Author Archives: jseattle

About jseattle

Justin is publisher of CHS. You can reach him at [email protected] or call/txt (206) 399-5959. Follow @jseattle on Twitter or be best pals on Facebook.

911 | Groping, keg-tossing suspect busted in Crescent Lounge melee

Posted on by
7

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 reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • Chaotic Crescent assault arrest: Seattle Police arrested a suspect as he attempted to drive away across Capitol Hill after a chaotic melee of groping and damage inside E Olive Way’s Crescent Lounge early Tuesday. Police were called to the 1400-block dive bar just after midnight to a report the nightspot was shuttered as a man had been locked out of the bar after assaulting and groping people in attacks on staff and patrons. SPD says the suspect reportedly “threw a full keg of beer,” groped “several” people, and “hurled a beer bottle at a bartender” during the melee. According to East Precinct radio updates, the suspect was quickly tracked down while fleeing the area in his vehicle and was identified in part thanks to the flip-flops he was wearing at the time of the assault. Police say the suspect appeared to be “clearly impaired” and a field sobriety test was conducted. The suspect also had an open alcoholic beverage in his car, and was driving on a suspended license, SPD says. He was also required by court order to have an ignition interlock device but did not. SPD says the suspect was booked on multiple investigations including three counts of Assault, two counts of Special Allegation – Sexual Motivation, Harassment, Driving Under the Influence, Operating a Motor Vehicle Without an Ignition Interlock Device, and driving with a suspended/revoked license in the 3rd Degree. Police say the chaos didn”t stop with his arrest. According to SPD, the man also managed to assault an officer as he was taken to Harborview under a search warrant for blood evidence. “Hospital staff did not draw his blood due to his unsafe behavior,” SPD reports. No serious injuries were reported at the Crescent.
  • Montlake DUI crash: Police say an SUV flipped multiple times and a suspected DUI driver fled the scene of the crash after a collision Monday afternoon that caused a traffic nightmare at the Montlake Lid 520 interchange:
    At 1543 hours, police responded to a report of a collision where a vehicle flipped multiple times at the intersection of Montlake Blvd E/E Lake Washington Blvd. It was reported a gray SUV traveled at a high rate of speed southbound on Montlake Blvd E in the opposing lanes of traffic, when the driver quickly swerved back into the correct lanes of traffic colliding with a black SUV making an eastbound turn onto E Lake Washington Blvd. The collision caused the gray SUV to flip multiple times and hit a white SUV waiting to make a westbound turn onto 520 eastbound before coming to a stop on the curb located on the southwest side of Montlake Blvd E. Officers arrived quickly and spoke with witnesses who provided information about the suspect driver. The male suspect driver fled from the scene on foot but was located a short distance away. No one was seriously injured from the collision.
    Police say the suspect driver was arrested for hit and run, DUI, and reckless driving and was to be booked into jail once medically cleared at Harborview.
 

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE THIS SPRING
🌈🐣🌼🌷🌱🌳🌾🍀🍃🦔🐇🐝🐑🌞🌻 
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 $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 👍 

 

Another delay as sentencing in Elijah Lewis murder trial postponed to May

Posted on by
1

Already a delayed journey, the path to justice in the Elijah Lewis murder case will stretch out for three more weeks.

“Barring extraordinary circumstances, this will be the last continuance,” King County Superior Court Judge Sean O’Donnell vowed in his decision last week to grant a final continuance for the sentencing hearing for defendant Patrick Cooney.

In February, Cooney was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and first degree assault for the April 2023 scooter road rage shooting that took the life of the 23-year-old Lewis at the corner of Broadway and Pine. Continue reading →

Fundraiser: Organizer of PrideFest Capitol Hill and Seattle Center celebrations says some sponsors are pulling out

Posted on by
18

A PrideFest 2025 scene on Broadway

The producer of the events that fill Cal Anderson, Broadway and the Seattle Center with Pride celebrations every June is trying to close a $75,000 gap amid what it says is a nationwide downturn in support for LGBTQ organizations and queer causes and “sponsorship challenges across the country for organizations like ours.”

“Already, we are seeing a loss of about 1/3 of our sponsorship funding (around $225,000 total, or $75,000 down as of April 1),” the call for support reads. “At PrideFest, we are committed to throwing big, beautiful events that are free for all, but it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce such a large event well, to pay artists, and to make it safe for everyone.”

You can give here.

PrideFest and director Egan Orion organize the annual Pride weekend events that include the party around the Seattle Center fountain that follows the city’s annual Pride parade and the street festival that precedes it and fills Broadway and Cal Anderson with vendors, performances, and fun. Here is a look at the 2024 PrideFest festivities on Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

Garfield High School mourns senior shot and killed in Yakima

Posted on by
1

The communities of Garfield High School are facing another spring mourning a young life lost to gun violence but this latest tragedy happened far from the 23rd Ave campus.

The Garfield PTSA announced a candlelight vigil will be held Monday night at the Central District school to mark the life of Salvador Granillo who was shot and killed Sunday in Yakima.

“Another loss of another precious person in our school community is devastating,” the PTSA announcement reads. “Holding his family, friends and everyone who knew and loved Salvador in our hearts. Holding all GHS students, teachers, staff and families in our hearts too.” Continue reading →

2025’s anti-Trump protests are smaller, low-conflict, frequent, and have great signs — Another marched on Broadway Saturday

Posted on by
17

The latest in a year of smaller, more local, low-conflict protests focused on messaging against the second Trump administration filled the Seattle Central plaza and Broadway Saturday.

The Capitol Hill rally and march was part of a national day of “Hands Off” protests across the country and up and down the Puget Sound. It was also part of multiple demonstrations in the city itself as groups like Seattle Indivisible have kept a steady drum beat of protests in motion with frequent, nearly weekly gatherings centered in neighborhoods and cities across the region instead of attempting larger rallies in Seattle.

Keeping track of the smaller events has been sometimes a challenge for those wanting to get involved and sort out if a planned protest will have a healthy turnout. Continue reading →

911 | First Hill 13th floor fire, crisis response off 15th Ave E

Posted on by
Reply

(Image: Seattle Fire)

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 reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • First Hill fire: A Thursday afternoon fire in First Hill’s Jefferson Terrace damaged a 13th-floor unit of the Seattle Housing Authority building and sent a woman to the hospital. Seattle Fire says it escalated the just before 5 PM incident at the apartment tower in the 800 block of Jefferson to a two-alarm response as crews rushed to get water on the flames. SFD said it was able to contain the fire to the original unit. One patient was helped out of the building by firefighters. Crews treated an approximately 40-year-old female in stable condition. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center. Seattle Police closed streets to traffic during the response and reported making one arrest “for a person trying to force their way into the active fire scene.” SFD says investigators ruled the cause of the fire as accidental, “the result of incense that ignited nearby bedding spreading to the mattress.” Continue reading →

First 2025 totals show East Precinct left out of rest of city’s dip in reported property crime

Posted on by
38

The union representing Seattle’s sworn officers does not seem to love the city

The Seattle Times called them out on it

This is Capitol Hill…

And the Central District.

With a debate brewing with the Seattle Police Officers Guild over citywide crime stats showing a drop across Seattle in the first quarter of 2025, the numbers for the East Precinct covering the neighborhoods around Capitol Hill, First Hill, and the Central District tell a slightly different story.

Crime statistics compiled by SPD show property crimes did not dip here in January, February, and March like they did in other parts of Seattle including a 26% drop in the North Precinct, a 25% drop in the South,
30% in the Southwest.

Downtown’s West Precinct was down 7% — right around the East Precinct’s modest dip.

Meanwhile East Precinct violent crime totals including a leap in reported sexual assaults were up in the first three months of 2025.

There are also trends that are not being talked about. Arrests across the city have leapt above the totals recorded in the same period last year — including a 30% jump in East Precinct arrests so far in 2025. Continue reading →

Seattle Fire: Cause of Queen Sheba blaze ‘undetermined’

Posted on by
2

(Image: CHS)

The Seattle Fire Department says its investigation could not determine an official cause for Tuesday afternoon’s fire that charred the outside of the old Queen Sheba restaurant at Broadway and John.

“Fire investigators ruled the cause as undetermined,” SFD said. “The fire originated in a dumpster between two buildings and spread to the exterior and windowsills of one of the structures.”

SFD says damage was mostly contained to the exterior of the old house turned restaurant. Continue reading →

Another fire damages old Queen Sheba building at Broadway and John — UPDATE

Posted on by
2

Thanks to neighbor Teddy for the picture

A fire scorched the empty building formerly home to the Queen Sheba restaurant at Broadway and John Tuesday afternoon.

Seattle Fire was called around 2:45 PM to reports of flames on the outside of the building that spread to the interior. Continue reading →

Gunman makes off with $3K cash in Capitol Hill pot shop hold-up

Posted on by
6

Seattle Police and a K9 unit flooded the streets around the Ruckus Capitol Hill pot shop but could not track down the suspect in a Friday night armed robbery at the store.

According to SPD and East Precinct radio updates, the gunman walked into the E Republican at 15th pot shop just before midnight and demanded money. The suspect reportedly made off with around $3,000 in cash.

He was described as a black male in his 40s, wearing all black with a t-shirt or mask wrapped over his face, wearing black work boots, carrying a black or grey bag, and armed with a handgun. Continue reading →