A passenger in a car pulled a gun on the driver while they were stopped at the 23rd and Cherry gas station in the early morning of February 25. He then stole the car and drove away, according to the police.
Police tracked the car to a house near 25th and Pike, where the gun was also recovered. However, the driver refused to help identify the suspect.
From SPD:
On February 25th, just past midnight, two males inside a gold 2001 Chevy Impala had just picked up a third male. The driver then stopped at a gas station at 23rd Avenue and Cherry Street where the passenger male went inside the store. The third male then produced a revolver and ordered the driver out of the car, then drove away.
At about 1:30 am, the stolen Chevy Impala was located. A K9 team responded to the scene and was able to track to a residence in the 1500 Block of 25th Avenue, where a revolver was recovered from under the porch. After placing calls inside the residence, the occupants came out to be identified. The passenger witness was unable to positively identify any of the occupants of the house as the suspect, and the driver/victim refused to participate in the identification.
Also in the area, a man was robbed while exiting his car near 12th and King February 24:
On February 24th at approximately 1:14 p.m the male victim was exiting his parked vehicle in a private lot in the 1200 block of South King Street. An adult male suspect approached and pushed him back into his car. The suspect then attempted to rip the Rolex watch and gold bracelet from the victim’s arm. The victim was able to push the suspect away.
The suspect then produced a handgun and pointed it at the victim. An unknown bystander walked by and the suspect pointed the gun at him as well, then fled on foot. The suspect was last seen southbound on 10th Avenue South from South Weller Street.
Responding officers conducted an area check however, the suspect remains at large. The victim sustained minor scratches to his arm but was able to retain his property.
The suspect is described as a black male, 18 to 20 years of age, 5’6” tall with a thin build and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark pants.
Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identity or whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call 911 or Seattle Police and refer to this incident. Anonymous tips are welcome.
Oh my god! the violent crime rate in seattle just tripled! ITS AN EPIDEMIC!
Glad you are gone from the 23rd & ALder house
never lived at 23rd and alder..
I get your point about the old ski is falling and cry wolf thing, Lucas. I really do.
At the same time – it appears that the violent crime rate actually has tripled. So we must question whether this is simply a random spike or a trend. A spike should settle down pretty quicky either just because or due to the elimination of a prolific crimanal (or a few). A trend could be based on economic issues or a shift in moral values – but I think those things are not so likely.
My prediction is we will find out it is simply oportunism. Crime is easy – something any very stupid person can do. Inteligent people may also commit crimes, but, they are more likely to stop at some point as they discover that crime doesn’t lead to success (except in white collar and politics). Theft, robbery, murder, extortion, drug dealing and such don’t actually lead to happy ever after. Even without law enforcement presure this type of criminal will lose in time.
However – law enforcement presure makes them lose faster and more often, and criminals spend less time on the street (a little). Other than the very very stupid people are able to see the dead end when police pressure exists. What we have now is absence of police presure.
Where are the police? Well two SPD officers were shot (not to mention other agencies). Clearly there is a significant spike in murder of police officers – this looks random (mental cases). So the police have to be more careful, slow down, travel in packs. And then the general attitude in Seattle that force cannot be used. A very few officers have made poor decisions. The perception is that blacks and mexicans are being beaten on the streets. In 90% of cases it turns out that the police are absolutely right – responding to seriously dangerous people. I know some times some police make terrible choices and mistakes. Trust me – I know. However, Seattlites have evicerated the police department. De-balled them. An SPD officer should just stay at the station for as long as possible. Venture out only when absolutely required – otherwise everyaction they take can be used against them in a court of law. The SPD has the right to remain silent and I would advise them to do so. And the losers know that. The chance of getting away with crime is rising. And the more crime that is commited will overwelm SPD so that you can get away with murder. And, in fact, you can.
So, will SPD be allowed to do their job and make the occasional error or will we keep them locked in the station and enjoy the excitement. I’ll be packing heat.
No matter. We permanently have you tied to the jellyfish. You have become a jellyfish.
It’s possible crime is spiking because of the recession. If people were laid off a couple years back when employment started dropping, then they might just now be feeling desperate enough to commit to more serious acts. While Seattle is pretty well insulated from the economic and social ills that trouble other cities, Seattle isn’t immune.
I think your analysis of the police is off. Police brutality is completely under-reported and when it is, it is dismissed. What we hear about in the media are the rare exceptions when excessive force is actually caught on tape.
Many other significant professions are introducing greater educational requirements for their entry-level personnel. It shows in the frequency of mistakes made by SPD officers that they do not have enough education or experience to make competent decisions. They should be required to at least have a bachelors degree, especially considering they take a considerably larger salary home than teachers do in washington state.
Yes. Tough econimic times should naturally drive theft rates up and perhaps some drug activities. But murder, shooting, and rape are not econimic issues. They are power issues. They increase when we fail to fight them. When the strong become weak and turn the other way. They are a disease.
Brutality exists. Some percentage of the population will be brutal. It is also a disease. Police are people therfore some of them are brutal. Typically the targets could have just walked away, but, they chose to be dumb asses and pick a fight with lunatics. Walk away. You never see video of cops beating a guy walking away. It’s always some peckerhead that had to keep talking smack. Sure it may not justify a night stick to the face, but, I’m not opposed.
A bachelors degree does not create a good cop. I don’t know what does. It seems like an impossible job. The thought frightens me today. Though I did try it as a young man. Seriously – cruising the streets looking to help? Aaaaaaaaahhhh. Impossible. You can’t help these people. Though I might try to see if a night stick would help. Ooohhh. But now I seem to be drunk.
And why must we bring up teachers saleries. Teachers are whiners. And, today they are actually just overpaid baby sitters. We could sit more babies if we paid half as much. Teaching occurs in about 20 minutes a day and only by a few good teachers. We should pay them a lot to see each kid for a few minutes. Have the rest be the baby sitters they are.
A well educated populace would be less criminal. Clearly Seattle Schools has failed. They don’t deserve a salary at all. $20 bucks and a ride home should do.
WOW, you really are a conservative.
I would think prioritizing education over policing would be a sensible strategy to reducing crime and strengthening communities (vague language of “communities”).
My point in the education bit is this: even blue collar industries are increasing their education requirements for their workers. the unions are increasing the lengths of their apprenticeships, fabrication shops are hiring people out of trade school, medical establishments are requiring more training even for entry level positions.
The police get paid double the entry level amount that entry level teachers get paid with a masters degree. Yet their educational requirements are not increasing with pay. A more educated workforce is in a better position to make sensible decisions, irregardless of the worth of a college degree. If people want a more restrained a wiser police force it would make sense to require more education.
Teachers are not to blame for the failure of the education system. After all, we don’t blame construction workers for constructing faulty and dangerous buildings, we blame the engineers. I personally have several friends who are bright eyed, bushy tailed graduates, excited about teaching and making a contribution to community. However, its becoming increasingly difficult to secure employment in teaching following cuts to education. And those jobs that are being secured are due to schools using new graduates to undercut the wages of senior teachers through lay-offs. This is not how education should be run. Teachers wages should be prioritized and they should be given the tools to succeed.
Imagine if we paid doctors what teachers were paid… do you think the average doctor would care about the quality of their care?
You see the education standards staying the same because what a cop needs is life experience, which isn’t gained in a classroom. Having taken classes that were required for BA, they are utterly useless to the police profession.
You see a larger salary in part to prevent large level corruption. You see a very small number of corruption in leading salaried law enforcement agencies regarding theft of money, drugs, and offering protection to drug and gun runners, I.E. NYPD and some of the smaller agencies near the Mexico boarder.
There is also an over saturation of qualified candidates in the teaching profession. With cuts and thousands of qualified applicants, pay has stayed on the same level for years.
One should look at the family unit to see why crime is the way it is. With the family unit more broken than it has ever been and no fix in sight, the problem will only get worse. You don’t have to go to school to know better than to shoot someone.