Standoff with robbery suspects inside First Hill apartment unit shuts down Madison

Five people were taken into custody and police had the area around Madison and Boylston locked down Thursday morning while dealing with a group of robbery suspects believed to be barricaded inside a sixth floor apartment unit.

SPD was called to the First Hill apartment building just after 4 AM after a man was reported down and bleeding from his head in the lobby of the highrise.

Officers were told multiple suspects were inside a 6th floor unit in the building. Continue reading

Suspect charged in First Hill ax murder investigation — UPDATE

The 25-year-old resident investigated in the killing of a homeless man with an ax on First Hill has been charged with first degree murder.

King County Prosecutors say Liam Kryger, 25, killed 52-year-old Daravuth Van with an ax as he camped near First Hill’s Town Hall.

Prosecutors say Kryger was previously arrested in 2018 for a violent burglary and stabbing in North Bend that placed him in a treatment program under supervision of the King County Mental Health Court. Kryger failed to attend a scheduled review hearing in late 2019 but apparently had steered clear of the law until his arrest Sunday. Continue reading

First Hill man arrested in ax murder as Seattle Police secretly searched for suspect preying on homeless — UPDATE: CHARGED

The Town Hall murder scene (Image: SPD)

Details from Chief Adrian Diaz of the arrest of a First Hill resident in the brutal ax murder of a homeless man outside 8th Ave’s Town Hall last month reveal Seattle Police were secretly tracking a possible killer preying on Seattle’s unhoused.

Liam Kryger, 25, is being held in King County Jail on $5 million bail after being arrested by SWAT and police Sunday at Spruce and Broadway near his 10th Ave First Hill apartment. Prosecutors say they expect a charging decision in the case Wednesday.

Diaz revealed details of Kryger’s arrest two weeks after the killing in a lightly attended press conference Monday night as he described the SPD detective work that led to police pursuing a suspect carrying an ax early Saturday into Freeway Park. Diaz says the suspect was able to escape but dropped the ax.

Police were able to trace the ax to a February purchase at the Lowe’s store on Rainier Ave. Kryger was identified as the purchaser after a department of corrections officer recognized him from images police obtained of the home improvement store transaction.

According to the police report and initial court documents in the case, 52-year-old Daravuth Van was murdered as he camped near First Hill’s Town Hall, suffering a crushing blow to the head. Continue reading

Fire-ravaged building home to Vito’s and 75 low-income apartments demolished on First Hill

Thanks to reader Allan for the picture

The 122-year-old apartment building home to Vito’s and providing subsidized housing in its four stories above Madison has been demolished and trucked away.

There is no public plan for what will come next on the former site of The Madison Apartments. Continue reading

‘Suspicious death’ investigation after man found down outside First Hill’s Town Hall — UPDATE

Seattle Police are investigating after a man was found dead outside Town Hall on First Hill early Thursday morning. SPD said it was investigating the death as suspicious.

Seattle Fire was called to the scene just after 5 AM to a report of a man who appeared to be in his 50s down outside the building at 8th and Seneca with a head injury. According to SFD radio updates, the man was found dead and the coroner was immediately called to the scene.

Police were taping off the area as homicide detectives gathered evidence and traffic was closed in the area during the response.

The suspicious death comes as investigators have identified the victim in a Saturday, February 10th in an alley off 12th Ave as a longtime homeless resident of the area.

UPDATE: SPD has posted a brief on the investigation:

(Image: SPD)

Homicide detectives are investigating a suspicious death after a body was found in First Hill Thursday morning.

Shortly after 5:00 a.m., officers responded to a report of a deceased male in the 1100 block of 8th Avenue. Police arrived and located the victim lying in an alcove of a building.

Officers secured the area until Homicide detectives and members of the Crime Scene Investigation Unit arrived. The King County Medical Examiner responded to the scene and will determine cause and manner of death.

If anyone has information regarding this investigation, please call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.

 

 

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Pedersen, Chopp, and Macri to appear at 43rd District Town Hall

Mark your calendar for Saturday, February 17th for this year’s 43rd District Town Hall with Sen. Jamie Pedersen, Rep. Frank Chopp, and Rep. Nicole Macri. The annual gathering of the state legislators representing Capitol Hill and the nearby in Olympia again takes place at First Hill’s First Baptist Church.

The current legislative session has reached the halfway point as the state’s lawmakers meet for only a 60-day period in even years under Washington’s two-year budget system. Continue reading

Seattle Women’s Chorus celebrates free expression with free books in little libraries, Banned & Beloved concert

(Image: Seattle Women’s Chorus)

12th Ave is home to the city newest little free library as the Seattle Women’s Chorus headquarters has become a center of celebrating free expression with a banned book drive and Saturday’s performances of a Banned & Beloved concert at First Hill’s Town Hall:

Banning books is a nationwide issue. In just the first half of the 2022-23 school year, there were 1,477 instances of individual books banned, an increase of 28 percent from the second half of the prior school year, the vast majority of which are written by or about LGBTQIA+ individuals and people of color and centered on race, sexual orientation and gender, according to PEN America. Continue reading

911 | I-5 falls, Seattle cold weather deaths

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 join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • I-5 fall: Emergency crews treated a man who jumped or fell onto the Olive Way exit from I-5 Saturday morning. Seattle Fire reported responding to the incident along northbound freeway lanes just before 9 AM. A spokesperson says a 56-year-old male survived the fall and was in stable condition for transport to Harborview for further care. The I-5 overpasses below Capitol Hill are regularly the scenes for mental crisis calls and medical incidents including accidental falls from people trying to cross lanes of traffic or walk along narrow walls to access areas used for camping. Earlier this month, Seattle Fire responded to a fall onto northbound I-5 below Pike where it treated a 31-year-old man who suffered serious injuries in the incident. The man was taken to Harborview in critical condition in what was reported a mental health crisis call. We do not have an update on that incident.
    Resources to help those in need: National suicide-prevention hotline: 800-273-8255. Local Crisis Clinic: (206) 461-3222. If you need immediate assistance, call 911.
  • Cold weather deaths: The January cold snap that saw the lowest temperatures on Capitol Hill in 10 years was deadly. At least five people died from hypothermia in Seattle during the freezing January weekend, KUOW reports. They include this 63-year-old who died in a vehicle outside the Ballard Library. Another death was reported below I-5 on First Hill’s Seneca street where the King County Medical Examiner says Adam Elknation died outdoors of hypothermia and environmental exposure. Elknation was 37. The deaths occurred even as the city’s homelessness and shelter resources including emergency locations were mobilized to help give people warm places to stay. The health department says there were 31 emergency medical responses to cold-related incidents across the county on the January 12th weekend.
  • 14-year-old busted for car theft: SPD says it arrested a teen after tracking a stolen vehicle to Capitol Hill Sunday night:
    Shortly before 5:00 p.m., officers were notified that a stolen vehicle was tracking near the intersection of 15th Avenue South and South Lander Street. While officers were responding, dispatch advised there was a disturbance involving the vehicle, friends of the owner and multiple juvenile suspects. When officers arrived, they contacted the vehicle owner’s husband who found his wife’s stolen car and confronted the occupants. The husband told officers the driver attempted to flee the scene and crashed into another vehicle. After the crash, the husband fought with a passenger of the stolen vehicle. During the altercation, the driver of the stolen vehicle was able to drive away. Officers continued to track the stolen vehicle to a parking lot in the 300 block of East Olive Place.
    SPD says it caught up with the teen on a King County Metro bus. The juvenile was arrested for possession of a stolen motor vehicle and transported to 12th Ave’s Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center.
 

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There is a Five Guys coming to First Hill

(Image: Five Guys)

There is a Five Guys coming to First Hill, the fourth location for the popular hamburger franchise in Seattle. The new Five Guys will bring up two or three memories of the area’s fast food past.

Construction is close to starting to create the burger joint at the corner of Minor and Madison on the ground floor of the Sentral First Hill apartment building next to the neighborhood’s Amazon Go convenience shop.

Eight years ago, the corner was home to McDonald’s before the restaurant’s demolition to make way for the planned 17-story “luxury apartment” project. Continue reading

Nightlife notes: Unicorn expansion, Vito’s RIP, and Julia’s still in the drag business on Broadway

Vito Santoro (right) created a neighborhood meeting place where lawyers, off-duty cops, and a high-profile politician or two could mingle, and who-knows-what would happen in the back room. (Image: Vito’s)

Heimstadt inside the coming soon new West Seattle Unicorn (Image: Unicorn)

 

  • UNICORN EXPANSION: It has been nearly four years since CHS reported on the 10-year anniversary of one-of-a-kind Pike/Pine circus bar the Unicorn. Included in that February, 2020 story were details of Adam Heimstadt and Kaileigh Wilson’s big top plans for a massive Unicorn expansion near West Seattle and White Center. And then COVID blew everything away. But Pike/Pine nightlife is back, baby, and word comes now that the Unicorn expansion is back in motion with hopes for a 2024 debut. Heimstadt and Wilson bought the 25,000 square foot property on 17 Ave SW in 2017 that is also home to a collection of local businesses that will remain in place. The new Unicorn sibling will be huge with a 64-foot long bar and plans for a teacup ride relocated from San Luis Obispo. Continue reading