Post navigation

Prev: (02/08/23) | Next: (02/09/23)

911 | Van images from Bari Hill hit and run investigation, Melrose restaurant thief alert, food cops make bust on 12th Ave

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.

  • Bari Hill hit and run investigation: Images of the scene from where 80-year-old Bari Hill was struck and killed by a hit and run driver Sunday night on E Madison retrieved from security video by police show a black van with distinctive back windows as it sped from the intersection. Hill’s family is asking for the public’s assistance in helping SPD identify the suspect driver and track down the van. If you have seen this vehicle or have information to help the investigation, call 911. UPDATE: Police say witnesses described the van as black or dark green in color with “bars” (or louvres) on the back windows. The van may have heavily tinted windows with a missing, modified, or aftermarket front bumper and there may be damage to the grille from the collision. According to police, people have reported seeing the van in several areas around the neighborhood: in the 2100 block of East Denny Way, the 2200 block of East Madison Street and near Miller Playfield (21st Avenue East / East Thomas St). If you have any information about this van, please contact TCIS detectives at 206-684-8923.
  • Melrose thief alert: Mamnoon has provided these security camera images of a suspected thief they say may have targeted the Melrose restaurant and area businesses. In the most recent incident, Mamnoon tells CHS the suspect entered the busy restaurant Thursday night and headed to a storage area:
    He checked the closet, grabbed a few beers (jokes on him, they were n/a beers!) from the closet, and made his way to the bathroom (right across the hall) where he returned a few times after grabbing a coat from the coat check – the next closet over. Then back to the bathroom, back to the coat check closet where he grabbed a small duffel bag, then back into the bathroom. He soon left with both items, and my floor manager noticed something off, and grabbed another person to follow him. The thief left quickly, made a sharp turn outside the restaurant heading north, and I assume he jumped into a car, because he was nowhere to be seen. multiple trips around the neighborhood on foot did not yield any results – no stolen items were found discarded or anything.
    Mamnoon wants other area businesses to be on the lookout and says SPD is investigating — though their initial response came three hours after the restaurant manager called and involved Mamnoon insisting on filing a report despite discouragement from SPD.
  • Driver pulls gun in school parking lot: Police were called to First Hill’s O’Dea High School Wednesday morning after a driver reportedly pulled a gun on a school employee who asked him to move his car. Police were looking for a dark colored BMW sedan in the 7:30 AM incident. There were no reported arrests.
  • 21/John armed robbery crash follow-up: Police say the suspect arrested in Sunday night’s rollover crash at 21st and John in a police pursuit following a Volunteer Park armed robbery was a juvenile who was tracked down as the driver of the car fled on foot. CHS reported here on the armed robbery and crash. SPD says the crash came after officers observed the vehicle run a red light and attempted a traffic stop. “The vehicle drove away at a high rate of speed and officers deactivated their lights,” SPD’s brief on the incident reads. “The vehicle continued to accelerate through the next red light and ended up striking another vehicle, totaling both vehicles.” There were no reported significant injuries but the teenager was released to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries, SPD says. According to police, the crashed car had been stolen in a previously reported armed robbery. A stolen firearm with an automatic switch and extended magazine was recovered inside the vehicle, SPD says.
  • Pike/Belmont crash: Police say a driver found passed out in a stolen car at Pike and Belmont early last Wednesday morning didn’t get very far when he tried to drive away from officers. According to the SPD report on the incident, police found the reported stolen vehicle stopped in the street and realized there was somebody passed out inside. As they moved their police vehicles into position, the driver reportedly tried to flee but crashed into a nearby rockery. One officer reported minor injuries in the incident. SPD says the suspect was screened for DUI and booked into jail for assault and multiple warrants.
  • 12th Ave food cops bust: The health department’s food cops made a bust on 12th Ave. The county says it shut down a mobile food vendor operating Monday morning outside an emptied commercial building in the 100 block of 12th Ave. While the building and area don’t get much foot traffic, the vendor was apparently catering to the busy flow of vehicle traffic in the area. County health says the vendor was cited for operating without a food permit and shut down.
 

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

 
Subscribe and support CHS Contributors -- $1/$5/$10 per month

5 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
car nerd
car nerd
1 year ago

that’s pretty specific and identifiable – it’s a black 1993-2015-ish Ford e-series, not extended, with a lift kit, extended side mirrors and window blinds.

hope they find the person who did this.

epwarp
epwarp
1 year ago
Reply to  car nerd

Nice. I could tell it was a truck-chassis Ford van, but I’m not that familiar with vans. And the mirrors look like the towing mirrors from a dually.

hope they find the person who did this.

If I can add one…
If I can add one…
1 year ago

Women taking the light rail at Broadway and John, please be careful. I was chased down the steps by a guy swinging a metal pipe at me screaming he was going to kill me, and I witnessed the same guy grab a woman who managed to flee down the escalator. I called 911 but have no idea if they caught the guy because I jumped on the light rail right after. This happened last week at around 6:30am as I was on my way to the airport. The guy seemed like he was completely insane and violent, and I worry he’s going to assault more women.

car nerd
car nerd
1 year ago

Definitely a ford; and the better photos of the front narrow down the age range – it’s model years 2008-2015, when ford updated the front end design.

car nerd
car nerd
1 year ago

…also wouldn’t surprise me if it was repainted black after a prior history as a delivery van.