The following are selected reports from the Seattle Police Department's West Precinct. They represent the officer's accounts of the events described.
Unprovoked Violence
Just before 9:30 p.m. on July 5, police responded to a 911 call reporting an assault in progress at a building in the 2200 block of 15th Avenue West. Staff at the scene said one resident was assaulting another in the communal room.
When police arrived, staff told officers that the suspect resident had assaulted another resident by punching and throwing objects (including a book) at them. Once the fight was separated and the victim of that attack had left the room, the suspect then directed their aggression at another resident, throwing a 2-liter bottle of soda across the room at the second victim.
Both victims said they had just entered the communal room when the suspect began attacking them. Staff told police there was video of the entire incident. The suspect was arrested for assault, and was uncooperative and aggressive all the way to King County Jail, yelling at the responding officers and spitting in the back of the squad car.
Random Unprovoked Violence
Just after 11:30 p.m. on July 4 police responded to a 911 call from the 1200 block of Mercer Street reporting a man was just punched in the face. The victim said they were walking down Mercer Street when someone suddenly came up and punched them in the left side of the face. The victim told officers they was completely blindsided and didn’t know who did it or why. The victim had a cut lip that was bleeding, and requested an ambulance take him to a hospital.
Blindsided
At approximately noon on July 2, police responded to several 911 calls reporting that a parking enforcement officer was being assaulted in the 100 block of Mercer Street.
As several police units responded to the scene they were re-directed to an underground parking garage in the same block. As officers arrived in the garage, several people flagged them over to the incident. They found a woman in a security guard uniform, not a parking enforcement officer, was straddling another woman that was on the ground. Because the security guard was holding the woman down, police arrested her and placed her in handcuffs. She said she was assaulted and the security guard should be arrested and handcuffed, however she complied with police.
Police spoke with two witnesses, one who said he heard the security officer say the other woman had banged on her car windows. The other witness said she’d seen the security guard run up from behind and tackle the woman.
Police determined that the security guard was likely the suspect in this situation. She refused to cooperate with police, stating she wouldn’t make any statements until her supervisor arrived.
The officers on scene called a sergeant down to the scene to officially un-arrest the victim. They then got a statement from her. She said she and the suspect had driven into the parking garage at the same time and the suspect parked right next to her. The suspect began yelling at the victim about talking on her cell phone while driving, which the victim says she was not doing.
A heated argument broke out, in which the victim said she did bang on the suspect’s windshield without intent to do any damage. The victim turned around and was walking away from the scene when the suspect tackled her from behind – grabbing her around the neck and forcefully slamming her to the ground – then climbed on top of her.
The suspect admitted she’d parked next to the victim so she could scold her for talking on her phone while driving. She did say that she argued with the victim and, although the victim pounded on her car, there was no damage.
Police did not arrest the suspect, but passed the report on to detectives to determine if charges should be filed. The victim was taken to the hospital for pain to her right shoulder, possibly a dislocation or a clavicle bone injury. Additionally her smartphone was broken during the altercation.
Chase Scene
Just after 7:30 p.m. on July 1, a man ran into the Seattle Police Department West Precinct out of breath and sweating.
He said he’d been at the precinct about a half hour earlier, and tried to get police to serve papers to a man who had assaulted him multiple times in the past. Having no luck at the precinct, he left and while walking home, the suspect he’d wanted papers served to tried to run him over with his car and then chased him on foot.
He said he’d been having problems with the suspect for the past couple years, and he’d come in to the precinct earlier to get an officer to help serve papers to the suspect. He was told to call 911 to get an officer to respond, but none did.
While he was walking home on Denny Way towards Lenora Street he saw the suspect driving in his car, and he swerved towards him, crossing over the center line into oncoming traffic. The victim jumped out of the way and began running. As he was running through an alley he heard the suspect chasing him. He ran through Queen Anne back to the West Precinct where he reported the event.
Caught on Camera
Just after 8 a.m. on July 6, police responded to an overnight burglary of the leasing office of an apartment building in the 900 block of Dexter Avenue North. The building manager had security video of the two suspects breaking in through a back door. They forced the door open, cracking the doorframe.
It didn’t seem like they’d taken anything during the 15 or so minutes they were in the building. They used a keycard to enter a stairwell and go upstairs. The building manager had also found video of the night of July 4, showing the same two suspects in the building with a resident. Police spoke with the resident, who said they didn’t know anything about the incident. The resident said July 4 was the first time she met the presumed suspects, and she only knew their first names.