(Image: SPD)
See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.
- Graffiti bust: Police arrested a man they believe is a prolific Seattle tagger and his alleged accomplice after the 2013-built mixed-use Pine+Minor apartment building at the base of Capitol Hill was hit with graffiti last week. According to records, the 36-year-old spent three days in King County jail after being booked just after midnight last Thursday morning. The suspect was held for investigation of felony malicious mischief but has not yet been charged and is currently out on $10,000 bail. In 2006, the man pleaded guilty after police say he was caught scratching the letters AAA into a downtown business window’s glass. According to those charges, the man used the tagging handle “EAGER” and was associated with the “graffiti crew” 3A — “Again Again Again,” “3 Aces,” “Annihilating All Amateurs,” and “Alcohol Amphetamines Aerosol,” prosecutors explained. SPD’s tout of Thursday’s bust comes as Mayor Bruce Harrell has called for a crackdown on graffiti and tagging as part of efforts his administration says will help improve public safety. SPD said it was investigating to determine if the two men arrested were “responsible for additional graffiti in the city.”
- A 28-year-old was taken to Harborview in stable condition after being struck by a hit and run driver while crossing the street at 11th and Pine. The Friday incident happened just after 6:30 PM on a rainy, blustery night with multiple reports of people struck by drivers across the city. According to East Precinct radio updates, the driver left the scene in the dark SUV-style vehicle and was last seen on 12th Ave but police were unable to immediately located the vehicle. The impact of the collision reportedly caused part of the car’s bumper to crack off at the scene. The person struck was treated at the busy 11th and Pine crossing and then transported to the hospital for further treatment. There have been no arrests.
- Scooter rider vs. driver road rage: A 12th and Yesler road rage incident involving an angry scooter rider who allegedly pointed a handgun at a driver coincided with gunfire during a nearby drug deal gone bad to lock down an elementary school in the area Friday afternoon, SPD reports:
At 1353 hours, an adult female was traveling in her car at 12th and Yesler when she was approached by a male riding a scooter. The female victim reported that something apparently made the suspect very angry, and he began to pound on her car damaging a window and her rear-view mirror. The victim yelled to the suspect asking him why he had damaged her car. The suspect then pulled out a handgun and pointed it at her. The victim reported that this terrified her, and she began to drive away. She then reported that the suspect began to chase her. The victim was able to get away and called 911. At the time this call was reported to 911, another caller reported a shooting incident two blocks away. Both calls were near an elementary school which prompted the school staff to go into immediate lockdown just prior to releasing students for the day. Officers responded to the area to determine whether the calls were related and additional officers were sent to the school for security.
SPD says officers were able to determine that the gunfire was actually “due to a narcotics transaction that resulted in violence” but provided no further details. Police were unable to locate the suspect from the road rage incident. Officers stood by as the Bailey Gatzert Elementary School released its lockdown until students had left the building, SPD reports.
HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.
Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.
I hope they can find out who the scooter rider was. Those things have GPS and you have to have an account to turn them in and pay for them. this is not the first time a scooter rider has done something like this. Scooter rage is real. Smh
For the vandals, Not sure what the penalty is or should be but maybe they should be forced to do graffiti removal as community service.
He is being investigated for “felony malicious mischief,” so I assume this means some jail time if convicted. I hope they throw the book at him, especially since he has a prior, and to send a message to other would-be graffiti vandals.
Nice work, SPD!
Hmm gun violence, school lockdowns, multiple pedestrian hit and runs but SPD got the graffiti guy. Way to go.
Delighted to see the graffiti vandal arrested. I hope he has serious consequences for the many thousands of dollars of damage he has done to private and public property. This is not art. It is vandalism. Glad he was named. Please keep us updated.
Graffiti is fine. lol The people who whine are so weird.
Where do you live? Just curious. Wanted to come by and paint something for you.
He probably rents and doesn’t gaf, because his landlord is the one who has to clean it. But he definitely whines because his rent goes up and never makes any connections…
Agree James, street art culture in this city is thrilling and fascinating. These people are all cops and wet blankets.
I love that they tweeted out multiple pictures of the graffiti, the crew is probably THRILLED. And judging from the size of the tag they must have taken two or three hours to get there.
That dude has caused HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars of damage. Wow – i see his tags and grafitti EVERYWHERE.
Get “Borek” next. That person has trashed so many brick buildings in the ID and beyond! Spray paint is hard to get off of bricks.
Thats what a developer gets for spending the extra money to use nice materials, like brick, in this town. Yet the same people who demand they ise better, more expensive materials, defend ridiculous graffiti as art. You can’t have both people.
One of these beautiful people posted $10,000 bail, then failed to appear in court on Monday. He has prior convictions for assault and malicious mischief. The other guy has been wanted since 2016 on kidnapping and assault charges in a case involving a woman. He is a well known gang member with many prior felony convictions for harassment, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful imprisonment, etc. Beautiful people creating beautiful art, when their not assaulting, kidnapping, burglarizing, and harassing others in our city.
Wow, a repeat offender with all those priors and felony convictions. Why wasn’t he in prison?
I hope the punishment for this loser matches the hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages he has caused with the stupid tags. Replacing windows, applying chemicals to remove graffiti, and repainting also have a substantial environmental cost.
This crew used to etch the windows and tag everything, from patio furniture to our trash cans, when I helped manage a non profit org building at the bottom of the hill. The damage was frequent and expensive – you can’t really fix etched windows without replacing them. When we couldn’t clean it up right away, the city would threaten to fine us. Then we’d have to hire one of the graffiti removal outfits in town that probably just exist due to this crew. I understand the “stickin it to the man” mentality that people might have when they romanticise taggers. But there is no Robin Hood goodness going on with these guys.
The sad part is I have heard people blame pranky kids for a lot of this graffiti in town. But this shows the real source is a handful of middle aged gang bangers (or B*tch Titted Manchildren like my boyfriend called them). Bake them away, toys!!!
love the added misogyny at the end there, fun fun fun
these two need to grow up – mid thirties and still running around like they’re 16 doing silly stuff. I’m all for staying young at heart but come on…