King County Prosecutors have distributed public records from the search warrant request the Seattle Police Department made before raiding the speakeasy at Pike and 11th that is now at the center of a federal drug case.  We’ve posted the PDF files here for you to be able to download the public records. We have also OCR-processed the documents to make them searchable.

The documents lay out more of the observations by Seattle Police and the undercover detective who infiltrated Rick Wilson’s circle. While these documents connect Wilson’s activities to several people and businesses in the city, it’s important to note the affidavit tells only the authorities’ side of the story.

One of the odder connections surrounds the early driver for SPD investigating late-night speakeasies in the first place:

In the summer of 2007, the Vice Unit participated in undercover operations related to liquor-licensed establishments, and also conducted training related to police responses to “rave” parties. The “raves” were a sensitive topic due to the afore-mentioned “Capitol Hill Massacre,” which was perpetrated on March 25, 2006. One of the unit’s primary missions is to be responsive to requests for support from precinct resources. This investigation originated from a specific request for assistance by the East Precinct’s Anti-Crime Team.

Detective Ryan Long wrote in the affidavit that he initiated an investigation of Rick Wilson’s activities due to concerns that the speakeasy could eventually lead to violence:

At the forefront of rationale was recent violence involving the after-hours party scene, the historic potential for violence involving illegal gambling establishments (eg, the Wah-Moe Massacre), and current efforts by city leaders relating to nightlife safety. The sum of these equaled a duty to conduct an investigation for public safety and crime prevention reasons as much as criminal interdiction and prosecution reasons. I anticipated (incorrectly) that the mission would last only two weeks. I selected an undercover detective based on the reported demographics of the patrons, who then dubbed this investigation “Operation Big Slick,” which is poker vernacular for a particular desirable pair of cards.