911 | Garbage truck driver hospitalized in possible poppers hazmat incident on Harvard Ave E

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

Poppers hazmat incident? Either somebody improperly disposed of a stash of poppers or a neighborhood chemist tossed an experiment into the Capitol Hill trash.

One person was taken to the hospital after Seattle Fire was called to Harvard and Mercer Thursday afternoon for a hazardous materials response when a garbage truck compacted its load “and a potentially hazardous material was released,” an SFD spokesperson tells CHS. Continue reading →

911 | Patrol cars vandalized outside East Precinct, a rash of trash, brush, and car fires, Club Z death ruled accidental overdose

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • East Precinct patrol car vandalism: A man was arrested early Friday after he was caught vandalizing Seattle Police vehicles outside the East Precinct at 12th and Pine. According to SPD’s brief on the arrest, officers inside the station were alerted to a male outside tagging patrol cars with a paint marker and damaging a cruiser’s window around 1:30 AM. Officers rushed outside and quickly arrested the suspect, while documenting the damage to three police vehicles. There were no reported injuries. Continue reading →

Wilson taps Seattle CARE Department as command center in new gun violence plan

Police place evidence markers after a July shootout on 11th Ave that injured bystanders caught in the crossfire

Seattle’s mayor has unveiled her budget plan to address shootings in the city that would make the CARE Department the central command center for gun violence reduction, focusing $13 million in spending on the city’s emergency response system and human services to power a new approach that integrates Seattle’s 9-1-1 resources with community responses and intervention teams.

Mayor Katie Wilson unveiled her administration’s gun violence reduction plan this week designating the Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department as a new central command center to take on the public safety priority.

The goal, Wilson says, is for Seattle City Hall to take “faster action when shootings occur.” The result is a possible new direction for the city that would focus new energy — and spending — on community public safety and intervention resources at CARE and not with traditional policing at the Seattle Police Department.

“Together, these efforts aim to give the city stronger regulatory authority, reinforce youth focused safety programs, and improve protections for neighborhoods experiencing persistent harm,” the plan reads. Continue reading →

‘Less of the dissertation’ — Hollingsworth backs big business demands for 100-day Seattle public safety plan

You can watch the Hollingsworth interview here

Seattle City Council President Joy Hollingsworth is backing demands from a coalition of major Seattle-area employers calling for the city to produce a comprehensive 100-day public safety action plan.

In her appearance Friday on a talk radio news show on KIRO FM, Hollingsworth took jabs at Mayor Katie Wilson and city leaders she says depend too much on theoretical discussions over visible enforcement.

“There have been too many people in this city that have workshopped their public safety dissertations on communities, right now,” Hollingsworth said during the KIRO appearance. “Well, let’s pull this lever. Well, what if we turn this off? What if we do this? You’re listening to the people right now, and they’re telling you to their face: ‘This is what we want. We want a positive relationship with our police officers. We want gun violence prevention programs to work for us. We want after-school programs.’ They’re telling us everything they want.”

Hollingsworth thanked the business leaders for keeping their companies anchored locally rather than abandoning the city. “They could have did us like the Baltimore Colts did. When the football team woke up in the middle of the night and just left,” she said. Continue reading →

Microsoft, Starbucks, and biz leaders demand 100-day Seattle ‘public safety action plan’ as budget fight looms

A coalition of 38 regional business leaders delivered a letter Thursday urging Mayor Katie Wilson and Seattle City Council president and District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth to adopt an immediate “100-day public safety action plan” with “concrete” performance metrics, arriving just ahead of fall city budget negotiations.

Organized by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, “CEO-level civic alliance” Challenge Seattle, and the statewide lobbyist Washington Roundtable, the letter is signed by executives including Microsoft’s Brad Smith, Starbucks’ Brian Niccol, Costco’s Ron Vachris, and Alaska Airlines’ Ben Minicucci. The signatories asserted that “voters are asking for action, on a timeline, with results they can measure,” citing an August Chamber survey where only 34% of 500 registered voters expressed confidence in Seattle’s public safety approach, while they say 86% backed a 100-day framework.

“The clearest message from our August 17 joint public-opinion poll of registered Seattle voters is this: residents expect the City to act with urgency, fund the actions needed to improve safety, and provide a clear plan for measuring progress,” the letter (PDF) reads.

The demands establish benchmarks including requiring a 7-minute 911 response target and reporting missed calls, noting police responded to only 29% of calls at Nordstrom’s downtown flagship compared to 100% at its Bellevue and Southcenter stores. Reactivating CCTV networks in Pioneer Square and the Stadium District (75% voter support), deploying walking and bike beats (90% support), and clearing encampments within 250 feet of parks and schools within 72 hours (79% support) are also part of the call. Continue reading →

Police take suspect in crisis into custody after reported threat at Denny Blaine nude beach

A man suffering crisis was taken into custody after a scare at the Denny Blaine Park nude beach Tuesday.

According to East Precinct radio updates, police were called to the Lake Washington Blvd park just after 1 PM Tuesday to a report of a man standing in the water who had made statements about a possible explosive device at the beach. Continue reading →

911 | Fatal I-5 fall, Bakery Nouveau break-in as Hill burglaries trend down, Broadway bus vs. scooter

East Precinct reported burglary trends

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • Fatal I-5 fall: A woman died in a fall from I-5 Saturday night. Seattle Fire says its crews responded to Lakeview Blvd below the freeway just before 9 PM to a report a person in crisis had jumped or fell. The 31-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. The scene was turned over to Washington State Patrol and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. If you or someone you know is in distress, please call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, call the King County 24-Hour Crisis Line at 866-427-4747, or dial 911 in an emergency UPDATE 9/10/2026: The King County Medical Examiner has released its report on the death and provided updated information on the victim. We have updated her age to reflect the new information. The medical examiner says the manner and cause of death are pending further investigation.
  • Bakery Nouveau break-in: Commercial break-ins have been so common on Capitol Hill that they rarely make the news. An overnight burglary at Capitol Hill’s Bakery Nouveau did get some attention as weekend customers had to go without fresh-baked goods Sunday morning after the break-in. The 15th at John bakery and shop was able to reopen but the damage was the latest costly incident to hit a neighborhood small business. There is some good news. Recent trends show reported commercial burglaries dropping across the Hill from the heights of around five reported per day in late 2025. Long-term trends persist, however, with about 40% of the break-ins occurring along Broadway or in Pike/Pine. Hopefully the 15th and John break-in at Bakery Nouveau wasn’t the start of a new trend. Continue reading →

After deadly weekend of gun violence, Seattle City Council considers proposed ‘Group Violence Intervention’ partnership focused on community, services, and drug market crackdowns

A Seattle City Council proposal for support of a new gun violence intervention partnership being heard Tuesday morning will have added weight after a deadly weekend in Seattle.

CHS reported previously on the proposed resolution from City Councilmember Maritza Rivera (District 4) committing Seattle to implement a gun violence intervention program in partnership with the National Network for Safe Communities research center.

The NNSC’s “Group Violence Intervention” model traces back to Boston’s Operation Ceasefire in the 1990s and has since been adapted across the country.

Under the proposal, the city council would commit its support to establishing a two-year partnership. Backers say cities like Oakland, New Orleans, and Baltimore have leveraged the framework by pairing targeted law enforcement against the small network of individuals driving the violence with dedicated social services, intensive outreach, and community-led moral pressure. Continue reading →

911 | WSP plane’s ’96 in a 60′ pursuit over Capitol Hill, Jackson gunfire, Club Z death

You can track N2446X’s activities here

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • WSP pursuit: “96 in a 60” is what a Washington State Patrol spokesperson tells CHS kicked off the long and winding aircraft pursuit of a driver who fled law enforcement on a chase through the streets of Capitol Hill Friday night. Residents irritated by the ongoing buzz of the state patrol’s low-flying Cessna 206H Stationair began tracking the airplane as it executed a series of seemingly endless loops above northwest Capitol Hill. “Our plane was following a pursuit. The suspect left the freeway and troopers backed off,” the WSP spokesperson said. Reports in the CHS Facebook Group describe the plane circling around 10:45 PM with a report of state troopers spotted searching on the ground near Harvard and Prospect where Seattle Police took over. One report had the suspect fleeing on foot, last seen southbound on Harvard and possibly disappearing into the wilds of the St. Mark’s Greenbelt. The spokesperson for the WSP says the suspect pursuit began as speed enforcement before the suspect fled northbound on I-5 and into the city where the driver fled on foot. It also turned out the search and those droning loops weren’t really necessary. “Troopers were able to confirm the driver is the registered owner and charges will be forwarded to the prosecutor,” the spokesperson said. There were no reported injuries. CHS has reported on the planes used by WSP in the past including the impressive surveillance capabilities of the fleet utilized during CHOP.
  • Jackson gunfire: No victims were immediately located after gunfire near 22nd and Jackson Saturday night. Seattle Police were called to the area just before 7:30 PM to the reports of gunfire and a group fleeing the area on foot. Arriving officers found at least one parked vehicle damaged by the gunfire and shell casings in the street but no victims at the scene. No suspects or firearms were located. There were no reported arrests. The gunfire came amidst a wave of deadly gun violence incidents in the city. Overnight, a man was shot and killed, and three others were injured in a shooting at Denny and 4th Ave. Later in the night, a woman was shot and killed near 3rd and Blanchard.
  • Club Z death: Medics were called to Pike’s bathhouse Club Z Friday morning to reports of a man suffering a medical condition at the sex club. Seattle Fire says its crews began life-saving measures in the just after 9;30 AM call but the man in his 60s was reported dead at the scene. The King County Medical Examiner will determine a cause.
  • 19th/Cherry crash: A woman was injured Friday afternoon in a three-vehicle collision at 19th and Cherry where the city just deployed a new 4-way stop configuration. Seattle Fire says it treated two patients in the crash but only one required a trip to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. The patients were in separate vehicles. The new stop signs have been added to Cherry to require east and westbound drivers to now stop at the intersection but no additional warning markers were used to alert people about the change. We’ll follow up with SDOT to learn more about the configuration and lack of warning signs or markers.
  • Pizza smoke causes alarm: Callers worried about a building fire reported smoke billowing near 11th and Pike Wednesday but it turned out to only be the output of an ambitiously smoky wood-fired pizza oven operating at the corner. Seattle Fire says its crews were dispatched but quickly pulled back after the source was determined to be the “outdoor pizza oven.” It’s not clear if the pizza operation was related to an event at a nearby business or one of the proliferation of street vendors who operate in the neighborhood. There were no reported injuries.

  • SPD reports building fire heroism: The Seattle Police Department is applauding a rookie officer for joining a veteran cop in helping rescue people from a fire last week in an historic E Madison apartment building. CHS reported here on the just after 5:15 AM fire Monday in the 1912-era Olympian Apartments in the 1600 block of E Madison. SPD says its two officers were first to see the flames from the fire and rushed in to help:
    On August 31st, just after 5:00 a.m., officers spotted flames coming from a second story apartment window in the 1600 block of East Madison Street. Officers broke the glass of the lobby door to enter, then ran up the stairs till they found the burning unit. Police kicked at the door, until the disoriented 28-year-old resident opened it. Officers evacuated the man from his burning, smokey unit, but not before asking if he had any pets that needed to be saved as well.
    SPD says multiple officers ended up responding in the minutes before Seattle Fire arrived to battle the apartment unit fire. According to SPD, the building’s fire alarm “was not sounded.” “Officers ran up flights of stairs, yelling for residents to leave and banging on their doors,” SPD reports. “When the rescue efforts became too dangerous, officers evacuated the building while the Seattle Fire Department prepared to begin fighting the flames.”
    CHS is following up to learn more about the situation and why the building’s fire alarm system did not alert residents. There were no reported serious injuries.

 

 
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911 | Gas station carjacking reported on Broadway, more Organized Retail Theft Operation busts at Capitol Hill Walgreens

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

  • Broadway carjacking: A man was robbed of his car at gunpoint late last Tuesday night at the North Broadway 76 station. According to the SPD report on the just after 11:30 PM incident and East Precinct radio updates, the victim was approached by two men with guns and made to stand against the wall of the gas station as they took his wallet and then ripped off with his BMW. Police say the suspects were also driving a white BMW. The stolen ride was last seen headed eastbound. Police were unable to locate the vehicle. There were no reported arrests or injuries. Continue reading →