At approximately 3:58 p.m. a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officer’s ”bomb dog” alerted on a suitcase that was on a conveyer belt at the Amtrak train station located in the 300 block of South Jackson Street.  DHS called Seattle Police for assistance. 

Patrol officers and Arson/Bomb Squad (ABS) detectives responded to the scene. 

A section of the train station was shut down while officers and detectives conducted their on-scene investigation.  While the luggage didn’t pass the sniff test, the contents surely did.  ABS detectives subsequently determined the suitcase and its contents were harmless (the suitcase nothing but clothing). 

The owners of the suitcase, who were totally cooperative with the investigating officers, were interviewed at the scene and left the station with their suitcase enroute to their destination.

Three men are in custody after a robbery inside a building in South Park early this morning.  At approximately 12:37 a.m. officers responded to the 8300 block of Dallas Avenue South for the report of a robbery-in-progress inside a building containing marijuana.

Preliminary investigation indicates that the adult male victim was inside the facility (a commercial-style building) talking on the phone when three unknown male suspects entered the building.  The victim set the phone down as he was confronted by the suspects, allowing the person on the other end of the line to hear what was going on.  As the suspects began binding the victim with duct tape the victim’s friend (on the phone) called 911.

As officers arrived on scene the victim was able to escape and ran out the front door of the building to the safety of officers.  Two of the three suspects then exited the building and were taken into custody.  Officers saw a third suspect emerge who retreated back inside the building.  Officers subsequently surrounded the building and attempted to get the suspect to come out.  Officers received information that led them to believe the third suspect was armed with a gun.

The SWAT team and negotiators were called to the scene.  They made several attempts to get the suspect to come out and surrender peacefully.  The SWAT team used distraction devices and a chemical irritant to get the suspect to come out which were unsuccessful.  The front door of the building was locked, therefore a SWAT vehicle was used to breach the door in order to allow the robot to enter and survey the building.  The SWAT team entered the building and located the suspect hiding in the ceiling.  He was taken into custody without further incident.

All suspects are now believed to be in custody.

Fire department medics were called to the scene and treated the victim for non-life-threatening injuries he sustained during the robbery.

The victim indicated that the facility was a learning center to study marijuana production.  Marijuana-growing learning centers are not legal according to state law.  

Robbery detectives responded to the scene and are handling the active and on-going investigation.  

Since Monday’s bombings in Boston, ABS detectives have been dispatched to examine a half-dozen suspicious bags or devices around the city. While Seattle police haven’t received any information about threats in our region, ABS Sergeant Jim Hansen says ”When there’s a major event around the country, people become more vigilant.”

Most of the suspicious packages ABS detectives have examined over the last day have have turned out to contain hair dryers, wires or left-behind luggage. But detectives have opened an investigation into one of the incidents, after a  man left a suspicious item in a Ballard park last night.

Around 8:30 pm, neighbors spotted a man dressed in a dark-colored hoody walking down a street near Ballard Corners Park, at NW 62nd Street and 17th Avenue NW, collecting items from trash cans. Neighbors saw the man “dancing and talking to himself” as he walked into the park, where he began assembling a suspicious-looking item made of several pieces of metal sheeting, tent poles, wires and tape.

After the man left the metal item behind a park bench and walked off, neighbors called 911.

ABS detectives determined the items didn’t actually contain any explosives, but was likely built to resemble an explosive device. Detectives then destroyed the device, collected its components as evidence, and are now investigating the case.

The man who assembled the strange metal display in the park could face felony charges as “malicious placement of a hoax device” is a class c felony in Washington, carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

In addition to the Ballard incident, ABS detectives were also responded to several other calls overnight: at 4th Avenue and Olive Street, at about 10:45 pm, after a man left his luggage on the street. Just as detectives were arriving on the closed-off scene, the man came back to claim his bag.

Fifteen minutes later, staff at an apartment building near Minor Avenue N and Republican Street called police and reported that a tenant had threatened employees and had previously told a building maintenance worker that he had explosives in his apartment. Police contacted the man in his apartment, where they found (and seized) two m-150 fireworks.

Finally, around 4:30 this morning, ABS detectives were called to a club near Utah Avenue S. and S. Hanford Street, after the club’s owner found a small case filled with radio wires sitting outside his front door.

“In police work, you have those downtimes, and then suddenly you’re busy as sin,” Sgt. Hansen says.

At approximately 12:07 a.m. Gang Unit detectives were on patrol in South Seattle when they spotted a known warrant suspect who was a passenger in a Volvo station wagon.  The suspect, a 20-year-old male, was known by detectives to have multiple active warrants for his arrest.  Just south of the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South (MLK) and South Ryan Way detectives initiated a traffic stop.  As soon as the Volvo came to a stop the suspect exited the vehicle and took off running.  The suspect ran westbound across all lanes of I-5 and attempted to evade capture by running into the wooded area on the west side of I-5.

Patrol officers and Gang detectives chased after the suspect.  With the assistance of Seattle Police canine units, Tukwila Police and Guardian One, officers located and arrested the suspect in the woods beside a railroad yard south of Boeing Access Road on the west side of I-5.

Gang Unit detectives are currently interviewing the suspect.  Upon completion of the interview the suspect will be booked into the King County Jail on his outstanding warrants.

On January 12th at approximately 9:13 p.m. officers responded to the first of a series of 911 calls involving the same male suspect.  It all started when the adult male suspect assaulted his wife in an altercation at Children’s Hospital located at 4800 Sand Point Way NE.  The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived.

At 11:14 p.m. the suspect called his wife and threatened to kill himself.  Information received by 911 dispatchers indicated that the suspect was likely still in the area of the hospital.  Responding officers conducted an area check however, the suspect was not located.

On January 13th at 12:31 a.m. the suspect came back to the hospital and was told to leave.  At this point a canine officer had responded and was out on foot with his dog checking the area as an update came in to the 911 center that the suspect was walking away from the hospital on foot (witnesses were unable to provide any more specifics).

At 2:19 a.m. a citizen called 911 reporting a prowler sneaking around his home in the 4500 block of NE 50th Street, which is in close proximity to Children’s Hospital.

The canine unit was tracking north when an update came in that the suspect was seen in a fenced yard on the other side of Sand Point Way NE.

The suspect saw patrol officers and the canine closing in on him.  He fled to the other side of the yard and climbed over a 10-foot chain link fence to get away.  Officers ran to the other side of the yard and ordered the suspect to stop.  The suspect refused to stop and continued to run away.

The canine was released and successfully stopped the suspect a short distance later.  Officers placed the suspect under arrest without further incident.  It was determined that the same suspect was involved in all of the above-listed calls to 911.

The suspect was subsequently booked into the King County Jail for misdemeanor Domestic Violence Assault.

The evening will include honoring twenty Seattle Police officers for their work in the community, along with the dinner celebration.

Come meet the people behind the uniform and the badge.

• Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2012
• Time: Registration 5:30 p.m. program/dinner: 6:00 p.m.
• Location: New Holly Gathering Hall – 7054 32nd Ave. S. Seattle, WA 98118 

For more information contact

Lawrence Pang
The Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce
206-406-9886
chinesechamberseattlewa@gmail.com

A UAV Powerpoint presentation (pictured left), Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh.

Last night’s rousing/spirited/raucous discussion of SPD’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) program at the Garfield Community Center didn’t leave enough time for the department to show its full Powerpoint presentation on the who, what, when, where, why, and hows of the UAV program.

If you’re interested in learning more about the UAV, or if you’re just really into Powerpoint, click here to download the presentation. (UPDATE: Now available in .PDF form!)

You can also find a draft version of the department’s UAV policy manual here.

And don’t worry if you missed last night’s discussion. SPD will be holding additional public events to discuss the UAV at a date TBD.

A man who had been outside the store entered the store just at that moment.  The suspect turned and pointed the gun at him. That man ran and hid in the corner of the store.  The suspect then walked around the counter and put the barrel of the gun against the clerk’s chest and demanded that he open the till.  The suspect then took money out of the till.  The suspect then fled the store taking the money with him.  The clerk called 911 and watched as the suspect ran into nearby Judkins Park.

Responding officers located a possible suspect walking westbound through Judkins Park near 23rd Avenue South and South Charles Street.  The officer chased the suspect on foot until he lost sight of him in the 2000 Block of Charles Street.  Officers set up containment and a K-9 team responded to the location.  A track was conducted and the dog and its handler located the suspect in the driveway of a house in the 2000 Block of Charles Street.  The suspect was hiding under a parked car.  The victim was able to positively identify the man as the correct suspect.

During the investigation, officers recovered  some of the stolen money in the driveway and an Airsoft pellet gun.  A routine records check of the suspect revealed that he had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant, which was verified.  The 26 year old suspect was later booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery and the theft warrant.  Detectives from the Robbery Unit will now handle the follow up investigation.