Stories

With the holiday weekend approaching, it's eerily quiet in CDNews World Headquarters today.   Maybe it will be quiet on the cloudy streets of the East Precinct too:

The full report from Tuesday, August 26, 2008:

Where has our sunny August gone?   Here's the scoop from the streets of the East Precinct:

All the news from Seattle's East Precinct: 

It's another rare gray day in August.  Let's see if the rain dampens the spirit of the East Precinct streets:

We just received word from the King County Prosecutor's Office that a 15-year old juvenile, whose name we are withholding due to his age, has been charged with First Degree Assault and Illegal Possession of a Firearm in the shooting of a Judkins Park man last Thursday.

Prosecutors will attempt to try the suspect as an adult.   A hearing is scheduled for next Friday, August 29th, at 8:30 am at Juvenile Hall to consider that request.

The charging documents contain several facts that weren't previously known:

• The 20 year old victim knows the suspect from the neighborhood and has had "an ongoing conflict" with him.
• The victim was visiting family members near 26th & Alder when he saw the suspect walking with 2-3 other people he didn't recognize
• The suspect disappeared down an alley, and a few minutes later he returned with a revolver in his hand and began shooting as the victim was getting into his vehicle
• One bullet grazed the victim on the right side of his head, but he was able to drive away without further injury
• The...

It's a Wednesday in Seattle's East Precinct:

Yesterday we picked up a fresh batch of police reports, and as I was cruising through them I found one related to the shooting last Thursday in Judkins Park.   It turns out that the suspect in the shooting was not arrested for the shooting itself, but for narcotics possession.

Here's the narrative from the report:

On [8/14/08 at 14:59pm] we spotted [the suspect] walking northbound on 28 Ave S approaching S King St on the west side of the street. [The suspect] was allegedly involved in another incident [the shooting] in which he was implicated as the suspect. We stopped and detained him at this location. We were told by Gang Unit Detectives Cobane and Hughey to transport [the suspect] to the SJC for questioning.  Officer Byrd searched [the suspect] prior to transport and located a clear plastic baggie containing small white rocks consistent, based on my training and experience, with the appearance of crack-cocaine. We transported [the suspect] to the SJC and released him to the custody of Gang Unit detectives. 

At...

Here's the Tuesday news from Seattle's East Precinct: (a very slow day so far)

we were the victims of cd crime(again), but it was the weekend so we missed our shot at making the cd news. my family and me were having a mellow sunday afternoon when a police officer knocked on our door and asked if our car had been stolen, of course I looked at him and said "I don't know has our car been stolen? well to my suprise our 95 accord wagon was involved in a hit and run down the street.  The catch is that it had been stolen the night before by our very young neighborhood friends somehow thought it was safe to come back within two blocks of our house.   The whole time I was talking to the police at the scene I kept waiting for the cd news to show up and make me  famous, but to no avail.  in case you don't know there is a very problematic house on twenty third between marion and columbia where our young friend ran into after the crash where he was apprehended, identified by a witness and arrested.  This was the third time our honda was stolen and this time they/he totaled it.  Interestingly enough...

It was a dark and stormy Monday in Seattle's East Precinct:

This popped up on the scanner at 1:19pm this afternoon, originally as a shots-fired call, then updated by later calls reporting a man with gunshot wounds in a yard in the 700 block of 26th Ave S.   

I rode over to the scene and saw a heavy-set black male being treated by medics for a gunshot wound to the chin.  He was alert and conscious and able to get up and get into an ambulance under his own power.

There was a red Chevy Suburban parked in a neighboring driveway with visible damage from bullet holes to the rear windows.  Police were also taking pictures of the front of the vehicle, which I couldn't see.   Witnesses at the scene told me that it was the victim's vehicle, and that he was shot while driving and made his way to this address where either he and/or his family live.   Family members of the victim were present at the scene and visibly distraught

Officers from the gang unit were also there taking pictures of the vehicle and talking to the victim.

It's not clear where the original shooting occured at this...

There's a pretty amazing article, the first of two parts, in the PI today about the new breed of gangs that are operating in the Seattle area.  In it, Claudia Rowe has done the kind of in-depth reporting that is increasingly rare, the kind that I could never imaging getting the courage to do.  She's combined a bunch of interviews with current and former gang members together with some great insight about what gangs are out there and where they operate.

You've really got to read the whole thing.  

It gives a lot of background on the environment that many kids find themselves in and how they turn to gangs for support:

Chris Cates' experience was typical. A skinny kid, awkward and lonely, he moved from home to home with his mother (his father long since gone to live in California) and was beaten up in every new neighborhood they found - the Central District, Lake City, Greenwood. By the time he was 12 and watching other, gang-affiliated buddies stride effortlessly down the street, Cates was desperate to join.

She also...

Our gorgeous summer weather continues on this Tuesday in August.  Here's the scoop from Seattle's East Precinct:

Never fear - the scanner is back in action: