scott

Our newspartners at The Seattle Times are reporting that the "person of interest" in last weekend's police murder is in critical condition at Harborview with a wound to the head.

They've also proven that having sources and their phone numbers is much more productive than waiting for media briefings at crime scenes. As we reported earlier today, SPD detectives were in Tukwila to investigate a tip from a citizen in Officer Brenton's murder:

The person who tipped police to the car said the man had only recently covered it and had been acting bizarrely, according to a law enforcement source.

The wounded man apparently has no felony history. He had recently laid off from his job as a security guard, according to the source.

The shooting happened just as the memorial service for Brenton was ending at Seattle's KeyArena. Many of the officers who attended the memorial immediately left when they got word of the shooting, some rushing to Tukwila.

The Times is also reporting that two other men have been detained, and that they may have ties to the person of interest.

Read the whole story at SeattleTimes.com

Update: And now the 41 year old suspect is named in an update to the Seattle Times story:

Records show he was a student at Highline Community College. An adviser there said he was interested in criminal justice.

[The suspect] apparently has no felony history though he was caught speeding twice in Snohomish County, once inSeptember 2007 and again in March this year. Most recently he worked as a security guard, although he was recently laid off, according to source.

So far it seems like SPD's psychological profile pretty much nailed this guy.

Update: SeattleCrime.com has a picture of Monfort.

The latest batch of crime stats from July have been released by the Seattle Police Department, showing a 17% increase over July of 2008. The uptick was led by increases in property crimes such as burglaries and thefts, while violent crimes were flat or down.

Here's the details:

• Assaults were down 6% vs July 2008
• Robberies were unchanged
• Burglaries were up 13%
• Thefts were up 45%
• Stolen Vehicles were down 35%

The biggest increase in crime was found in the C2 police beat, which runs east of Broadway between Roy & Pike St:

 

• Crime was down 13% in beat C1
• Up 68% in beat C2
• Up 6% in beat E1
• Up 29% in beat E2

From today's LGBT Equality March & Rally:

Photo by Jeff Romeo, special to CHS

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Photo by Jeff Romeo, special to CHS

Photo by Jeff Romeo, special to CHS

Photo by Jeff Romeo, special to CHS

On September 30th we caught a bit on the police scanner about a man who robbed a woman on Summit Avenue East, notably employing a Taser gun in the crime.

That man is now caught, according to the SPD blotter:

On October 8th, at approximately4:00 p.m., the victim of an armed robbery saw the suspect in Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill and flagged down an officer.  The officer located and arrested the suspect.  The 31-year old male suspect was then transported to the Robbery detectives where he was interviewed and later booked into the King County Jail on Investigation of Robbery and an outstanding warrant.  The original robbery occurred on September 30th in the 200 Block of Summit Avenue East, where the suspect used a taser-like device on the victim and another man while robbing both of them.

We just heard on the scanner that someone was taking pot shots with a BB gun at a woman as she walked up Howell near Boylston.

An officer just said that he spoke to a resident who said that a man "had been doing this for several days, popping off BB shots through a window" on the fourth third floor of the apartment building at 1816 Boylston Ave.

Officers found damage to vehicles parked in the area too.  They're blocking off all the surrounding streets and discussing the best ways to access the area while staying outside the "field of fire".

Update:  Officer advises that "rounds are being fired."  "Get inside!  We've got a man with a gun on the third floor."

Update x2: "Suspect on the balcony.  He dropped the gun off the balcony.  We are giving him commands.  We've got eyes on him and a rifle officer that is covering him right now."  "Suspect is coming out the window"

Update x3: "Suspect is in custody, the apartment has been cleared."  Police are going to re-open the streets once they verify that everyone is OK and accounted for.

Update x4:  According to Google, this is the apartment building in question:

View Larger Map

E John is slick. A #48 bus lost a chain and is stuck.

I have been putting off a much-needed haircut for a week, and
absolutely had to get it done before Christmas, so I hitched a ride to
the Rudy's on Pine. Cheers to them for being open!

Now I get to walk back to the CD, so I'll do a few CHS updates along
the way.

10:35AM - - walking snow report - Yay to shoveling snow! With pizza tools!

10:38AM - - walking snow report - Cars are making it up Pine

10:40AM - - walking snow report - No sign of pavement on Broadway

10:43AM - - walking snow report - Pretty weak snow man in the Cal Anderson playfield. Surely all of you artsy hipsters can do better than that .

10:48AM - - walking snow report - No water features today

10:56AM - - walking snow report - It doesn't look like 12th ave has seen a snow plow in days

11:03AM - - walking snow report - The amount of snow on the trees is amazing

11:07AM - - walking snow report - 15th Ave winter wonderland

11:09AM - - walking snow report - I don't trust my bike skilz enough to try this:

11:19AM - - walking snow report - The steep part of Pine St near Madison is mega-slick

11:22AM - - walking snow report - Getting closer to pavement on Madison

11:28AM - - walking snow report - People are hving trouble getting up the hill on Madison from 19th. A money truck was stuck until a big 4wd truck pulled them up the hill

Cross-posting this from CDNews since people might recognize this guy from somewhere on the hill. 

Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect in a sexual assault that occurred at Swedish hospital on Saturday.   He is described as a hispanic male, 40s, who was wearing a sweater with horizontal red, blue, and green stripes.   The security camera image attached here shows him in a motorized wheelchair, although police say that he may also be able to walk.

 

Police spokesman Officer Mark Jamieson says that the suspect entered a hospital room early on Saturday morning, sexually assaulted the female victim, and then left the scene.   SPD was later notified and sexual assault detectives are now handling the investigation.

Officials believe that the image is a very good likeness of the suspect, and urge anyone with information to call 911 or the department's Sexual Assault Unit at 206-684-5575.

 

We heard this on the scanner today, and I rode over to get a look at the scene on 17th E where a big limb fell and hit one or two houses just south of John St. 17th is blocked off for that whole block while they wait for City Light crews to come out and turn off the power.

Fire crews on the scene told me that it the entire tree is rotting and at risk of falling. The city will need to hire professionals to come out and take the whole thing down. It wasn't clear when that might happen or if the power would be able to be turned back on before that.

Here's some leafy pics: (i couldn't get close enough to get a good angle)

The old tree is huge, and soon to be firewood:

I was just finishing dinner and beers with some friends at Smith and witnessed a really bad accident. Several members of the staff were attempting to shut the garage door at the front of the restaurant when it came off the tracks, and in slow motion fell down in chunks, with one entire pane crashing over head of one of the bartenders. He had several serious cuts in his forehead and was bleeding badly. He was getting treatment from medics as we left, and hopefully will be OK after some stitches.

It happened slow enough that the people who were sitting under it at the time were able to get out of the way. But it was a very scary situation to see, with scattered broken glass and big garage-door structure all over the tables below.

Wow...