A man arrested for a sexual assault in an alley near Jefferson and 12th near Seattle U in late August 2009 now faces two sets of charges that could put him in jail for life. From the Seattle PI:

Already a facing robbery charges that could prompt the same result, Chester Ramon Wiggins could face a mandatory life sentence if convicted on the second-degree assault charges now brought against him.

Prosecutors contend Wiggins bit, beat and kicked a woman on Aug. 27, 2009, in a Capitol Hill alley after she refused to have sex with him and a friend of his.

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According to charging documents, the woman had contacted Wiggins at 12th Ave and East Jefferson Street in an attempt to buy cocaine. Wiggins, who was a stranger to her, got in her car and directed her to a nearby alley, where he allegedly demanded sex.

When she refused, a Seattle detective told the court, Wiggins dragged her from the car then began choking and beating her.

A pepper spray hold-up of the grocery market at 29th and Madison left the manager in need of emergency medical treatment and sent police into the streets of Madison Valley in search of the three women reportedly involved in the Monday night attack.

The manager called 911 to report the incident around 8:15 Monday night. We don’t know at this time if anything was stolen but the pepper spray assault is being investigated as an armed robbery.

The assailant is described as a black female, 5’2″ or shorter with her hair pulled back at the time of the attack. Two other females were with her at the time of the reported robbery attempt.

Seattle Police responded Sunday morning after a caller reported being robbed inside his newly purchased Madison Valley townhouse. The man told police that he interrupted two men kicking in his door around 6:30 AM. The man said one of the men pointed a gun at him as they robbed him of his wallet and cash before fleeing in a vehicle the man said he could hear leaving the scene but could not provide a description of.

UPDATE 10/11/2010 10:35 AM: We confirmed the basic details of the incident with SPD and have learned more about the break-in. According to the SPD, the two suspects attempted to pry the door of the house open before finally busting the door in to gain access. Once inside, the victim said that the men came upstairs to his bedroom, walked over to his bed and put a gun to his head, demanding money. The victim said he waited upstairs after they took his wallet and cash until he heard them leave in a car after about five minutes. END OF UPDATE.

The man told police the suspects were two black males in their 20s, one wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, the other in a grey jacket and blue jeans. The man called police about 15 minutes after the incident around 6:45 AM. Officers searched the area for the men but no immediate arrests were made.

According to King County property records, the townhouse was purchased at the end of August.

Here’s an equation sure to please many a geek. Star Trek + live performance + free + outdoors. Details from Hello Earth Productions:

Captain Kirk is the new Hamlet in Hello Earth’s Outdoor Trek. Outdoor Trek: “The Naked Time” is a live, free performance, dramatizing an episode featuring the original crack crew of the Starship Enterprise.

Performances will occur at 7:00pm on Saturday, July 31st and August 7th, and at 2:00pm on Sunday, August 1st and 8th, in Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park.

Meawhile on the very same stage, while it lacks the long, proud history of a Star Trek episode, you can catch The Wrecking Crew’s Friday night premier of some canceled drama from the past called Much Ado About Nothing. Performances on the Lavizzo Park stage are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00 p.m. through the end of August.

Thursday’s special meeting of the City Council’s transportation committee at First Hill’s Seattle First Baptist Church was positioned by city officials as a final opportunity for the community to provide public feedback on the planned streetcar line that will connect the International District to Capitol Hill via First Hill. Only eight people spoke, six of them spoke in favor of the plan. The meeting was over in under 40 minutes.

“There’s a lot of support for seeing this go forward,” Council member Nick Licata said, summing up the mostly quiet hearing.

The plan can now move forward to a vote. Transportation committee head Council member Tom Rasmussen said the committee will take up the resolution to approve the plan in its next session on April 27. Assuming it passes out of committee, the legislation will move to the full Council for a vote on May 3.

Once that happens, there will be plenty more to talk about including how the Council and SDOT will finalize elements of the streetcar plan such as locations for storage and maintenance facilities for the new line.

James Kelly, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and co-founder of the Street Car Alliance, voiced his support for the streetcar plan but also said the Council should be working harder to make sure the city has more “shovel ready” projects planned. “I’m here to encourage the Council to consider formal support for other small extensions to the streetcar network, such as a 10-block extension to Jackson in the Central District, extension of the South Lake Union line to Eastlake and to Pike Place Market,” Kelly said. He also wins points for asking the Council to get on board the  “The Love Train” and support the extension to 23rd and Jackson.

Seattle Times has details on the sentence handed down to Rey Davis-Bell, the man found guilty of the murder of Philly’s Cheesesteak owner Degene “Safie” Dashasa in 2008:

A 25-year-old Seattle man who was convicted of killing a Central District restaurant owner in 2008 was sentenced Friday to just over 123 years in prison.

Rey Davis-Bell was convicted in February of first-degree murder for shooting Degene “Safie” Dashasa in his restaurant on Jan. 30, 2008. He was also convicted of three counts of attempted first-degree murder for shooting at two other people in the restaurant and firing gunshots into the window of a former girlfriend’s apartment earlier in the day.

Rey Alberto Davis-Bell in the courtroom after his February homicide conviction

UPDATE 4/16/10 3:00 PM: Suspect arrested in pit bull puppy reward money robbery

Original report:
A desperate search for a lost puppy turned extraordinarily dangerous Wednesday when the dog’s E. Union owner was robbed of more than $800 in reward money by a man armed with a pistol. The man claimed he knew where the 15-week-old blue-nose pit bull puppy was and tricked the owner into driving to south Seattle where the man took the money and disappeared.

Amelia C. says her boyfriend’s decision to let a man with a gun in his pants waistband into his car was rash, unwise — and done out of pure, desperate love. We’re leaving out the couple’s last names even though they’re on posters up and down E. Union. Given what CHS has learned about the rest of the story, it would be a good idea to pull those posters down.

“We didn’t care about the money. We just want our dog back. It was just pure emotion,” Amelia told CHS today as she and her boyfriend continue the search for their new puppy, Honey.

Amelia told CHS that on Tuesday around 7 PM, Honey managed to find her way out of the backyard under a fence and into the street near 20th and E. Union while Amelia and her roommates were inside their residence. A witness told Amelia that somebody driving a white Lexus had stopped, picked Honey up and drove off.

After her boyfriend’s ordeal, Amelia desperately wants to know who actually has Honey. If you have information, please send [email protected] a note or call/text (206) 399-5959 and we’ll immediately pass your contact info to her. Despite already having been robbed of the $800, the couple is again offering a sizable reward for her return.

The details of the robbery are extremely convoluted. From the Seattle Police Department report on the incident, the situation played out like this. Amelia and her boyfriend Brandon were putting up posters with their names and phone numbers offering a $1,500 reward for Honey’s return. As they were hanging the posters on Wednesday near 23rd and Union, a man approached them and told them he had bought the puppy last night for $50 from a man in a Lexus. The man said he needed a ride to where the dog was so they could complete the handover and give him the reward. Amelia and Brandon decided to call the cops to “mediate” the situation but when they arrived, the man said the puppy was not there but that he’d take Brandon to where Honey was being kept. According to the SPD report, Brandon agreed to drive the man to where the puppy was — against the officers’ advice who were concerned the man “was going take advantage of them and take their reward money.”

The report says that Brandon was directed to drive to an address near 21st and Marion. The man got out of the car and returned with a pistol visible in the waistband of his pants. The man said he needed the gun for protection because “people didn’t like him” in the place where Honey was, Amelia said Brandon told her. The SPD report says the man then directed Brandon toward south Seattle. Amelia told CHS she attempted to follow them in her own car but couldn’t keep up with all the turns and the speed at which Brandon drove.

Brandon told police that during the drive to south Seattle, the man reached into Brandon’s pocket and attempted to grab the reward cash. According to the report, Brandon struggled but stopped when the man said he would kill Amelia if the cash wasn’t handed over. Amelia said Brandon gave up $800 of the reward money but was able to keep the man from stealing the other half. He was also texting her throughout the incident as he drove deeper into south Seattle. At that point, Amelia decided it was time to again call the police.

Honey in happier times

The SPD report says the man then directed Brandon to stop the vehicle near 39 Ave S and S Brandon where the man got out of the car and said he’d be back in five minutes with the dog. Brandon waited for a half hour but the man never returned. He then drove around the area looking for Honey until Amelia convinced him to stop the search and meet with police.

The SPD report describes the suspect as a black male, approximately 5′ 4″ 160 pounds, wearing a white beanie, a white v-neck t-shirt and blue jeans. Brandon also said the man had crooked teeth and a tattoo that, according to the police report, could have been an insignia for an area gang, Black Gangster Disciples.

Meanwhile, the police have advised the couple to stay away from E. Union so both are staying with family on the Eastside. “The police advised us not to stay there. It’s very scary,” Amelia said.

Amelia said that she and Brandon are still prepared to pay the $1,500 reward and that they have checked every shelter in the area.

“I don’t know what to do,” Amelia said. “There’s no way of knowing if he was just trying to make a quick buck or if he has Honey.”

Just in from the SPD Blotter:

Seattle Police seeking murder suspect from April 2007 homicide

Seattle Police are seeking the public’s assistance in locating Jymaika S. Hutson, 31. He is described as 6′ and 180 pounds with a deformed left eye. He may also go by the moniker “Tiger 6″ or “Tiger.” He has been charged with first degree murder in an April 2007 homicide in the Central District. He may still be in the Seattle area.

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Anyone with information regarding Hutson’s location is urged to call either 911 or the Seattle Police Homicide Unit at 206 684-5550. Those wishing to remain anonymous are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or send a text to CRIMES (274637). Your text message should include “TIP486″ to ensure proper routing. If a tip leads to an arrest and the filing of charges, callers may qualify for a cash reward of up to $1000. Calls are taken 24 hours a day.

Originally uploaded by pnwbot

Don’t mean to turn this site into TwilightExitNews but this is what happens when you add another to the CD’s rich collection of wall art. Here’s more from Karl Addison about the whale mural he is painting on the side of the Twilight Exit and your chance to stop by to see the artists in action:

The owner of Twilight Exit wanted something painted on the wall to make it look better and nicer for the neighborhood.  He asked his employees about it and Kiley who is a bartender … asked me if it was something I would like to do.  I do a lot of artwork all throughout the city, and it is what I do for a living.  I draw every single day.  I came down and talked to Stephen about the wall and he informed me that I could do whatever I wanted on it.  That is when I called my good friend Michal to see if he wanted to work on the wall with me.

Michal and I had a brainstorming session to figure out something we both wanted to work on.  Our main goal was to work on a project that would both challenge use artistically and technically.  Michal has been painting for years now – so he is coming in to this project with a lot of experience.  We finalized our idea of an ocean scene with a Squid and a Whale battling it out in the water.  We have been working on the wall for almost two weeks now.  Our goal is to get it done and have an opening party/release for the wall on either the 28th or 29th of this month.  We just need to finalize the date with Stephen about it – then start promoting it.  Ha, the Wyland comment is awesome.  The concept is just something that we thought would be fun to paint.  We do a lot of other artwork as well.  We will be down there painting [Wednesday] after 7pm and should be [Thursday] as well.  Then all day on Saturday and Sunday.

The site of many Instivate (the technology power behind CDNews!) team meetings, the Twilight Exit will be crawling with even more cool kids than usual:

Tomorrow Is Slog Happy Day!
posted by MEGAN SELING on WED, AUG 12, 2009 at 9:33 AM

This month’s Slog Happy is going to be a good one! It’s being held at the new(ish) Twilight Exit location in the Central District (2514 E Cherry St), and they’ve got some pretty killer drink specials—$2.50 wells, $3 micros, and $1.50 PBR. They’re also gonna bring in a couple extra folks to man the bar, so you hopefully won’t have to wait too long (I know how you hate waiting for your drinks).

And before you start getting too drunk, I recommend you put a little food in your belly—maybe a plate of chicken-fried bacon?? They also have burgers, tater-tots, blue cheese fries, salads, and more on the menu, if you didn’t want to completely clog the arteries.

Or hell, drink your dinner. I don’t care. Just remember to tip well.

Slog Happy starts at 6 pm. I’ll be there with nametags, you bring your wit and charm.

If you go, make sure to check out this.