Group Health (not that one should make an association with the hospital, just citing location) and one was driving by.  Have you seen any cars with this mark?  Any thoughts on what/who is doing it?  I doubt the state department is marking cars with expired tabs.

The story around the Pike speakeasy and the government's drug allegations against the man who ran it and the people he became entangled with is fleshed out in this week's Stranger - House of Cards: A Speakeasy, a Drug Bust, and One Cunning Undercover Cop. Jonah Spangenthal-Lee puts his crime reporting experience to full effect building on the details of the document prosecutors presented in charging Richard W. Wilson, Marshall Reinsch and three Honduran men, Carlos Zavala-Bustillo, Cesar Canterero-Arteaga and Edwan Fletes, with breaking federal drug and weapon laws.

There is some new information in the article -- Wilson and Reinsch are currently out of jail but under GPS monitoring, for one -- and a lot of color about what was driving Wilson and just how 'cunning' the undercover detective was who had infiltrated his circle:

One evening, one source says, Owens began telling them about being arrested at a May Day rally in 2008. "He said he came upon this protest and was crossing the street, and the cops were...

Somebody is threatening Capitol Hill gay bars with attacks using the deadly poison ricin. The Stanger reports that it and 11 gay bars received threatening letters today describing how the attacks would unfold. Here is the letter received by Re-Bar that appeared on the Slog:

The letter writer named Elite, Neighbours, Wild Rose, the Cuff, Purr, the Eagle, R Place, Re-bar, CC's, Madison Pub, and the Crescent in the letter sent to The Stranger. The writer, it seems, knows his or her gay bars including the top 5. Some talk of bar crawls this weekend in defiance of the threats. Going out?

In Google StreetView. Any idea what they are "discussing"?

Can't embed here (wish I could!), so you'll have to click:
cop and dude "discussing"

Update from jseattle: We have a solution to allow anybody to embed that we're ready to roll out any day now. In meantime, I can do it for you. Here's your Street View find from 12th Ave E. Looks like a meter maid is doing some lecturing!

Via Seattle LiveJournal community and my balcony...a woman was apparently stabbed at 15th and Howell. The police have the street between 15th and 16th on Howell taped off and a news helicopter is circling.

A woman in her mid-20s died tonight after being stabbed on Capitol Hill in Seattle.

Residents near 15th Avenue East and East Howell Street heard screaming shortly after 7 p.m. and called police. Officers found the victim lying on the Howell Street sidewalk with multiple stab wounds, police said.

The woman was taken by paramedics to Harborview Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Police haven't identified any suspects and are seeking eyewitnesses to the attack. No other information, including the woman's name, was released.

Capitol Hill Seattle has been alerted to an apparent shooting near the intersection of Union and Boylston. At 5:55 PM, emergency units were dispatched to 702 E Union St. for an assault with weapons response.

We received the following e-mail from an eyewitness:

Shooting on Union between Boylston and Harvard. One guy shot, was conscious and speaking when police arrived.

More as we get it.

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