Short Fuse
Tension had been running high between two touring ska bands who were billed to a Queen Anne Bar Wednesday, April 11, and they exploded after their less-than stellar show when a member of one of the bands pulled a gun in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
Seattle Police responded to the bar at a little after 1:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. The bands have been touring together in motor homes and, according to the victim’s band, tensions between the suspect and the victim’s band have been running high over the last few weeks. They were supposed to play at the Funhouse on Wednesday evening, but because there was a poor turnout, the suspect’s band refused to play.
The victim told police after his band was done playing he and his band members were out back loading up their equipment into the motor home. Some of the members of the suspect’s band were hanging out in the victim’s motor home.
The victim says his band has been getting along with the suspect’s band members, but they feel that the suspect may be lying to them about bands he’s played with in the past, and cheating his band out of money.
When the suspect came out and found his band hanging out with the victim’s band, things got heated. He came in and began yelling racial slurs at the victim. He went back to his motor home and came back with a semi-automatic handgun, and began loading a magazine into it while looking menacingly at the victim.
At this point, the suspect’s other band members grabbed the suspect telling him it’s time to go. They drove off in the suspect’s motor home and were last seen south bound on Taylor Avenue North from John Street. The victims said the suspects were heading towards Cle Elum or Kelso.
Tourists Get a Show
Several drivers witnessed a homeless man beating another man in front of the EMP, including a group of tourists on the Duck tour, at about 12:30 p.m. on Friday, April 13. Police arrived at Fifth Avenue North and Harrison Street and immediately began searching for the suspect. Several witnesses called 911 and described the suspect as a man in his mid-40s wearing a blue beanie cap, black leather jacket, a dark green shirt, and black pants.
Police located the suspect walking eastbound on Broad Street. He argued with police, refusing to come over to the side of the road, instead sitting on the center median. When he eventually came over he told police he didn’t assault anyone. He then said he’d been moving some items when he was confronted by another homeless man, who struck him in the back of the head with a napkin. The items he was moving belonged to this other man. When the other man walked away, the suspect ran after him and ‘beat him down.’
The victim said he’d confronted the suspect because he was going through his things, and the suspect demanded money from him. When he said he didn’t have money, the suspect raised his fists so the victim fled. The suspect ran after him and began punching him in the head, he fell to the ground and the suspect began kicking him several times. When drivers began honking and yelling the suspect ran away.
Police asked one witness to describe the fight, and she responded saying it wasn’t a fight, it was a beating. Witnesses described seeing one man beating and kicking the other as he lay on the street begging the suspect to stop. Witnesses positively identified the suspect the police stopped on Broad Street as the suspect who beat the victim.
EMP’s security caught the incident on its security cameras, and was able to provide video to police. The victim was transported to Harborview for treatment of injuries to his head, shoulder and side. Police arrested the victim, and while he was read his Miranda warnings he was asked if he understood his rights, he would only respond by asking, “Do you want your handcuffs back?” He was booked into King County Jail for investigation of robbery.
Shaken and Stirred
Two employees of a restaurant located on Terry Avenue North were tied up with zip ties while two robbers stole about $6,000 from the business’s safe. The event happened while the restaurant was getting ready to open at about 9:22 a.m. on Friday, April 13.
The first victim said he was in the office getting the daily cash ready when two unknown men entered, one of whom was carrying cardboard boxes. Once in the office, the suspect threw the boxes at the victim, and the suspects knocked him to the ground and tied his wrists behind his back with a zip tie. The suspect asked the victim for the safe combination. Fearing for his safety, he told the suspects the combination. One of the men sat on the victim’s back to keep him down.
At this point a second victim walked into the office and saw the victim being held down. At first they yelled at her to leave, but then the suspect grabbed the second victim by the hair and pushed her down to the ground, tying her wrists behind her back. The suspect then opened the safe, and took about $5,000 in cash and several business checks from inside. The first suspect then asked the victim where the rest of the money was and they told him that there were several bags on the desk. The first suspect grabbed all of the bags, which contained about $1,000 in cash.
The suspects then left saying, “We are going to leave now, if you move in five minutes we are going to know and we’re going to hurt you.”
Neither of the suspects were injured during the robbery. There were several other employees in the restaurant at the time, none of whom were witness to the event. The suspects left several cardboard boxes and zip ties behind, which responding Seattle Police officers bagged the one remaining cardboard box and the two zip ties and logged into SPD evidence to be checked for fingerprints.
Missing Jewelry
On Tuesday, April 17, a Seattle Police officer responded to an apartment building located on West Aloha Street. The resident told the officer that two of her necklaces were missing. The victim said the two necklaces, a jade stone and an amber stone, were in their individual boxes in her dresser drawer.
The victim said she’d last seen the jade stone just after Christmas 2011, and she last saw the amber about four weeks ago. She noticed both necklaces were missing about three weeks ago. The victim said she normally keeps her apartment locked at all times, and also notes that employees at this building have access keys to resident’s units.
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