Thanks to a CHS reader for this image from the Thursday morning scene along 12th

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattle or tune into the CHS Scanner page.

• 12th Ave crash: An attempted theft of a vehicle with a child inside ended with the car flipped on 12th Ave and luckily no serious injuries for the youngster Thursday morning along 12th Ave. According to SPD radio updates and Seattle Fire reports, the 11:15 AM incident played out only a block from the East Precinct near 12th and Pine where the stolen car hit a parked vehicle and flipped on its roof. Seattle Police took one person into custody and Seattle Fire was called to the scene on 12th near E Olive St to evaluate a 32-year-old man reportedly suffering a mental crisis. The one-year-old child was in a carseat and reported uninjured in the crash. Another man at the scene was also reported uninjured in the attempted car theft.
• Coastal Kitchen crash charges: The Kent man arrested after crashing his car into the front of 15th Ave E’s Coastal Kitchen last month has been charged with one count of first degree malicious mischief and DUI. Prosecutors say Mitchell Hemphill, 63, repeatedly smashed his car into the restaurant’s front in a ploy to get police to respond to the scene as he suffered a crisis and believed people were trying to hunt him down and shoot him. “Suspect Hemphill then backed up slightly and drove forward again,” the police report on the May 31st incident reads. “At that point, Witness XXX heard Suspect Hemphill say something to the effect of ‘Now do you believe I’m serious.'”
  

  (Image: Coastal Kitchen)

  
  Hemphill’s car was stopped and he was trapped in the car by the rubble inside the restaurant where there were fortunately no reported injuries. Police say as they arrived, Hemphill also claimed to have a gun with him inside the car but no firearm was found. According to prosecutors, Hemphill was inside the busy restaurant earlier that night, hiding from people he claimed had guns and were trying to catch him. Fleeing Coastal Kitchen, witnesses say Hemphill next went inside Rudy’s across the street to ask for help before ending up back in the street where he briefly boarded a Metro bus before getting back into his car. That’s when the suspect allegedly turned his Kia Forte directly at Coastal Kitchen, smashing through its front and doing more than $5,000 worth of damage. Police say Hemphill was convicted of DUI in 2019 and was driving on a suspended license. His vehicle also did not have an “ignition interlock device” required as part of his conviction.  Records show Hemphill was held in jail for three days and is currently free on more than $30,000 bail. Coastal Kitchen remains closed for repairs and has not said when it expects to be able to reopen.

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🖤