Happy New Year!
2020 has arrived but lets take a few minutes to look back on December and some of our highlights.
Officers, Marshals Arrest 19 in Downtown Warrant Sweep
The Seattle Police Department with assistance from the US Marshals conducted an operation Downtown December 6th arresting 19 individuals for warrants and narcotics violations.
While making the arrests officers recovered 17 grams of heroin, 12.5 grams of methamphetamine, and 41 oxycodone pills as well as finding a fixed blade knife and a taser.
Detectives Arrest Two in a Series of Armed Robberies
On Friday, December 6th, detectives from Seattle Police Department’s Robbery Unit and the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) Major Crimes Unit, arrested an 18-year-old male and a 17-year-old male at two separate locations in West Seattle. It is believed that the two suspects arrested are responsible for approximately a dozen armed robberies in West Seattle, Ballard, SeaTac, Burien and White Center over the past several weeks.
Detectives developed information about the possible suspects and made the arrests on Friday afternoon. During the arrest, investigators found a .38 caliber revolver in the 18-year-old suspect’s pocket.
Following the arrests, the suspects were booked into the King County Jail and Youth Services Center.
In many of the robberies, victims and witnesses reported multiple suspects, and detectives expect to make additional arrests. This remains an active and on-going joint investigation between SPD and KCSO.
Police Pupper Pursues, Pounces, Pinches Porch Pirate
Police K-9 Katniss collared her first suspect on December 12th when she tracked a package thief through the Queen Anne Neighborhood.
Police were dispatched to a report of a person stealing packages from porches in the 1400 block of 9th Avenue West just before 12:30 am Thursday. As officers arrived in the area they spotted the suspect in a van. The suspect attempted to flee by driving into nearby grass but struck a fire hydrant ripping it out of the ground, disabling the vehicle. The suspect then jumped out the passenger side and ran away on foot.
K-9 officer Katniss and her partner Officer Mark Wong tracked the suspect for a few blocks eventually finding the suspect hiding in some invasive blackberry bushes.
Police Arrest Masked Burglar After Victim Shows Him the Door
Around 6 AM December 20th, the victim reportedly heard noises coming from the living room of his apartment in the 100 block of 11th Avenue, where he found a man in a red ski mask holding electronics and what appeared to be a knife. Upon seeing the victim enter the room, the suspect grabbed a Playstation and a laptop, and tried to hop over furniture to get around the victim. The victim slapped the video game console and computer out of the suspect’s hand and shouted at him to leave.
When the victim began pushing the suspect out of his home, the suspect threatened to shoot him. Undeterred, the victim shoved him out the door, locked it, and called 911.
Officers arrived and spotted a 23-year-old man holding a red ski mask standing outside the victim’s building. The man quickly began walking away from police, and officers were able to recover a ski mask and jacket, which contained an oyster shucker and the victim’s stolen keys and cigarettes, along with the packaging for a pair of gloves. Police found the gloves in the suspect’s pockets.
First Responder Halftime Scrimmage
Thank you, Seattle University, for hosting Seattle Police and Seattle Fire for a friendly First Responder halftime scrimmage during the December 23rd basketball game. While no one was ‘officially’ keeping score, better luck next time.
Police Arrest Man After Thursday Night University District Robbery
A 28-year-old man was walking in the 4400 block of University Way Northeast at 10:30 pm December 27th, when was approached by the suspect. The suspect reached his hand into the victim’s pocket and removed the victim’s keys. The victim attempted to stop the suspect but was met with a punch. The victim struck the suspect once in the face as the highly intoxicated suspect stumbled away still in possession of the victim’s keys.
A passerby found the victim’s keys a block away and handed them off to a nearby officer who was busy searching for the suspect. Additional officers quickly found the suspect who they identified by the bloody nose he received at the hands of the victim and took him into custody without further incident.
North Precinct Anti-Crime Team Tracks Stolen Car, Arrests Auto Thief
North Precinct Anti-Crime Team officers were busy with an investigative assignment during the afternoon hours of December 28 when suddenly they received a LoJack alert on a nearby stolen car. The officers dropped what they were doing and quickly tracked the signal to Interstate 5, following it north on the freeway.
The signal eventually led officers to Mountlake Terrace, and ultimately to a movie theater parking lot. It didn’t take long for the officers to spot the suspect parked in the stolen car.
As soon as the suspect saw police, he got out of his car and ran. Officers got out too, and caught the man before he even made it out of the parking lot.
The suspect quickly surrendered and officers placed him under arrest. During a routine search of the man’s pockets, officers discovered three plastic bags containing small amounts of methamphetamine and heroin.
Police Arrest Woman for Columbia City Burglary After She Breaks Window, Burns Food
Police were called to a report of a residential burglary in the 5000 block of 43 Avenue South Sunday, December 29th. The owner of the home told officers he was concerned that something was wrong when he returned home to find a plate glass window had been smashed and the lights were on.
Officers went to investigate and saw a woman standing inside. They asked her to step outside but she pulled the old “I have keys, this is not a burglary” ploy and walked further into the home. This back and forth went on a few a while until officers entered the home and were met with smoke. They quickly searched the home and found the 29-year-old woman hiding under a sink. Officers took the woman into custody without further incident.
Fraudulent Temporary Tag Investigation Leads to Stolen Car, Guns, Merchandise
Officer John Chesney was patrolling the 700 block of 12th Avenue on December 30th when he spotted a grey Buick with a temporary tag with the letters and numbers in the wrong spots. The driver of the car parked at a gas station and Officer Chesney went to investigate further. Officer Chesney checked the VIN for the vehicle which came back as stolen out of Bellevue.
Additional officers responded to the scene and helped take the 30-year-old driver into custody for possession of a stolen vehicle. Officers searched the car and found a handgun on the floorboard and a sawed-off shotgun in the trunk. A 23-year-old passenger in the vehicle was also taken into custody for being a felon in possession of a firearm when officers located a shotgun shell in his pocket. In the trunk, officers located tools, clothes, electronics, and checks they believe were stolen in burglaries.
Detectives Arrest Suspect, Seize Drugs, Guns and Cash During Narcotics Investigation
Narcotics detectives served several warrants last month resulting in the seizure of a large amount of narcotics, guns, and a manual pill press used in the manufacturing of counterfeit pills.
On December 12th detectives, with the assistance of the North Precinct Anti-Crime Team (ACT), served a search warrant at a residence in North Seattle. While serving the warrant detectives recovered 215 grams of heroin, 270 grams of fentanyl, almost 2,700 counterfeit oxy pills with fentanyl, two handguns (one reported as stolen) and a manual pill press.
On December 31st, detectives arrested a 36-year-old man in North Seattle as part of the same investigation.
As part of the investigation, search warrants were served on several residences, workplaces, and other properties associated with members of this drug organization. Detectives and North ACT officers recovered 7 kilograms of methamphetamine, 4 kilos of heroin, cocaine, over 200 grams of fake oxy pills and almost $2,500 in cash.
That’s it for this month! Have a safe 2020, all 366 days of it (it’s a leap year).