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Charges filed in Capitol Hill nightlife gun incidents

Two men involved in separate late-night gun incidents on Capitol Hill that left nerves rattled and one man shot in the back have been charged with felony-level crimes.

Grant Lewis has been charged with second degree assault after police say the 22-year-old shot a man in the back when he opened fire during an October 21st street brawl that reportedly started because of a dispute over a man urinating on a car parked in front of R Place.


Fight over public urination ended in gunfire
Prosecutors say Lewis fired his Springfield XD 9mm and hit Chase Silva in the back during a street melee that witnesses said began when Silva was confronted by two men out walking a dog who objected to his urinating on a car parked in front of the R Place nightclub in the 600 block of E Pine. Witnesses told police that Silva pushed one of the men who then pushed Silva back. Silva then struck the man and a fight ensued. One of the dog walkers told police that several “Transgender Samoans” then “jumped into the fray” as the fight moved to Boylston Ave.

Another witness told police he saw Lewis then point the gun into the crowd and fire. Police stopped Lewis trying to leave the scene at E Pine and Belmont and found the pistol in his waistband. Witnesses said he had taken off his red shirt and covered up with a black jacket as he tried to flee the scene.

Silva was detained by police for questioning in the incident and complained of back pain after he was brought to the East Precinct at 12th and Pine. There, it was discovered, he had been shot in the back. Initial SPD reporting indicated that the victim had been so inebriated that he did not know he had been shot but the report available in the Lewis charging documents does not record information about his condition. Silva was taken to Harborview to be treated for his injuries.

The performer was the winner of the 2012 Pride Idol competition. He has not been charged with a crime in this incident.

Lewis remains jailed on $100,000 bail.

The incident is the second assault this month stemming from a fight over public urination.

The Social shooting
27-year-old Saimone Kapetaua, has been charged with second degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm in this early morning October 19th shooting incident outside E Olive Way’s the Social nightclub.

Kapetaua, who remains jailed on $150,000 bail, was previously convicted of third degree assault and two counts of unlawful gun possession.

According to police, Kapetaua opened fire with a 9mm pistol outside the E Olive Way club after a series of fights and assaults broke out inside the club involving his former girlfriend. Two witnesses said Kapetaua was attempting to shoot at an acquaintance who had also been involved in the fighting inside the club. Police say Kapetaua attempted to flee the scene in a GMC Yukon but was pulled over by arriving officers. A search of the vehicle turned up the pistol loaded with five rounds with one still in the gun’s chamber, according to the police report.

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18 Comments
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lifeguard
11 years ago

quote: several “Transgender Samoans” then “jumped into the fray”

well
11 years ago

As glad as I am no one got killed in this…I hope they ticketed the pee-er.

common sense
11 years ago

are you high?

unless it was your car that got whizzed no, it isn’t worth getting the least bit worked up over. so what? dogs piss all over all the time.

Tom
Tom
11 years ago

can I assume that’s referring to Silva?

apparently I should have followed Pride Idol

ASG
ASG
11 years ago

‘common sense,’ are you high?

Urinating in public is a ticket-able offense in Seattle. Repeated violations can lead to a misdemeanor.

http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~scripts/nph-brs.exe?s1=&s2=Ur

well
11 years ago

no, i’m not high, i find it gross and annoying that people just whip their dicks out and piss on someone’s car, grow up.

tom
tom
11 years ago

I would definitely not say you’re high, but it looks like you need to grow up almost as much as “common sense”

Excessive noise, illegal parking, scraping people’s cars and leaving the scene, leaving dog waste all over the place, jaywalking and litter re all ticket-worthy offenses too. Somebody pees on my car and I’m adult enough to head for the nearest Brown Bear. It’ll wash off along with the bird droppings.

well
11 years ago

Also, it’s funny that you recognize the right of the car’s owner to be put off by this….but not a third party.

Some people are concerned with things outside of themselves.

I, for one, would rather my neighborhood not be a place where deciding to urinate on someone elses property, or frankly on the ground, IN PUBLIC is viewed as acceptable.

Pretty sure there are toilets in RPlace

seattlebear
11 years ago

where is your car parked?

Seriously
11 years ago

Wait, I thought R Place was a toilet?

Bax
Bax
11 years ago

Having read this four times, I’m still confused about Lewis’ involvement. Was he one of the two men walking the dog? Was he one of the ‘transgender Samoans”?…and why is their heritage and orientation relevant to this story? Did he just happen upon the brawl and felt compelled to fire a gun? “The performer”…. what performer? Is that the asshole who KNOWS BARS HAVE RESTROOMS but still chose to piss on a car?

This writing is of Seattle PI quality and the event, itself, (considering R Place is still a hot spot to purchase meth) wreaks of karma having the last word.

lifeguard
11 years ago

Not only is peeing in public a crime, ‘conviction’ lands you in the sex offender database!

ASG
ASG
11 years ago
JimS.
11 years ago

Didn’t previous reports say this happened around 2am or later? I think RPlace was closed at the time.

commenter
11 years ago

Well said! I agree!

EJ
EJ
11 years ago

@well wrote he hopes Silva got a ticket for public urination and you’re going to take him to task for that statement? Argumentative much? Take a chill pill, man.

calhoun
11 years ago

I’m really getting tired of the level of gun violence in Seattle, and elsewhere.

I say: Forget due process and probation or short jail terms. Just lock ’em up and throw away the key!

LOL.

JimS.
11 years ago

I’m sure he KNEW THE BAR HAS RESTROOMS but since it was 2:30am it’s pretty much irrelevant, isn’t it? Also, since it was easily an hour past last call (not just at RPlace, but all the other bars on CapHill) there’s no way to even be sure he was ever in RPlace, anyway.

Maybe you should stop trying to jump to so many conclusions, and you’d realize why the answers to these irrelevant questions were not in the police report and thus not in the story.