Downtown Seattle

A group of males in their 20s jumped a man downtown and stole the bicycle he had just bought that day from Wal-Mart. He tried to hold on, but the suspects kicked him until he let go, according to a police report.

The man was waiting for a bus at 3rd and Pine around 8:45 p.m. July 6 with a blue 18-speed bicycle he had just purchased for $150 at Wal-Mart. When a group of males in their 20s walked by him, two of the males split off from the group and tried to grab his bicycle, the man told police. He tried to hold onto it, and witnesses said they saw the two robbers drag the man a bit before kicking and stomping him to get him to let go.

The man said they also stole $237 from him. He described the suspects as two black males in their 20s both wearing black pants and black shirts. Officers did not find any suspects in the area.

You can read more about this incident over on my new site, Seattle Bike Blog.

After a road rage argument, a driver intentionally hit a cyclist downtown and then fled, according to the police report.

The cyclist, a bicycle messenger, and the driver were on Spring near 5th Ave. on Wednesday when they had some kind of road dispute, the cyclist told police. The driver then passed the cyclist, stopped, opened his driver's side door, and backed-up in attempt to hit the biker with the door. The biker moved to try to avoid getting hit by the door and was struck by the right rear bumper of the vehicle and knocked to the ground.

The driver then fled the scene. The biker received only a minor abrasion and declined medical treatment. Police have the license plate number and are investigating.

Unrelated to this report, I was nearly hit by one of those tour vans while riding downtown the same day. I rode up next to the van at a stop light and knocked on the window. He rolled it down and I told him he almost hit me. His response was, "Well, you should be looking out for me. I'm a lot bigger than you." I then proceded to point out that he almost killed me and then called him a bunch of names and embarrassed him in front of the bus of paying customers.

It was fairly satisfying.

One man was stabbed following a skirmish on a downtown street last week.

When officers on foot patrol arrived 1st and Virginia shortly before 1:00am on June 12th, they found the victim leaning up against a wall, bleeding from his side.

A witness at the scene told police the victim had been in a fight with two other men, and when the victim pinned one of the men on the ground and punched him, the second suspect walked up and stabbed the victim in his side. A police report does not indicate what led to the fight.

Witnesses at the scene pointed out two suspects and when police stopped the men, a kitchen knife fell out of one suspect's waistband.

Medics transported the victim to Harborview and police booked both suspects into the King County Jail for assault.

Crime tipper Julian just sent us this photo from 2nd and Pike:Looks like a fire crew was called to the scene, probably just to check for injuries.

If you like being conscious, downtown Seattle in the early morning of May 9 was not the best place to be. Two different people (in what appear to be unrelated events) got knocked out cold by punches to the head. When he came to, one of them did not know what day it was.

Belltown, 2:15 a.m.

Two men exited a bar near 2nd Ave and Lenora and got into a verbal altercation. However, one of these men, part of a group of 20 guys wearing red caps, happened to have a mean hook. According to the police report, the alleged assailant landed a punch in the victim's face, and the victim's body went limp and collapsed backwards onto the sidewalk.

By the time police arrived, the group of 20, including the suspect, had fled southbound. They were not located. The victim had a large, bleeding blump on the back of his head (perhaps from the fall?) and was extremely confused. He told the officer he thought it was Monday afternoon, and he did not know what city he was in. He did not remember being in a fight or how he ended up on the sidewalk. He did say that he drank 12 beers that night.

He was transported to the hospital.

Pioneer Square, 2 a.m.

A few male friends were headed back to their vehicle parked under the viaduct at Alaskan Way and S Main St. when one of the friends started to argue with a nearby group of guys. The friends eventually all got into the car, with the victim behind the wheel. As soon as the car started to pull away, the friend that had been arguing jumped out of the car and started to fight with the other group. The victim stopped the car. Noticing that their friend was losing the fight, they all got out the car and joined in the fight.

As the victim approached where his friend was fighting, however, one of the guys in the other group punched him in the right side of his face and knocked him out cold.

He woke a few minutes later, and the other group was gone. None of his friends had been injured. He drove himself to the hospital and was treated for abrasions and a mild concussion.

A man who had his throat slashed in a Belltown parking lot Friday night refused to cooperate with police at the scene, a police report says.

According to the report, when officers found the man in a parking lot at 3rd and Bell at about 10:00pm on May 7th, the victim was "not very co-operative" and only gave police a vague description of the suspect. However, the report says he would not tell officers what led to the assault.

Witnesses at the scene told police they saw the victim standing in the doorway of an empty storefront at 3rd and Blanchard, arguing with another man shortly before the stabbing

Witnesses saw the suspect slash the victim's throat with a knife and flee.

However, the victim in the attack did not realize he'd been slashed until another man at the scene saw blood running out of the victim's neck and brought the wound to his attention.

Seattle police are investigating a man's claim that he was robbed—and possibly drugged—at a bar near Pike Place Market.

According to a police report, the victim was drinking at a bar in the market between 1:30pm and 4:00pm on May 1st. As the victim was leaving the bar, another man approached him in a stairwell and pushed him up against a well, injuring the victim's head.

The mugger then grabbed the victim's wallet—which contained about $580—and took off. 

According to the report, the victim told officers he "had only two drinks with his meal yet he felt abnormally dizzy and disoriented while leaving bar, causing him to wonder if he had been drugged."

The victim didn't report the incident until May 3rd. The report doesn't say why he waited to contacted police.

You can't even go downtown these days without accidentally buying crack off of someone!

Last week, a man called police and reported that he'd been attacked and robbed by a large group who begged him for money and then tried to sell him crack.

According to a police report, the man was walking home in Downtown Seattle at about 1:00am on April 20th when a group of nine men and women surrounded him and "asked if he wanted to buy something."

The man said no, but the group "continued to ask him for money and begged and pleaded for money," the report says.

The man told police he "became intimidated" by the sizable group, and told them he would get them some money from an ATM "because he felt bad for them."

The victim went to an ATM and gave one man in the group $20. When the victim tried to leave, another man came over and placed "two small white rocks (that may have been crack)" in his hand and said "gimme the money, gimme the money."

When the victim tried to give the crack back, the man threw him to the ground and a woman in the group grabbed for his wallet. The group then stole the victim's camera, money, and glasses.

Adding insult to injury, a woman in the group offered to sell the victim back his glasses. Of course, he had to remind her that the group had already stolen all of his money.

The man waited several days to call police, but eventually did. The man told officers he "was embarrassed to call...because he gave one of them money and was very intoxicated when he was robbed."

More madness at 3rd and Pine:

A police report says a creepy dude grabed a woman's butt, then slapped and spat on her at 3rd and Pine downtown around 6:30 p.m. March 18.

The assailant spoke briefly to the victim before grabbing her buttocks. When the victim told the buttgrabber "that was not appropiate and not to touch her again, the report says the suspect grew angry and allegedly slapped her across the face. The suspect also spat on her several times before fleeing.

As of the report, the assailant had not been found.

We've just gotten word that something bad is happening at the King County Jail at 5th and Jefferson. Police are locking down the area surrounding the jail.

More info soon.

Update: Armed SWAT units are entering the jail.

Update x2: We've just confirmed with the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention that there has been an "inmate disturbance" at the King County Jail in downtown Seattle.

Update x3: The incident took place on the 10th floor of the facility around 2:00pm. I have a vague recollection that inmates being held on murder charges are housed on the 10th floor, but I've gotta confirm that.

Tactical units are clearing the building and we just heard over the scanner that "the threat of deadly force is working."

Update x4 (3:03pm) We just spoke with King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention spokesman, Major William Hayes, who told us that the disturbance is "under control," but every floor of the facility is on lockdown.

Update x5: Maj. Hayes says that higher-risk inmates are kept on the upper levels of the jail's 11 floors. Hayes would not go in to detail about the inmates held on the 10th floor, but said "There’s a reason they’re up that high."

Update x6 (3:16) Things seem to have calmed down. Police are packing up and have reopened streets. We'll continue to update as new info comes in.

Final update @ 5pm: According to Maj. Hayes, the incident began some time after 1:00pm after an officer doing a security check on the tenth floor "felt threatened" by a group of  inmates in a living area. When the officer stepped out of the room, Hayes says the inmates "began to demonstrate and cause some property destruction." According to Hayes, 15 inmates shattered doors and windows, and flooded part of the floor.

When armed tactical units entered the jail, the inmates gave up and have since been relocated to other floors in the facility, but kept separate from other inmates. "they're not going to go back in [the general population]," Hayes says.

Hayes says no inmates or jail staff members were injured during the incident.

A man assaulted a woman at Western Ave. and Union downtown, saying she assaulted his car with her magazine. According to the police report, a woman was crossing Western Ave. in a marked crosswalk without a stoplight around 6 p.m. March 22. The suspect's white van, headed southbound on Western, did not stop and came so close to the victim that the magazine she was holding in her hand touched the front-right portion of his van.

According to the report, dude flips out (insert joke about the "power of the printed word" here), and the suspect allegedly stopped his van, backed up a few car lengths, got out and started yelling at the woman.

Feeling threatened, the woman kept walking away. The man followed her and caught up with her halfway down the block. When she pulled out her phone to call 911, the man struck her, cutting her lower lip. She fell to the ground and hit the back of her head on a parking sign.

Southbound on Western Ave. at Union (via Google Street View).

He stood over her, yelling unintelligible things at her, and witnesses told the man not to hit her again. At that point he returned to his car, but police arrived before he left. Multiple witness accounts were very similar to the victim's version of events, according to the report.

After gathering witness statements, police placed the man under arrest. When officers told him he was being arrested for assault, the report says the man told police, "Oh, no. She came at me and assaulted my car." Later the man told officers he felt he did something wrong and would try something different the next time.

The report does not mention whether the victim was treated or transported for her injuries.

Seattle police arrested a man carrying tools for car prowling and wires for looting pay boxes inside of a secured parking lot downtown at around 3:30 a.m. on March 19. According to the police report, the man, who the officer immediately recognized from previous parking pay box lootings, said he was looking for a place to sleep.

Parking lot security had forced the man to empty his pockets by the time police arrived. Several of the tools found in the man's pockets were identified by the officer as tools used in car prowls, along with a crack pipe which the man insisted was used for smoking marijuana. The report notes the garage where the man was found has recently had issues with car prowling.

Once the man was arrested, he was searched and several wires were found hooked onto his sweatshirt. The man admitted that they were used to loot pay boxes, but said he stopped doing that and had simply forgotten to take them off his sweatshirt.

A man in a wheelchair was tipped onto the ground and punched in the face early March 16 near Third and Pike downtown. According to the police report, the man was having a pleasant conversation with two women when, around 4:30 a.m., one of the women began insulting him and questioning his manhood.

The conversation quickly soured.

After trading insults back and forth, the two women tipped the man's wheelchair onto the pavement. A male suspect, who may have been travelling with the two women, punched him in the mouth. The three then ran off, leaving the victim on the ground.

The man had a cut on his lip, but did not require treatment. No arrests or descriptions were noted in the police report.

Some criminals just aren't all that bright. Take for example the group of reprobates who robbed a man in downtown Seattle last week and then tried to sell him back his cell phone, which they had just stolen...along with all his cash.

According to a police report, two men were walking on 7th and Pike at about 7:30 p.m. on February 23rd when a group of five or six men surrounded them. The men reached into the victims' pockets and grabbed a Blackberry cell phone, cash, and cigarettes.

When one of the victims struggled and tried to hold on to his phone, one of the robbers swung at him several times, but missed. The group of robbers then walked off with $60 in cash, cigarettes, and the phone.

A few minutes later, the report says one of the robbers returned and offered to sell the victim his phone for $10. The victim then reminded the man that he had taken all of his cash.

Police searched the area following the robbery but were unable to find any of the suspects.

Seattle police are investigating a bizarre shooting after a man was wounded by gunfire in Downtown Seattle last Thursday.

At about 10:00 a.m. on February 18th, a man walked into Northwest Hospital on 115th and Ashworth Ave N bleeding from a bullet wound to his leg. A police report indicates the man was just grazed by the bullet, and that his injury was a "flesh wound."

The man told police he had been walking around downtown at about 1:00 a.m. that morning when he heard three gunshots and "felt pain in his leg." The man told police he had been drinking and did not know where exactly he was downtown when he was shot.

According to the report, after hearing the gunfire, the man "looked up and saw a white male in a dress with his back to him and his hand down by his side. He did not see a weapon."

The victim told officers he walked away from the scene, but was unsure of how he got home. 

Seven hours later, the man took the bus to the North Seattle hospital.

The police report indicates police received reports of gunfire near 3rd and Cedar St, between the Seattle Center and Belltown, between 11:15 and 1:15 the morning of the shooting. It's unclear whether the incidents are related.

Two women say they were harassed by members of a street gang in downtown Seattle last week in what police are calling an "anti-female" bias crime.

The women were walking near 4th and Stewart around 7:30 p.m. on February 6th when a group of three men approached them. One of the group members pushed one of the women into the street and asked her "if she was a white whore," a police report says.

When the women told the men to leave them alone, one of the men responded "Sorry, you bitch whore." and again asked if the women were "both whores."

The women ran and flagged down a police officer to report the incident. Police were unable to locate the group of men.

The report indicates the men were members of a "street gang," but provides no further information about the gang.

Another day, another robbery. Last night at about 7:30 p.m. two men approached a man at 3rd and Columbia and asked to use his cell phone. The man was suspicious but wanted to be helpful, police say, so he dialed the number for the men and held the phone for them. One of the men grabbed the phone and fled. Police were unable to locate the thieves.

Policing are searching downtown for a suspect in three stabbings which took place Saturday around 9pm in the area of Benaroya Hall.  The three victims were attacked in separate incidents taking place at 3rd & University, another location on 3rd, and an unknown location nearby.

At least one of the victims, a man described as "mild-mannered," was critically injured -- a run was made for units of blood for transfusion due to his injuries.

The suspect is at large and described so far as having short hair, very short in height and stocky or overweight.

At 9:45pm police called on officers from other agencies to assist in searching for the suspect, who is believed to possibly remain in the downtown area.

A man was beaten and robbed and beaten by three men near the Pike Place Market at about 2:30 this morning while walking to his hotel. The man told police he didn't get a good look at his attackers, but believes one of them struck him with a baseball bat. The man's assailants were able to make off with his wallet and cell phone, but not before he kicked one of them in the face, police say. The man was found 20 minutes later and transported to Harborview.

At about 11:30 last night, a man waiting at a bus stop at 3rd and Pine in downtown Seattle was robbed and beaten by a group of men.

Police say two members of the group approached the man, asked him for money, and then attacked him. Two other members of the group joined in, and someone grabbed the man's wallet. The man was left with bumps and bruises from the assault.

About an hour later, police say the man called 911 after he spotted his assailants near where the attack happened. Police arrested two 19-year-old men, who were booked into the King County Jail.