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Blotter | Big group reported in another Cal Anderson mob robbery

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  • Cal Anderson group robberyIn Monday’s edition of the Blotter, CHS noted, thankfully, there didn’t appear to be a subsequent string of armed robbery activity following Friday’s morning’s gunfire and hold-up incident in Cal Anderson Park. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the park is entirely at peace. According to the SPD report on the incident, a large group of young black males similar to the crowd seen in Cal Anderson the night of the hold-up was responsible for an overnight attack and robbery of a man who said he was trying to sleep in the park early Sunday morning. The bloodied victim of the 4:42 AM assault told police he was surrounded by a group of 10 to 15 males as he tried to settle into sleep on the park’s sports field with two counterparts. The victim said the group jumped him and grabbed his wallet from his back pocket during the melee. As police arrived, the large group could be seen running and walking from the area in all directions. Seattle Fire was called to treat the victim for a cut to his chin suffered when he fell after being punched several times in the face. The victim’s two companions declined to provide a statement for police. There were no arrests.
  • Pike muggings: Police were also waved down early Monday morning just after midnight at Pike/Broadway by a highly intoxicated victim who had just lost his backpack to a man he said had punched him in the face and robbed him. The victim said his stolen backpack contained his Mexican passport but was too intoxicated to provide additional information, according to police. The suspect was described as an older black male, around 6’3″ with cornrows in his hair. A suspect bearing a similar description was responsible for a mugging reported early Saturday at Harvard and Pike. In that incident, a man said he left a business on Broadway and was walking down E Pike when the suspect grabbed his wallet from the victim’s pants pocket and tried to flee on Harvard. The victim told police he grabbed ahold of the suspect’s jacket to try to stop him but the man said he didn’t have the wallet and pulled out of the jacket and kept walking. The victim said he then dropped the jacket and grabbed the suspect by his black t-shirt. The suspect then wriggled out of the shirt, picked up the discarded jacket and fled the area. The victim said he next saw the suspect leaving the area at the wheel of an older red-colored, four-door car. A search for the vehicle in the 3:42 AM incident was not successful. SPD took the shirt into evidence.
  • Reported 15th/Pine carjacking: CHS readers who subscribe to SPD’s Tweets by Beat may have been concerned about a carjacking reported at 15th and Pine early Tuesday morning. We’re still gathering information on the incident but it appears that the situation involved two parties who know one another and was not a case of a stranger stealing somebody’s car by force.
  • Art shoe burglary: Over the weekend, a Capitol Hill artist reported that her Bellevue Ave apartment had been broken into and two pairs of “custom painted” women’s shoes worth from between $500 to $1,000 per pair had been stolen: Screen Shot 2014-08-05 at 3.40.02 PMScreen Shot 2014-08-05 at 3.40.12 PM
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Regret
Regret
9 years ago

Well now that the Parks measure has passed, they will fix Cal Anderson, right?

ERF
ERF
9 years ago
Reply to  Regret

Nope.

Adam
Adam
9 years ago
Reply to  ERF

Look at the bright side, I’m sure the addicts who shoot up heroin in the bathroom will enjoy new plumbing fixtures.

Celia
Celia
9 years ago
Reply to  Regret

Absolutely not.

Mad
Mad
9 years ago

“As police arrived, the large group could be seen running and walking from the area in all directions.”

um, excuse me?! They couldn’t catch even ONE of these folks?

SO not cool.

bb
bb
9 years ago
Reply to  Mad

That would be police brutality.

barbecue
barbecue
9 years ago
Reply to  bb

Do you care more about preventing/reducing crime, or getting off on punishing people? Because your answer will result in drastically different strategies for how to deal with the situation.

Patrick
Patrick
9 years ago
Reply to  barbecue

I care more about punishment…no time for street trash robbing and assaulting others.

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  barbecue

@barbecue….obviously, both prevention measures and apprehending/prosecuting criminals are important. It’s not either/or.

Earllene Lopez
Earllene Lopez
9 years ago
Reply to  Mad

you know, the other day the police killed a man waving a broken bottle down at Murtle Edwards, so, that tells me that the police can’t kick, run, or catch a walking suspect. I am surprised they didn’t shoot the darn victim.

Kid
Kid
9 years ago

No, No, NO! I sincerely hope that we didn’t pass the Parks initiative in order to put in more pretty plants in Volunteer Park while allowing the criminals to take over Cal Anderson. Use some of that money to make C.A. SAFE for people who want to allow their children to use the playground and sports teams to hold their games there — as well as allowing people to simply stroll through it. I tell friends who live in other cities/states that we have a crime problem in a park that is a block away from a precinct police station and they think I am joking with them. It’s a joke, alright.

Actually
Actually
9 years ago
Reply to  Kid

People do allow their children to play there, and sports teams do practice there. To wit, all these crimes happen after 11 pm and before 7 AM. Not really ideal times for children or sports teams to practice.

You sound like a worked up Helen Lovejoy. Keep being scared, I guess.

Gracie
Gracie
9 years ago
Reply to  Actually

Not sure what your problem is Actually but read other comments, especially the one below from Celia. I have also had one mother tell me that she went to help her child retrieve a ball that had entered some bushes (during the day, obviously) and found some guy with his pants down and a needle sticking out of his leg. It is hardly a late night problem, pal.

Michael
Michael
9 years ago

I can tell you that a concierge has been hired for Cal Anderson Park and that the Parks District funding will create the opportunity for that to be a full time position. Also, more consistent times for Park Rangers in Cal Anderson. And support for more activities in the Park – good activity drives out bad. So the Metropolitan Parks District has real, street level benefits for keeping Cal Anderson Park safer and more active.

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  Michael

A “concierge”? Does he/she make reservations at Canlis for the street people camping there? (kidding!).

Celia
Celia
9 years ago
Reply to  Michael

My kids played sports for many years at Cal A. Both baseball and soccer. I work in the justice system. Known sex offenders were frequently present when my kids played sports at Cal A., including one on Washington’s Most Wanted that I called in a report on myself. Such places are a magnet for weirdos interested in children. I would never, in a million years, let my kid go in to a bathroom at Cal A. without an accompanying adult or two. I’m not sure how a “conscierge” is going to help that dynamic.

Michael W.
Michael W.
9 years ago
Reply to  Celia

A concierge will provide consistent staffing and presence in the Park. They’ll be highly visible and will help in setting up recreational activities (like setting up the giant chess pieces or making sure that groups have access to the Shelter house, etc.). They’ll most likely help w/ special events that happen in the Park. Positive activity in the Park pushes out negative activity. That’s the goal. It is up to all of us to work w/ Parks (and SPD) to make sure that happens.

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  Michael W.

Yes, positive activity will help drive out negative during the daytime hours, but it’s true that most (not all) of the bad stuff occurs at night, when the concierge and the positive activity is absent.

Gracie
Gracie
9 years ago
Reply to  Michael

I am a bit perplexed as to the supposed benefit of a “concierge.” It occurs to me that the money would be far better spent to hire an off-duty police or security officer who can actually secure the area. And as for your statement of “good activities driving out bad” . . . um, don’t you have that backwards? Cal Anderson Park used to attract a lot of sports teams that no longer want to play there because of all of the problems and crime. The same can be said for a lot of parents who don’t want their children endangered. In other words, the bad element has already driven the “good activities” as you term them out of the park. Too little, too late.

Michael W.
Michael W.
9 years ago
Reply to  Gracie

Maybe the term “concierge” is getting in the way. Think of it as Parks staff. How can it be a bad thing to have consistent Parks staff in the Park?

yetmorevictoms
yetmorevictoms
9 years ago

I was assaulted at the park on a weekday at 7:30pm. A drunk person kicking, slapping and chasing a people with a full 40 bottle of beer. It took some time for the cops to arrive even though the police station is one block away.

It is not just the park system that is broken but the city attorney’s office. First I was mailed a Harassment No-Contact Order that I did not request so the the assailant now had my full name and my birthday on a piece of paper. I did not know the assailant and did not feel threatened. Now that the assailant has this information I do now.

I was subpoena to court. The city attorney’s office interviewed me and told me they were going to forward the information to the defendant attorney and apparently they did not. The worst is spending my time going to court and finding out the city know it was going to get thrown out and they did not call me to let me know. Apparently they lost my interview and could not send a copy to the defendants attorney.

I like Pete Holmes and his philosophy but he need to get his house in order before the next election. It only takes a few of these violent people to be let off before word gets out that is it OK to be violent in our parks.

I researched the park rangers because I wanted to find out where they were. I found out they only work from 8am to 4pm and cover 3 or 4 parks. I emailed the council and mayor about this. I was back at Cal Anderson park a couple of days later around 7:30pm and there were a couple of park rangers and the park seemed way more peaceful. No people throwing trash out of garbage cans. So sign of needles in peoples hands.

Celia
Celia
9 years ago
Reply to  yetmorevictoms

Police reports are public record and easily requested by anyone with a mouth or an email address. The offender would have had your name info etc. regardless.

CapitOl Hill Monster
CapitOl Hill Monster
9 years ago
Reply to  Celia

NOT true. By state law, that information is redacted.

Celia
Celia
9 years ago

Actually, when an NCO is issued, there is no redaction.

yetmorevictoms
yetmorevictoms
9 years ago
Reply to  Celia

Exactly it should have been redacted and not left to the city attorny to write a NCO when one was not necessary.

tc
tc
9 years ago
Reply to  yetmorevictoms

The word is already out. Scum from all over the West gather here every summer to get drunk and high, harass tourists and shit all over our streets and parks (both figuratively and literally), and they come here because they know they know the cops won’t do shit to stop them.

I do blame the SPD for the conduct they displayed to get them in trouble with the DoJ in the first place, but they can hardly be blamed for how elected city officials have turned their backs on them.

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  tc

And how much of the increased criminal activity by the “immigrants” from other places is due to our pot legalization? That law sends a strong message that Seattle is an uber-liberal place to hang out, and my suspicion is that it is at least partially responsible for the influx of those who like to cause trouble.

When SPD officers talk to street people, they find that many of them have come here recently from other states.

zeebleoop
9 years ago
Reply to  yetmorevictoms

“It took some time for the cops to arrive even though the police station is one block away.”

you do realize that the cops aren’t the ones manning 911 at desks in that building? they are out patrolling all over the east precinct and are likely responding to a variety of calls – some possibly more life threatening than a drunk slapping and kicking people.

Chris
Chris
9 years ago

Welcome to the new normal. The CD thugs have found easy picking on Cap Hill. Sad, but true.

If you see your mayor ask him about his campaign promise of 100 new cops in addition to replacing all attrition – http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/09/murray-promises-100-new-police-officers/

Since becoming mayor he no longer mentions any new police. After a spate of CD and South-end murders he came up with a ‘comprehensive’ plan to address public safety which did not include any mention of more police… let alone the 100 new cops promised by candidate Murray – http://www.seattle.gov/documents/departments/mayor/6-25-14-publicsafetystrategy.pdf

If you see him ask him.

It’s sad, but you should count yourself lucky as Cal Anderson is the only park outside of downtown that has park rangers, is right next to the police station, and the mayor lives there. If you feel unsafe with those resources imagine how we feel in the CD and South-end where we get nothing. We have shooting at parks and playgrounds and absolutely nothing happens. It’s our job to live with it and know what parks to to avoid. Even if the park seems a beautiful park with a great playground right in your neighborhood it may be off limits due to gang activity and shootings.

All very sad, all very true.

bb
bb
9 years ago

Could be the strategy to clear the homeless out of the park at night by making it too dangerous to sleep there.

LC
LC
9 years ago

Anyone hear about a car accident on Monday, Aug 4th around 2:45pm at 10th Ave E and E Howe St? A car just behind me slammed into a parked motorcycle or car out of nowhere.

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[…] Seattle Fire was called to the apartment to treat the victim for his injuries. The robbery follows a similar incident early Sunday morning in which a man who was settling in to sleep in the park told police he was attacked and robbed. […]