See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS Crime coverage here.
- I-5 death: A male in his 30s died Sunday morning after falling nearly 40 feet onto I-5 near the Pike overpass. According to Seattle Fire, a person in a homeless encampment near the freeway called 911 to report the incident just before 7:30 AM Sunday. The victim was taken to Harborview but later died of his injuries.
- Bellevue robbery? An armed robbery reported just after midnight last Wednesday near the 1700 block Bellevue Ave involved five suspects — and the most convoluted set of interviews ever about what actually happened. Take it away, Officer Zech:
- 13/John foot chase: A foot chase near 13th and John caused quite a bit of commotion as SPD hauled in the suspect. Multiple SPD units responded to the area around 13th and John after an officer reported he was chasing a suspect on foot southbound from the area. The officer finally took the suspect into custody just north of Denny in the 10:30 PM pursuit.
- Hit and run update: There is nothing new to report in Thursday night’s complicated hit and run that involved a driver who claimed he was fleeing a robbery attempt and a 53-year-old man suffering serious injuries when he was struck by the fleeing car at Bellevue and Denny. SPD is checking on any arrests related to the incident but there are no new updates at this time.
- Secret Service investigation: The Secret Service was reportedly active on Capitol Hill last week as agents pursued an investigation at an 1800 block Boylston Ave E apartment building. We’re looking into Thursday morning’s activities but the Secret Service’s Seattle field office declined to comment on activities related to active investigations. The agency is known best for its work to protect the president but also is lead on crimes like counterfeiting and major fraud.
- Harvard Ave E arrest report released: SPD has released its officer report on the November 9th incident CHS reported on here showing a video of a man being arrested wearing a bloody “spit bag” following an incident outside a Harvard Ave E apartment. The report on the incident is below and sheds new light on how events unfolded — including a seemingly high suspect exhibiting “amazing strength”:
I-5 overpass death: suicide, accident, homicide? Anyone keeping track of how many people are dying from overpass events, and whether it’s gone up since the Aurora Bridge fence went up? (Yes I know that jumping is a fairly minor cause of suicides overall in the US: http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/injury/violence/suicide.aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_methods#Jumping_from_height )
It’s not being investigated as a homicide but I don’t know more than that at this point.
It is likely that at least some of these overpass deaths are accidents by homeless camp “residents.” (such as this one, because the incident was reported by someone camping there). Once someone is inside the WSDOT fenced-off area, there is no barrier between the person and the freeway, so accidental falls could easily occur, especially if the person was intoxicated/drugged out.
I do not understand why WSDOT cannot construct a v
oops….to continue
……construct a vandalism-proof fence to keep homeless people out of those areas adjacent to the freeway….not only to protect those who would camp there, but to protect motorists below from the hazard of a fallen body.
Because that would mean we’d have to do something that would make it incrementally harder to be homeless in Seattle. That’s something that McGinn and the city council have proven they don’t want to do.
Er, Adam, don’t worry, it is plenty hard to be homeless.
We’re not helping the homeless much if what we are allowing is a dangerous spot open to the freeway.