A man waiting for a bus at 18th and Yesler Monday night noticed his bag was missing from where he set it on the ground, so he went to ask a group of people nearby if they had taken it. When he did, he told police that one member of the group help a gun by his side and told the victim to leave.
The victim called police, who were able to recover the gun. The backpack and suspect were not located.
From SPD:
On May 7th, just before 10:00 pm, East Precinct officers responded to a report of an armed robbery in the 1900 Block of East Yesler. The victim stated that he had been robbed at gunpoint by four people, who were still in the area. Officers arrived and met with the victim. He stated that he was waiting for a bus at 18th and Yesler and had left his backpack on the ground. Two men walked by and that is when the victim noticed that his backpack was missing. He followed the men to 19th and found four people standing around a car talking. He approached them and asked if they had taken his backpack. One of the men told the victim he needed to leave. The victim stated that one of the men had a gun in his hand, held down at his side. The victim stated that the suspect never pointed it at him, but did tell him to get out of the area several times. That is when the victim went around the corner and waited for police.
Officers approached the group to investigate. One of the males took off running as soon as he saw the officers. The rest of the group remained at the scene. A K9 team and additional officers responded to the scene for containment. The dog and handler team began a track and located a silver gun hidden in the bushes in the 100 Block of 19th Avenue. A records check later showed that it was a stolen handgun out of Port Orchard. The gun was recovered and submitted into evidence. The suspect who fled was not located, and the victim could not positively state that anyone from the group actually took his backpack. The individuals at the scene were all interviewed and released. The backpack was not recovered.
I drove by and saw the whole thing as the police had the suspects on the ground, guns drawn. Cops were everywhere and even were suspicious of my vehicle. Thank you SPD for taking crime seriously. Get the guns out of our neighborhoods!
I’m sure glad you cover this stuff. Awareness is important. We can all fight about the right response only when we are aware.
I am new to the neighborhood, I love the convenience of being close to everything, but I am concern about crimes. I happened to live on fifteen and Fir. I don’t know, I love my house and my neighbors but things like this make me worry about the safety of my family. Any feedback would be appreciated.
And to the guy who went up and actually talked to the group – you’re a lot braver than I am, thats for sure. I definitely try avoid standing around waiting for the 27 that late at night.
If you pay attention, you’ll notice that many of the crimes posted to the CD forum involve a certain lack of street smarts on the victim’s part… leaving a bag unattended, walking around at night while talking on an expensive cell phone, bringing a lot of cash or an expensive item to a Craig’s List meet-up with a complete stranger, etc… and much of the violent crime is not exactly random – it’s due to gangs/grudges/domestic violence.
Use some common sense and you can mitigate a lot of the crime risk in the neighborhood – Don’t carry excessive valuables, keep your cell phone and other easily fenced items out of sight on the street, and be aware of your surroundings. If you can afford it, you might consider investing in a home security system, not because you’ll likely need it, but because having one is a huge deterrent to anyone thinking of breaking in to your home. Basically, try not to be the low hanging fruit of the neighborhood, and the criminals will likely mess with someone else.
Excellent advice RDR.