Stories

It doesn't take much searching to find fresh graffiti around the neighborhood.  This summer there's been an explosion of it across Seattle.  

So how about starting a community project on your block to help clean it up?   

The city has a cool program that will get you all set up with a wagon full of paint, brushes, and other supplies to let you and your neighbors paint out the tags and other unwelcome additions that may have cropped up on your block.

And our local graffiti experts say that it works over the long term.  As you paint over graffiti-prone spots, the artists eventually get discouraged and will move on to other spots.

Of course there are a couple hurdles.  You'll have to attend a quick training course to make sure you don't get hurt or get the city in legal trouble.  And you'll have to get the approval of private property owners before you clean up anything on their turf.

Here's what you can do:

1. Call the Red Wagon support line at 206-684-3096 and get hooked up with a training session
   
2. Take your very own Red...

Here's the full story on this shooting and police stand-off that went down just after noon today.   It started at 12:28pm when multiple people placed calls to 911 to report that a man had fired 2-3 shots in the Red Apple parking lot near the Subway.   He was described as a black male, 20s, with a silver & black windbreaker & cornrows.   

Police arrived and could not find any victims of the shooting at the scene.  It's not immediately clear what they were shooting at.   

Washington Middle School at 22nd & Jackson went into lockdown for about an hour as a precaution.

Witnesses described seeing the suspect run with at least one other man through the parking lot and into the neighborhood to the south.    Police then began a search for them in the area south of Jackson, and saw two men who matched the suspect descriptions enter a duplex in the 900 block of 28th Ave S.   Units then converged on that location and 2-hour stand-off ensued.

The first people to leave the residence were two women with a young child.  They must...

I'm at the scene of this stand-off on 29th S. One suspect has come out. They're calling on the PA for an additional man to come out. This is connected to the shots fired at the Red Apple that was in todays scanner report. The first people to come out of the house were two women and a baby. Then about 15 minutes later a teenaged man emerged and was taken into custody.

It's not clear if the remaining person in the house is a suspect or just a resident. There's repeated calls on the PA for them to come out or call 911 to speak to police.

Update: 2:03pm - still waiting. But my fellow looky-loos are getting restless. Says one: "there weren't this many copsback when I had that robbery a couple years ago"

Update:. 2:25pm - still waiting. There's been some movement of cops with ballistic shields, but that's

Update: 2:45pm - the second occupant has surrendered peacefully. Police are preparing to enter the home

Update: 2:56pm - the house has checked clear. Standoff over Pics and video when I get back to the...

Where was all of this nice weather in August?  Here's the report from the sunny streets of Seattle's East Precinct (and other parts of the city if they're worthy):

You may have seen this one on the scanner this morning, where two men armed with a gun broke into an occupied house and stole a variety of jewlery, cash, and other items from the female homeowner.    Police say the she was asleep at the time and was assaulted in the process.  

Officials have identified one suspect in the shooting and are asking for the public's help in finding him:

• Anthony R. Dodd
• Black male
• 19 years old
• 6'2", 210 bls
• Black hair 
• Brown eyes
• Has a large scar on his chin

His accomplice is only described as an asian male.

Police warn that the suspects are considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached.  Call 911 or Crime Stoppers (1-800-CRIME-13) if you have any information regarding the crime.

Happy Labor Day!  I can't believe it's already September.   Here's what will probably be an abbreviated report of East Precinct shennanigans:

Here's what we can piece together for this event tonight:

At 11:55pm, medics and officers responded to a 911 report of a shooting at 18th & Yesler.  At some point police connected the shooting to a Black Hyundai Accent hatchback, and began a pursuit of that vehicle all over the neighborhood, with police cars flying in all directions with lights and sirens blazing. 

No victim was found at the site of the shooting at 18th & Yesler, and police haven't been able to find or call the original complainant in that event.

SPD's official policy is to not engage in high-speed pursuits due to the potential for injury to innocent bystanders.  At some point the pursuit must have crossed that threshold, as it was called off in the area of 32nd & Cherry, with the vehicle last seen headed northbound.

A short time after that, police received a new report of an accident involving a black hatchback at 30th & E. Howell. Police arrived there quickly and identified the vehicle as the one involved in the pursuit.  Witnesses described seeing...

There was a lot of interesting stuff at tonight's EPCPC meeting, but the biggest news was on the burglary front.  Earlier in the week we had a lot of discussion about the continuing burglaries in the area.  The big question was where we could push for changes that would break the catch and release cycle that's been happening with some of the juvenile suspects in the crimes.

That question was put to the east precinct's Capt. McDonagh, who said that the number of burglaries in July was "horrible" and that they had launched an effort with the King County Prosecutor's office to expedite the process.  Their goal is to decrease the amount of time between the filing of probable cause paperwork and the actual charging of offenses against the kids that are involved.

Evidence of that new cooperation was found in the presence of Deputy Prosecutor Samantha Kanner at tonight's meeting, where she described several issues with the current juvenile justice system.   For example, current policy makes it rare that juveniles are...

With the holiday weekend approaching, it's eerily quiet in CDNews World Headquarters today.   Maybe it will be quiet on the cloudy streets of the East Precinct too:

The full report from Tuesday, August 26, 2008:

Where has our sunny August gone?   Here's the scoop from the streets of the East Precinct:

All the news from Seattle's East Precinct: 

It's another rare gray day in August.  Let's see if the rain dampens the spirit of the East Precinct streets:

We just received word from the King County Prosecutor's Office that a 15-year old juvenile, whose name we are withholding due to his age, has been charged with First Degree Assault and Illegal Possession of a Firearm in the shooting of a Judkins Park man last Thursday.

Prosecutors will attempt to try the suspect as an adult.   A hearing is scheduled for next Friday, August 29th, at 8:30 am at Juvenile Hall to consider that request.

The charging documents contain several facts that weren't previously known:

• The 20 year old victim knows the suspect from the neighborhood and has had "an ongoing conflict" with him.
• The victim was visiting family members near 26th & Alder when he saw the suspect walking with 2-3 other people he didn't recognize
• The suspect disappeared down an alley, and a few minutes later he returned with a revolver in his hand and began shooting as the victim was getting into his vehicle
• One bullet grazed the victim on the right side of his head, but he was able to drive away without further injury
• The...

It's a Wednesday in Seattle's East Precinct: