Seattle Fire quickly handled a fire reported inside a small apartment building at 16th and Madison Thursday night. The incident was reported just before 6p and the response for a multifamily structure involved enough trucks to close Madison to traffic for a short time. We’ll have more on any damage and injuries when we learn more from SFD.
Bank security images from Wednesday night’s armed heist at the Chase bank branch at Broadway and Thomas showing the uniquely featured and pistol-packing suspect have been released by SPD as detectives continue to search for the man.
Described as “a white male in his 30′s to 40′s, 6’0″ to 6’2″ tall” with “orange skin, a tear drop tattoo under both eyes, long red hair, and last seen wearing a tan knit hat with an orange stripe, a red jacket and light blue jeans,” according to SPD, officers searching for witnesses along Broadway following the just after 6 PM hold-up also said the man has a complexion best described as “George Hamilton”-like or a fake tan.
According to police radio broadcasts Wednesday night, officers believed the suspect was an individual known to police but he has apparently thus far eluded capture. A report of a man with a teardrop tattoo inside a nearby Broadway store Thursday afternoon brought a rapid SPD response but it turned out to not be the suspect, according to police radio.
CHS has been told the suspect fled the bank empty-handed.
SPD has also released more details from Wednesday night’s hold-up:
Just after 6:00 p.m. officers responded to a 911 call of a robbery at the Chase Bank in the 300 block of Broadway Avenue East. The suspect — dubbed the “Tan Man Bandit” by detectives — entered the bank, pushed a demand note through the bandit barrier window and flashed a handgun. The bank teller refused to comply with the suspect’s demands and the suspect fled the bank without any money. No one was injured during the robbery.
The suspect is described as a white male with a medium build, 20 to 30 years old, 6’ to 6’2” tall, long, stringy, red or auburn hair (which may have been a wig), unshaven auburn-colored facial hair, and possibly teardrop facial tattoo under one or both of his eyes. The suspect was last seen wearing a red jacket, blue jeans, and a knit hat with an orange stripe — matching the color of his skin. Witnesses at the bank told police the suspect’s skin was orange, possibly from a spray-on tan.
Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identity or whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call the Seattle Police Robbery Unit at (206) 684-5535. Anonymous tips are welcome.
A brief history of recent bank robberies on Capitol Hill
Meanwhile, CHS has reported on the increasing number of banks, credit unions and things financial opening on Broadway. With Wednesday night’s reported robbery of the Broadway Chase bank, CHS wondered just how many bank robberies actually occur in our part of the city.
Given the drama around a bank heist, the events have an outsized reputation — in reviewing the CHS archives, full-on bank robbery attempts are rare events around the Hill. We count ten — and we had to include First Hill *and* a credit union — since 2009:
You’ll likely see a few more folks that usual in costumes around the Hill this weekend due to the Emerald City ComiCon at the convention center Friday through Sunday. Try not to stare. Or do! And ask to take their picture.
During the month of March, Northwest Film Forum hosts L.A. Rebellion, a series of films made in the ’60s and ’70s. “At a unique time and place in American history, a critical mass of filmmakers of African descent came to the UCLA to make movies and produced a rich, innovative, sustained, and intellectually rigorous body of work.” The series is weekends only March 1 – 24; full series passes and by-the-weekend passes are available.
Have something people should know about? Add it to our community calendar.
Thursday, February 28
Poems that Double as Rock Lyrics: Pulitzer Prize- winning poet Paul Muldoon reads from his new collection The Word on the Street:Rock Lyrics. Town Hall, 7:30 – 9p.Friday, March 1
Saturday, March 2
Sunday, March 3
Officers are investigating a report of an attempted armed robbery that happened around 12:30 this morning near the intersection of 11th Avenue and East Harrison Street.
The victim drove to the East Precinct early this morning to report that he had almost been robbed at gunpoint while sitting in his parked car at that location. He stated that he was sitting in his car after having just parked, when an unknown man knocked on the driver’s side window. The vicitm turned to look and saw the suspect pointing a silver colored handgun at him. The suspect demanded money and demanded that the victim roll down his window. The victim told officers that he feigned confusion as if he didn’t know what it was that the suspect was asking. According to the victim, the suspect became very angry and attempted to smash the window with the butt of his handgun. Fortunately, the window did not break. The suspect yelled at the victim and then walked away on 11th Avenue. The victim called 911 and then drove to the East Precinct to meet with officers. Officers responded to the area and did an extensive search but did not locate the suspect.
The suspect is described as a black male, late thirties, tall (6’3″) a round face, small amount of facial hair, wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt and baggie clothes. He was armed with a silver semi-automatic handgun. Anyone with information on this incident or suspect is asked to contact Seattle Police.
In January, SPD announced it had arrested a suspect in a string of armed hold-ups around Capitol Hill. We’ll check in on the status of the legal process around that case.
Police are hoping a new “predicative policing” software program will help them be more proactive in patrolling crime hotspots by determining where the violent aftershocks will be. The department is rolling its program out for a trial in two of the city’s precincts — Southwest and here in the East Precinct.
Police Chief John Diaz introduced the software Wednesday, which works by creating an algorithm that predicts where and when crimes will occur by analyzing data since 2008.
“This technology will allow us to be proactive rather than reactive in responding to crime,” said Mayor Mike McGinn at a press conference. “This investment along with our existing hot spot policing work will help us to fulfill the commitments we made in the 20/20 Plan to use data in deploying our officers to make our streets safer.”
According to the city, the software – which costs about the same as an officer’s salary at $73k to set-up – is twice as effective as human analyzed-data, and looks at information about previous crimes, such as types of crime committed, location and time, to predict where and when crimes will occur. The ongoing annual cost of the program will be an additional $43,000 per year.
Based on models for predicting aftershocks from earthquakes, Predictive Policing forecasts the locations where crime is likely to occur, down to a geographic area as small as 500 feet by 500 feet. It works by entering all crime and location data dating back to 2008 into a complex algorithm that generates a prediction about where crimes are likely to take place on a certain day and time. Officers are provided with these forecasts before beginning their shifts, and are assigned to use their “proactive time” between 911 calls to patrol those areas.
CHS recently reported on SPD statistics in Capitol Hill that showed trends across the precinct’s beats, including a high level of assaults around Broadway and Pike/Pine and a giant leap in burglaries in the densely populated area between Broadway and I-5.
SOSea might want to plan a few of its visibility events around burglary in the densely populated E1 beat that covers the area dominated by multifamily housing below Broadway. The 2012 totals are on pace for a whopping 80%+ jump for reported break-ins in the neighborhood.
You can see First Hill’s E2 also is on pace for a burglary spike after a downtick in 2011.
Meanwhile, central beat C2 just needs help in general as it appears likely to turn in big jumps in each of the main categories. We’ll have to ask what was behind the change in burglaries and “theft” in C1. Whatever SPD did, it worked in the northern reaches of the Hill.
While the new software will be used first in the East and Southwest precinct, it is currently analyzing only property crimes. SPD says it should be in place in the rest of the department’s precincts by April and will eventually expand to cover a broader spectrum of criminal activity.
A good day at 11th and Pike (Image: CHS)
We won’t try to quantify it. We won’t even try to say things have gotten worse. Perhaps, per capita, it’s as messy and filthy as ever. But, a victim of its own success, Pike/Pine is grubby and gritty. Broadway — bastion of cleanliness — could be one model for cleaning it up.
“It comes up because Pike/Pine merchants will ask, why don’t we get our streets cleaned? But there’s more to it than that,” says Michael Wells, executive director of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce.
The Capitol Hill chamber is described as the “administrative agent” for the entity known as the Broadway Business Improvement Area. Created in 1986, the organization is one of seven such districts in Seattle. Here’s how the areas work:
A BIA provides an annual budget to fund services and improvements in neighborhood business districts by assessing property and/or business owners who benefit from the improvements. BIA funds can be used for services such as parking, joint marketing, cleanup and maintenance, security, special events, beautification, and professional management. The City contracts with each BIA, and each BIA is governed by a ratepayer’s advisory board. The City collects the assessments and reimburses BIA expenses.
For the Broadway BIA, that adds up to a more than $400,000 budget for everything from litter and graffiti removal along Broadway, to banners to hanging flower baskets and holiday decorations.
“I know that for Capitol Hill there’s been a shift or maybe broadening in economic activity to the Pike/Pine area, a shift not envisioned when the BIA first started,” Seattle City Council president Sally Clark writes. “Back then you still had Broadway Market as a beehive, Bailey/Coy and others making that northern stretch of Broadway feel like the hub. (It felt like a hub back when I worked the Bulldog News stand in the Market.)”
“Now you have this intense stretch of activity up and down Pike/Pine,” Clark said. “Major Capitol Hill economic activity has stretched out, but the boundaries of the ‘special attention’ area haven’t changed. “
(Source: City of Seattle OED)
The money to suport a BIA comes from a mixed recipe — each of the city’s zones have a different combination of funding. On the Hill, membership fees and an assessment based on gross income — $2 for every $1,000 generated — provide the bulk of the program’s budget. The smallest of businesses in the assessment zone pay in the area of $100 year plus the membership fees. Larger players are capped at a maximum of $3,500 per year — though we’re told that hasn’t been a ceiling often reached.
Dave Meinert, already a member of a downtown improvement area, says he would support expansion to “help Pike/ Pine keep streets cleaner” and so the neighborhood “would also benefit from other services provided.” Money from the Capitol Hill Block Party festival he helped to create could also help power a BIA. CHS reported on Block Party’s expanding community involvement here.
Jill Cronauer of developer and property manager Hunters Capital — which has several holdings that could potentially fall within an expanded BIA zone — says an expanded program would better help distribute “the financial responsibility” of keeping up the neighborhood:
BIA’s have several benefits and from a landlord’s perspective, the general maintenance services and graffiti removal provided by CleanScapes is the greatest. This is a service we pay for out of pocket nearly every day already. Not every landlord does this so at times we end up picking up the trash from our neighbors. This is a huge expense! With a BIA, the financial responsibility is spread around. Everyone pays, everyone benefits, and the streets, sidewalks and storefronts are more enjoyable for everyone.
A BIA’s presence also extends beyond trash and graffiti. The organizations have become conduits for solving neighborhood issues and opportunities with city programs. SPD and other departments check in with the boards and program leaders for buy-in, sign-off and community representation. In short, at a civic level, the groups have clout.
Despite the enthusiasm for growth, to expand the Broadway BIA to Pike/Pine and create a larger Capitol Hill assessment zone is a significant undertaking. Under the current agreement, the Broadway BIA is limited to changes in its assessment rates and borders that come in under a 10% increase in assessment revenue. That would be a slow route to spreading the program south. But it could be less painful than forging a more significant overhaul.
60% of all potential members in the existing and newly proposed area would need vote to approve any agreement to create the new borders under the city’s Office of Economic Development program. Then the agreement must be approved by the City Council. How the new zone is established and what powerful players are in and out can make or break the effort.
A mid-2000s push to create a Capitol Hill Improvement District with an expanded mandate died a slow, quiet death marked by infighting over how the program should be shaped. It has taken seven years but the Hill’s business community might finally be ready to broach a similar topic again.
“That’s the question for the property owners and their tenants south of the existing boundary,” Council president Clark said. “Is it time to expand the boundaries? More activity is great, but it can also mean more mess on a Saturday morning, more graffiti to paint out.”
Meanwhile, the Broadway business community’s stomach for changing the program may also have to make room for a levy program to help pay for the extension of the streetcar to near Volunteer Park. Pike/Pine could also go it alone and form its own BIA. Perhaps 15th Ave will also want a piece of the action. And the membership fee and grant-driven Chamber itself must wrestle with its role in the shadow of a possible assessment-funded, combined Broadway-Pike/Pine business group.
The soul searching going on around the Broadway BIA and a potential expansion isn’t unique to Capitol Hill. People familiar with the program and city officials say similar issues are coming up in the six other improvement areas around the city. The OED has brought in a contractor to work with the BIAs and examine how they are performing and how many of them might expand. Will Capitol Hill lead the way?
“What’s the most active business district on the Hill?” the Chamber’s Wells asks. No need to answer the rhetorical. “What’s the best model to make it happen?” That last one the businesses and organizations of Broadway and Pike/Pine will need to sort out.
Editor’s note: If you’d like to be part of a community conversation about crime in our area of the city, the East Precinct Advisory Council’s monthly meeting is Thursday night. More from joanna below:
The very kind folks at Kawabe House have graciously come to our rescue! They have generously offered the use of their space at the very last minute and we very much appreciate it.Kawabe House221 18th Avenue S, WA 98144Enter on 18th Avenue South between Main and South Washington Street parking only, please do not park in their lot- it is reserved for their seniors..
Our guest presenters for the evening are representatives from the Seattle Police Department’s Domestic Violence Victim Support Team (VST) program. “A unique partnership between community members and police to address and prevent domestic violence, the program is designed to address the gap in services to domestic violence victims that exists between the time patrol officers respond to a 9-1-1 call and take a report, to the time advocates, detectives and prosecutors make contact with the victim for follow up.” The VST program provides critical support to victims of a very traumatic situation.
As always, our East Precinct Command staff will be present to give updates, address your concerns and answer your questions.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday!
All the Best,
Stephanie Tschida, Chair
EastPAC
Stay Informed and Share Information at the East Precinct Advisory Council (EastPAC) Meeting
WHEN:February 28, 2013 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pmWHERE:Kawabe House
221 18th Avenue South
Seattle,WA 98144
USA
Details:
Hello all and Happy February!
Please come to our next East Precinct Advisory Council (EastPAC) Community Meeting this Thursday, February 28th at 6:30 PM!
Our guest presenters for the evening are representatives from the Seattle Police Department’s Domestic Violence Victim Support Team (VST) program. “A unique partnership between community members and police to address and prevent domestic violence, the program is designed to address the gap in services to domestic violence victims that exists between the time patrol officers respond to a 9-1-1 call and take a report, to the time advocates, detectives and prosecutors make contact with the victim for follow up.” The VST program provides critical support to victims of a very traumatic situation.
As always, our East Precinct Command staff will be present to give updates, address your concerns and answer your questions.
Seattle Police are searching for the suspect in an armed robbery reported Wednesday night at the Broadway Chase bank. Police say the armed suspect remains at large.
The suspect in the hold-up just after 6 PM is described as a male in his 30s to 40s, height 6’0″ to 6’2″, with “orange” skin, a teardrop tattoo on face, long red hair, and wearing a tan hat, red jacket, and light blue jeans. UPDATE: Here is an updated description and details of the robbery from SPD:
Officers are searching for a bank robbery suspect who is armed and at large. At approximately 6:05 p.m. officers responded to 911 calls of a robbery at the Chase Bank in the 300 block of Broadway Avenue East. The suspect, who was armed with a handgun, robbed the bank and was last seen fleeing out the east door.
The suspect is described as a white male in his 30′s to 40′s, 6’0″ to 6’2″ tall, orange skin, a tear drop tattoo under both eyes, long red hair, and last seen wearing a tan knit hat with an orange stripe, a red jacket and light blue jeans.
The suspect remains at large.
Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identity or whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call 911 or Seattle Police and refer to this incident. Anonymous tips are welcome.
There appear to have been no significant injuries associated with the robbery.
Due to the suspect’s unique physical description, police have been able to identify a possible person of interest, according to SPD radio dispatches.
UPDATE: A person at the scene says officers looking for witnesses said the suspect did, indeed, have a complexion described by police as “George Hamilton” like or fake tan. It’s possible the description was based on old information — the description published by SPD is above.
UPDATE: SPD is distributing pictures of the suspect captured from bank surveillance to officers on patrol but has not yet made the images available to the public.
(Image: Sebastian Garrett-Singh for CHS)
Keeping a Capitol Hill nightclub in business ain’t easy.
With The Social facing a hearing next week to determine if it can secure a permanent liquor license to continue operating on E Olive Way, E Pine’s R Place is also facing a bureaucratic challenge — though this one may be less onerous than working with the state liquor board.
According to the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development and the City’ Attorney’s office, R Place never obtained final approval for its 23-years-ago construction as a nightclub and did not received an official Certificate of Occupancy from the city.
Mind you, R Place has been boogeying down on E Pine since the ’90s. Meanwhile, a construction permit dating all the way back to 1989 has since expired.
In the meantime, the club is open and as ready for business as ever.
If the situation seems familiar it’s because something similar has, indeed, happened here before. In February 2012, CHS reported on similar issues with nightclub permitting faced by Neighbours. The club seems to have come through the DPD challenges, at least, just fine.
We reached out to R Place management to learn more about the situation but owner Steve Timmons has not responded.
Before you get too worried about the big R, a DPD spokesperson tells us these situations are “typically easy to resolve” and involve a business working with the agency to renew the permit and then going through an inspection and approval process with the agency.
Only one wrinkle: When we asked DPD about the situation on February 6th, we were told that R Place hadn’t yet responded to warning letters and that the case was going to be referred to the City Attorney for litigation. That same day, it turns out, R Place was granted an extension until mid-March to get the permitting and inspection process with DPD worked out.
