Monday, November 24, 2014

Armed robberies put neighborhood on edge


Two scary incidents in two days


It's unusual for gun play to occur in Madison Park, so the two holdups that took place on Friday and Saturday kept the neighborhood buzzing over the weekend.  The police action late on Saturday evening, involving multiple squad cars with sirens blaring, necessarily focused a lot of attention on the second crime, but it was the earlier broad-daylight incident that initially stoked the fears of many area residents.

To begin at the beginning:

On Friday evening, those on the distribution list for the Denny Blaine/Washington Park Block Watch received this disturbing email from a resident reporting on an incident occurring earlier in the day along Hillside Drive, just above Bush School:

"This afternoon around 1:30, two men walked into my neighbor's front courtyard and held a gun to her gardener's head ordering her to her hands and knees.  We think they thought she was the owner of the house, they ordered her to empty her pockets, give them her wallet and car keys.  She did and also said 'I'm just the gardener'.  The men ran off, past my house and got into a waiting van at the end of the street.  The police also got a call around the same time, someone calling in saying they saw 2 guys running down the street and jumping into a waiting blue van, it appeared suspicious they commented.  Both men had guns but only one pointed it at her." 

This email was forwarded to many who were not on the original distribution list (including the Madrona Moms, who then gave it wide circulation). By Saturday morning the robbery was the talk of much of the neighborhood, at least south of Madison.   By that night, however, a wider swath of the neighborhood became aware that Madison Park had suddenly become less of a crime oasis than normal.

At around 10:00 pm, according to unverified reports, several teenagers were "assaulted" near Bert's Red Apple by several (three or four) African-American men with a gun or guns.  The 9-1-1 call elicited a very large police response, with patrol cars combing the neighborhood for at least an hour.  The police did not discover the suspects.

Update: The SPD's public information officer confirmed both incidents this morning, adding a little color to the narrative surrounding incident involving the gardener who was accosted on Friday afternoon.  According to the investigating officer's report, the two suspects---after learning that the gardner was not the homeowner and that she had no money---ran from the yard, one of them yelling back to the victim, "Sorry, ma'am."  According to a witness, the two teenaged black males then jumped into a waiting silver and blue minivan and were quickly driven from the scene by a young white woman with "dirty blond" hair.

With regard to the Saturday incident, the SPD report adds few details to what was already known. The crime, which occurred at 9:59 pm, involved several victims who were "threatened, assaulted, and robbed" by multiple suspects.  The perpetrators fled on foot, southbound on McGilvra Boulevard, after committing their crimes, and were not captured by the police dragnet.  One of the victims had a "bleeding bump on the left side of his head" as a result of the assault.

Also this morning, Bush School's principal, Dr. Percy Abram, sent an email to Bush parents and guardians in which he reported that in the Saturday incident "three students--including a Bush freshman--were robbed at gunpoint while walking in Madison Park near Bert's Red Apple.  Two of the boys were assaulted during this incident."

13 comments:

  1. the picture is offensive and alarmist

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  2. How is a picture of a gun and robber paired with a story about armed robbery with a gun offensive and/or alarmist? Isn't it just accurate?

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    Replies
    1. No, it is not accurate, the color of the gunman is not as described in the police reports.

      Delete
  3. I agree, take down the photo of the gun, which is alarmist and induces fear. Are you trying to get people to go out and get guns?

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  4. I agree as well, the picture is horrible and unnecessary. It ads nothing to the article and just makes me uncomfortable while reading the article.

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  5. I think the image is appropriate -- this is probably what the victims saw. This is an effective way to demonstrate the seriousness of these events.

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  6. Time to wake up mad park. We should'nt be alarmed right..

    This small community is not immune anymore to thug poor drug nuts trying to feed their high by stealing iPhones, debit cards, and cash, fake "I'm out of gas stories freaks" knocking at your door.

    Maybe it is time to have a concealed permit, get proper training and stand your ground. Yah it seems a little scary to think about that but if your smart and a solid individual, and if you care about the soil you pay for.....
    Do know the laws behind concealed carry and become educated about all of this.
    These people come from poor life lacking situations and they have nothing to lose...I'm sure a certain group will disagree...that's fine until you become a victim...
    Or until your precious child gets killed at Bert's parking lot or anyone....

    I used to be somewhat against guns and scared of handling one.

    Not now. I'm fully trained,
    Fully licensed.
    Not letting some ghetto drug punks take my liberty, children's liberty, my neighbors liberty - my community!
    Be safe-
    Peace

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    Replies
    1. I decided to add to stave off criticism,
      Don't just go shooting any drug thug nuts....
      Know the law!
      Concealed carry is an option to protection.

      Delete
  7. This happened to madison park probably because this community is too
    Free spirited with lack of awareness and police patrol. We have become a target with "Well Heeled" or not- residents with little or no secure presence on the streets.

    Have we become to lackadasikle?
    This shit wouldn't fly in medina folks!
    Bellevue police would already have some arrests by now..
    Madison park
    Don't think so...

    Let's fix this Madison park folks.
    More awareness, more confidence, more strength in community, more ownership in supporting business.
    It's a privilege to live here.
    Defend it. How can you argue that?

    Block watch doesn't work. Any new ideas??

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  8. We have a better system in place with the blogs but we need better awareness..

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  9. A prowler has been lurking around between the Madison Park Madison Valley and Central District area. I'm located at the 2711 East Madison Street office building and a theft of a Dr's wallet took place in October. Within that same month a strange man entered my office playing it off that he was lost, he then showed up and did it again just a week ago entering my office and playing like he's lost, he soon left and went into another doctor's office, which then she directed him out of her room. He then wandered into the bathroom and stayed in there for 10 minutes, I then followed him outside and confronted him asking if he was a patient that was visiting there he claimed no and that he was just using the bathroom, I informed him he is not allowed to use the bathroom as it is for patients and residents only. As of today November 24th I witnessed this man again lurking about the store fronts in the Central District area over by 22nd and Union. Peeking into the Mind & Body Pilates studio, he then wandered into the bike shop next door. I immediately went into the bike shop and informed them of the possible Prowler, I soon informed the 2 Pilates studios that were on that block as well as the coffee shop. Here is the description: Black man, possibly in his 50's, 5'9-5'11, cleft palate with a moustache, bald, gold rim glasses, black/navy peat coat/carhart coat, black backpack. I've made a report to the 12th Avenue precinct last week and there is a case number. (Which is at my office, I'll post it when I get there in the morning!)

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  10. Love all the comments about the photo. What fools. I would be more worried about the dirty little secret in Seattle. SPD is gone. Checked out. Depolicing. Call it what you want but it's a free for all as you can see in our skyrocketing property crime stats. The cops hate the citizenry. We're being punished for the Justice Department's imposition of terms that they feel harm their ability to do their job. And we're being punished for being politically correct schmucks. Time to bring in the private security mall cops, concealed carry permits and stand your ground laws. A couple dead meth addicts and the word will get out....

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