A woman called police late Friday night to report that a man had come to her door and told her he had been robbed at gunpoint at 19th Ave and E Cherry. The man, according to SPD, told officers he is a candidate running for Seattle City Council and was in the neighborhood for his campaign when he was robbed at 19th and Cherry around 10:30 Friday night.
We have not yet confirmed the identity of the candidate.
We reported last week that candidate Bobby Forch lives in the neighborhood and kicked off his campaign to unseat incumbent Jean Godden with an event at Bailey Gatzert Elementary. UPDATE: It wasn’t local candidate Forch. We just had a quick chat with him via phone and he says it wasn’t him. We’ll update when we learn more.
In the incident, the man told police he was approached by two black males in their early 20s. As the suspects approached, the victim said one of the men pulled out a silver revolver and pressed it against his stomach. The duo demanded money and jewelry. The victim told police he handed over $985 in donations he had collected while campaigning, a silver Timex watch, a silver bracelet, silver ring, and a black Perry Ellis wallet with $40 in cash inside.
UPDATE: 6/21/2011 — SPD’s Mark Jamieson would not identify the victim but tells us the name the man gave is not that of any of the men currently running for Seattle City Council.
That seems a bit late to be out campaining to me…
Is there a police report for this incident?
Sounds fishy to me. Defies logic that any candidate would be out that late. Much less by themselves. No candidate I know wears silver jewelry. Nobody is out walking door to door for donations – they are walking for votes!
Sounds like a scam to me, but a ridiculous one. Was he possibly casing the home of the woman he reported the incident to? It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
This may have changed to 9:00 PM, but no a candidate would not be legally canvassing any neighborhood this late.
I Have Been Approached Three Times By The Same Guy. Twice At My Door And Once In Walgreens Parking Lot. I Live Near 23rd & Jackson. He Is A Medium Skin Colored Black Male, Thirties, 5’9″, Bald Head, Clean Shaven, Stalky Build, Nice Smile. Asks For Donations For Daughters School Function, Son In Accident, House Fire Victim, Etc. He Carries A Reddish Pocket Folder To Put Donations In. The Last Time He Came To My Door I Told Him I Was Calling The Police And He Ran Quickly Away! I Was Loud Enough So That My Neighbors Got A Good Look At Him, Too. Beware!
The point is, he was robbed at gunpoint in our neighborhood! I actually was the person who called the police on this man’s behalf. He was respectul in the way that he approached my door (it was late), he spoke through my door and asked me to call the police as his phone had died. He then respectfully waited several feet from my door until the police arrived. We never felt threatened in any way. I have no idea if he is a candidate or not. But the fact is, he was robbed at gunpoint, in our neighborhood, and that sucks. We should all be a little more focused on that.
Thank you for being a compassionate neighbor and calling the police on his behalf. I guess what I was referring to was not just whether or not he was a legit political hopeful, but rather I was questioning whether he was really robbed at gunpoint or not. I hate to sound callous, but with the door to door scams we have going on right now and the frequent shootings I wouldn’t put it past some people to lie about being robbed at gunpoint.
You saw him first hand, and it sounds as if you believed his story, so he must have been shaken up and frightened. But it’s a sad statement about our sense of safety when we are questioning whether or not a) a person asking for money door to door was legit, and b) if the robbery really happened.
Again, thank you for showing compassion.
Sounds to me like he’s out scamming and IF he was really robbed, well it probably wasn’t his property to begin with.
Things like this always happens in the Central District, Its been that way for years