UW professor’s propeller, bound for park, winds up stolen instead (UPDATE)

February 1, 2012 by 2 Comments

UPDATE (Friday, February 3): The propeller has been found! Via Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Parkways blog:

Seattle Parks has possession of the propeller that was stolen earlier this week from the University District. After discovering the stolen propeller at the Northwest Corporate Park in Kent, a security guard contacted the Kent Police Department.

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Seattle Parks and Recreation is asking for the public’s help in finding a stolen object bound for installation at a north end park.

The missing object in question: A 70-inch diameter 1,260-pound stainless steel propeller.

Details from Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Dewey Potter (via email):

The University District Community Council and Philip Thiel, naval architect and Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington, were preparing to donate a 70” diameter, stainless steel propeller to Parks as an installation in a north end park.

Unfortunately, thieves drove up an alley in the University District this morning and, managing to overcome the obstacles of both a retaining wall and a fence, lifted the 1,260 lb. propeller onto a truck and drive away with it. There were no witnesses. Neighbors heard a commotion and called the police, but the thieves were long gone.

Professor Thiel and the missing propeller (pre-theft) / Photo courtesy Seattle Parks and Recreation

The propeller is/was to be used in North Passage Point Park in the Northgate area.

The public is asked to keep an eye out for the missing propeller. If spotted, please call the Seattle Police Department’s non-emergency number (206-684-5011) and contact Seattle Parks and Recreation (206-684-7241).

Filed Under: Crime, Lost/Found, Northeast Seattle, Seattle Parks and Recreation, University District, University of Washington, Updates Tagged With: , , , ,

Eckstein Middle School briefly locked down after dog attack

January 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment

We’ve been updating the story over at Roosiehood. Click the picture below to read it in full.

The short version is: Dogs loose, bus driver bit, dogs captured by police, no students injured or involved.

Filed Under: 911, Crime, Eckstein Middle School, Ravenna, Updates, Wedgwood Tagged With: , , , , ,

Man and woman seriously injured in Ravenna Park attack (UPDATES)

January 12, 2012 by 1 Comment

A man and a woman were both beaten with a baseball bat early this morning in Ravenna Park. Police have not yet located the two suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.

We heard the news first from a resident of the area (via twitter direct message sent at 3:50 AM; kept anonymous due to privacy concerns), who said:

…police and medics congregated at 55th and Ravenna PL after a fight broke out. In the park. As officers arrived, two men emerged from the south end of the park saying that someone had beaten one or both of them with a bat.


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Just before 9 AM, Detective Mark Jamieson with the North Precinct of the Seattle Police Department, posted the following on the SPD Blotter:

On January 12th, at approximately 3:30 am, a citizen called 911 after hearing yelling and someone crying for help inside the southeast corner of Ravenna Park (approximately NE 55th Street and west of 25th Avenue NE). As officers arrived in the area, two victims, a 41 year old male and a 54 year old female, emerged from the wooded area. They had been beaten with a baseball bat multiple times. Both victims had head injuries as well as other injuries to their bodies. According to the victims, the suspect is a known male who they had a dispute with earlier. The suspect, described as a black male armed with the baseball bat, was accompanied by a white male. There is no further description of the white male. It appears that the suspect with the bat did the attack.

The Seattle Fire Department transported the couple to Harborview Medical Center with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.

A K9 team attempted to locate the suspects within the large wooded park, but was unable to find them. The investigation is open and ongoing at this time.

We will update this story here when more information becomes available.

UPDATE (11:24 AM): Talked briefly on the phone and via email with Terrie Johnston, Crime Prevention Coordinator for the North Precinct. The first suspect is a regular denizen of the park, described as a black man in his late 30s-early 40s, wearing a black trench coat, a black backpack, black boots, and carrying a baseball bat. The second suspect is a white male adult. There was a fast response by multiple SPD units who established containment of the area quickly. Unfortunately, the K9 track produced neegtive results.

When I asked about the current state of Ravenna Park and if there were any additional concerns for park users and residents of the area, Johnston said this event wouldn’t stop her from using the park. She advised that users keep up their usual level of alertness though the park. Via the email:

As always, be aware of your surroundings, carry a cell phone to call 911 should you see anything suspicious.  Trust your gut feelings, if someone gives you a bad feeling, avoid them, leave and report them if appropriate.

UPDATE (12:58 PM): Kirotv.com has video of their report from their mornings newscast, as well as a slideshow of photos taken while police and fire crews were in the area.

Filed Under: 911, Crime, Ravenna, Ravenna Park, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Grinches steal Grinch, vandalize parts of Candy Cane Lane (UPDATES)

December 12, 2011 by 2 Comments

UPDATE (4:47 PM): The Candy Cane Lane community found themselves a new Grinch on eBay this afternoon. And KING5’s Allen Schauffler will be reporting on the vandalism tonight at 5 PM. We’ll link to the footage here when it becomes available.

UPDATE (7:49 PM): Here’s the segment on the Candy Cane Lane vandalism from tonight’s KING 5 News at 5:



Candy Cane Lane was visited by real life Grinches late Saturday night. At least two of the decorated homes’ had decorations destroyed, among them inflatable Grinch at the entrance to the annual neighborhood light show.

[ABOVE] The Gross family’s Candy Cane Lane display, featured in last year’s Seattle Times piece on the neighborhood’s annual light display, is now missing its centerpiece.

We talked with Candy Cane Lane resident Tracey Sconyers on Sunday night about the vandalism. Her “Toy Shop” home has often been the target for some late night redecorating shenanigans — names added to the “Naughty List,” the reindeer placed in compromising positions — but never theft and destruction.

“This was a very different level of vandalism that happened,” she said. “They were out to destroy things.”

Sconyers herself happened to be up late Saturday night, as her daughters were having a sleepover with some of their friends. Around midnight, after the light show had been turned off, she heard some “unusually mean” talk about the street coming from outside her house.

Looking out the window in her front door, she could see three or four people, older than high school age, walking by, “trash talking the street.” These individuals even walked onto the porch of a neighbor’s house before getting into a white stretch SUV-style limo that had been seen driving down the lane during the light show a couple hours before.

No vandalism had occurred at that time. But Sunday morning, many of the Sconyer’s home’s decorations had been destroyed or stolen. And the inflatable Grinch, a local holiday icon for many local kids and their families, was missing. All that was left of him in the Gross family yard near the entrance to Candy Cane Lane where some shredded pieces of fabric and bare wires.

It is not known whether the white limo’s occupants are to blame for the incident, but the coincidence is a tough one for Sconyers to ignore.

The show must go on

After a successful community sale earlier in the year, the neighborhood has enough money to replace missing or destroyed decorations; however, the Grinch was around 10 years old, and came with the house.

If anyone happens to own a festive inflatable Grinch, the neighborhood is very interested in replacing the one that was destroyed. Otherwise help in the form of donations to Northwest Harvest are greatly appreciated.

Candy Cane Lane (NE Park Rd) is open now through New Years Eve. Hours for the lights are 4-11 PM, and until midnight on Christmas Eve and New Years.

This year, the area elementary school-aged girls have created the “Candy Cane Club” and will be passing out candy canes on the weekends. Warm drinks can be purchased at the nearby neighborhood grocery store, Boulevard Grocery, at Ravenna Blvd and 20th Avenue NE.

Donations for Northwest Harvest are collected at the exit of the lane.

Filed Under: Crime, Ravenna, Updates Tagged With: , , , , ,

Burglar(s) along NE 65th Street shatter glass, take nothing (UPDATE)

December 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

UPDATE (Friday, December 9): Wedgwood Top Pot Doughnuts (6855 35th Ave NE) was hit the same night and in a similar fashion (door glass smashed in, store rifled through, little to nothing taken) as the other two break-ins, an employee of the store told us today. We were also told that the estimated cost to replace the broken, super-thick all-glass door is $3,000.

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The alarm at Bagel Oasis (2112 NE 65th St) was tripped Tuesday morning around 3 AM. When owner Peter Ryan arrived, the double-paned safety glass of one of his front doors was found scattered all the way to the bagel case at the other side of the store.

Someone had entered the store, but nothing was taken.

A couple doors down, at the Crepe Cafe (2118 NE 65th St), a pane of glass in the door was found broken, as someone had made an attempt to unlock the door from the outside.

But the door remained shut. And nothing was taken.

Cheryl Olmstead, general manager of the Crepe Cafe, didn’t seem too surprised by the burglary attempts. December turns out to be popular month to break into businesses in the area, she said, citing many examples.

But one specific Christmastime burglary attempt in particular stands out to Ryan: Five years ago, when he and his son arrived at his store to find the burglar still on the premises. They could give Phoenix Jones a run for his money, in our humble opinion.

Should anyone have information that leads “to the arrest of knucklehead who threw a rock through the front door and broke in last night,” Ryan is offering up free bagels per week for a year. Call the Seattle Police Department’s non-emergency line at: (206) 625-5011.

Filed Under: Businesses, Crime, Photos, Ravenna, Restaurants, Seattle Police Department, Updates, Wedgwood Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Occupy-related vandalism hits Roosevelt U.S. Bank branch

November 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The U.S. Bank branch in the Roosevelt neighborhood (1023 NE 63rd St) was the target of Occupy movement-related vandalism in the early morning of Saturday, November 26.

Photo by Dominick DiGregorio/Roosevelt Neighborhood Blog. Used with permission.

Our friends over at Roosiehood have the story (and more pictures).

Should you need to access another U.S. Bank branch in our area, there are four others in Northeast Seattle. Click on the map for location information.

Filed Under: Businesses, Crime, Photos, Roosevelt Tagged With: , , ,

Two fatalities, three serious injuries after crash on 110th and Lake City Way (updates)

November 13, 2011 by 1 Comment

UPDATE (Tuesday, December 6): SUV driver has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of vehicular assault and one count of reckless endangerment. (Seattle Times)

UPDATE (Thursday, November 17): The Seattle Times’ Today File reports that the SUV driver has left the hospital, for jail.

UPDATE (Tuesday, 2:09 PM): The Seattle Times reports that the man driving the SUV in Sunday’s crash was charged in 2009 with vehicular homicide.

UPDATE (Monday, 6:32 PM): The Seattle Times’ Today File has information about the victims of the crash.

UPDATE (Sunday, 7:38 PM): More info on the Seattle Police Department Blotter here, including news that the injuries to the people taken to Harborview were non-life-threatening. Also, the accident detour will last until approximately 9 PM.

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Just after 4 PM on Sunday, November 13, Jonah Spangenthal-Lee (via SeaCrime on twitter) mentioned a “[b]ad accident with possible fatalities on 110th and Lake City Way.”


View Fatality accident at 110th and Lake City Way in a larger map

Since then, as details have come in, the story has turned even more tragic.

KING 5 News is reporting that two people have died at the scene, and three others have been taken to Harborview Medical Center.

Police say one car was stopped when another vehicle, an SUV, hit the car from behind.

The car caught fire as it was pushed down the street. Two people in the car were dead at the scene.

The male driver of the SUV was transported to Harborview Medical Center with life threatening injuries

Two girls in the back seat of SUV were also transported to Harborview with serious injuries.

The Seattle Times reports that the injured girls were a 10-year-old and an 20-year-old woman 11-year-old girl.

Updates will be available here at KING5.com and on The Blotter on seattletimes.com.

Filed Under: 911, Crime, Lake City, Seattle Fire Department, Seattle Police Department, Traffic, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A local burglary report you won’t mind reading

November 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I just was doing my Neighborhood News Site Duty by looking at the latest property crime reports, when I see one for the 6200 block of 23rd Avenue NE on October 31st.

Oh, NOT ANOTHER ONE, I think to myself.

And then I read the report.

Here’s my summary:

Officer is dispatched to the home on Sunday, October 31st. Homeowner tells the officer that a laptop computer and two remote controls have been missing from the house since the evening of October 28th. No forced entry was found, but homeowner had been leaving a side door unlocked while repairs were being done inside.  Officer provides a case number, makes the report, and leaves.

Officer is contacted a short time later by wife of previously mentioned homeowner: Items were not stolen, but placed elsewhere in the house.

CASE CLOSED.

I thought with all the recent burglaries, we all might appreciate this particular one.

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Here’s the info on the Crime Prevention Meeting being held on Tuesday, November 16th.

On a related note, Roosiehood and the Ravenna Blog will have some news a little later about a crime prevention meeting for our neighborhoods taking place in a couple weeks. STAY TUNED.

Filed Under: Crime, Everything counts in large amounts, Lost/Found, Ravenna, Seattle Police Department Tagged With: , , ,
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