Seattle Crime Reports : Seattle Crime Blog : Seattle, Washington

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Mob justice:

Early Sunday morning, witnesses say, a crowd of about a dozen people beat a 25-year-old man outside the Chop Suey night club on Capitol Hill after the man was ejected from the club for allegedly harassing a woman.

Angelo—who witnessed the event and did not give his last name—and several of his friends were walking near Chop Suey around 1:30 Sunday morning, when he says a large crowd attacked the man. [...] Angelo claims he saw someone grab a folding chair from Chop Suey and use it to beat the man. Angelo also says no one did anything to help the man, who was left bloodied in the intersection of 14th and Pike.

It begs the question: is mob justice a fitting punishment for socially deplorable behavior? On the one hand, knowing that you're going to get your ass kicked for acting out has been a deterrent to men throughout the ages, and is indeed one of the driving forces that keeps civilized society functioning properly. On the other hand, too often situations are blown out of proportion, particularly when alcohol is involved - which, as this incident took place at Chop Suey late in the evening, I'd suspect was the case. But we're left wondering, did this ass-grabber deserve the ass kicking he received?

Packratt at Injustice in Seattle seems to have an answer, and makes a good point in a recent post:

I suppose that Seattle is so far northwest that it's still backwards and firmly in the old west, where mob rule was the law of the land and if you were strung up on a tree you must have deserved it somehow. The problem is that... sometimes, the angry mob is wrong and the drunken pursuit of justice is easily transformed into an injustice that was worse than the alleged crime.

It's a tricky issue, and one that I can't claim to know the answer to: while I think in theory mob rule can be a valuable system of social checks and balances, it can easily be blown out of proportion to the point where the beating being administered really isn't "justice" at all.

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Remember the "South Seattle groper" that The Apprentice wrote about back in March? Well, another attack this past weekend is evidence that the pseudo-sexual assailant is back in business:

Police said Monday night that they believe the woman, who was walking with a small child, was forcefully groped about 10 a.m. Saturday in the 7500 block of Renton Avenue South. The man sneaked up behind her and grabbed her buttocks, causing her to scream, Seattle police reported.

Seems strange that, despite increased patrols and physical descriptions of both the assailant and his vehicle, authorities still haven't made much progress. Not that they aren't doing their part...but if we were dealing with a serial rapist instead of someone who just loves to touch, I'd wager that there'd be a lot more being done to bring him down.

Of course, Seattle isn't the only city where sex craved fiends have trouble controlling themselves. Last week down in Antioch (CA), a 14-year-old girl experienced a similar assault. From the Mercury News:

The girl had just walked home [...] shortly before 5 p.m. when two men approached her wearing hoods and ski masks, said Antioch police Lt. Leonard Orman. As the victim backed away, one of the men said, "Boy, she has a nice (behind)," and pushed the girl up against a parked car. The men fondled her buttocks over her clothes until the girl resisted, punched one of the men and escaped, Orman said.

Could this be the start of a vast conspiracy by an ass-loving cult, hell bent on taking over the nation one grope at a time? Probably not. But until SPD brings down this infamous local celebrity, women in South Seattle had better continue to watch their backs...literally.

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A quick post here. According to today's P.I., some wanna-be thugs were accosting people at bus stops in Redmond and robbing them of simple items, such as jackets and purses. Police caught the thieves when one of them ran past the cops while they were interviewing one of the victims, then got in the car that had been described in similar cases and tried to drive away:

A 53-year-old Redmond woman waiting for a bus in the 4200 block of 148th Avenue Northeast told officers that her purse had been stolen. The woman said one teen distracted her by talking to her when a second teen ran up to her and snatched her purse.

As the woman was talking to officers, she saw the teenager who had spoken to her run by and pointed him out to police. Officers found the teen getting into an SUV matching the description of the one used in the earlier robbery.

Smart moves, guys. You've made the pantheon of dumb criminals.

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A man who has reportedly attacked over 20 Asian women in the South Seattle area has apparently struck again.

The 22nd victim was attacked on March 13th. The guy seems to have the same M.O. on all of his victims, approaching from behind and knocking them down as he assaults and "violently gropes" them.

Not only is this type of crime abhorrent and creepily disturbing; now the guy has gotten bolder, and SPD spokesman Jeff Kappel told the P.I. that police fear the crimes may become more serious.

"It's safe to say it's the same guy," Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel said Saturday. "It's particularly disturbing because he's specifically targeting an ethnic group." [...] "There is a definite concern that this is going to escalate."

One has to wonder what happened in this guy's past that is making him target only Asian women (I mean, we've heard of Asian fetishists...but this is taking it to a whole new level). To the SPD's credit, officials have done some great investigative profile work and have come up with a concise and thorough break down of the man.

"This guy's such a coward," [Kappel] said. "Obviously, he doesn't want to get caught."

Nice. Now we can separate him from all those cowardly criminals who do want to get caught. But at least we have a detailed description of him: a black male, medium height, who may be in his 20's or 30's. In other words, this guy stands out in a crowd...of KKK members.

Sleep safe, South Seattle...sounds like it's only a matter of time before this serial assailant sees his last grope.

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By way of Central District News, here's a sketch police recently released of the suspect in the assault of good samaritan Joseph Skillings:

More detailed than the sketch of the suspect in Shannon Harps' murder, but still very vague...frankly, I couldn't even tell that the suspect was an African American until reading his physical description as printed on CDN:

A black male in his late 40's. He is described as between 5'9" to 6' tall, 150 pounds, with a slim build. He has been described as having a "wrinkled face." He was last seen wearing a black knit ski cap, black thigh length coat with a 1-2" white stripe down the length of the sleeve. He may have been wearing a black velvet sweat suit and was carrying a large black backpack. He may also be wearing gold rings and/or bracelets.

Know him? Call the SPD's Homicide Unit (206-684-5550) with any tips.

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We've got another case of Capitol Hill crime this afternoon, with a weekend assault on a Ballard schoolteacher coming to light in the local press.

The P.I. doesn't offer much in terms of facts on the case, but here is what's known:

• The incident occurred around 10 p.m. Sunday evening (which makes us wonder why it isn't reaching the newspapers until Wednesday), when an unknown aggressor was seen verbally assaulting a woman at a bus stop on Pine Street.
  
• The good-samaritan-turned-victim, Joseph Skillings, witnessed the assault and dialed 9-1-1...but not before he was spotted by the assailant, who threw him to the ground.
  
• Skillings went into a seizure, and now sits in critical condition at Harborview.
• The assailant escaped into the night, though the woman he was initially harassing claims that he's a regular face in the neighborhood who she'd recognize if spotted again.

It raises the age-old question: do we have a duty to our neighbors? Many locals would argue that the obvious answer is "yes." At the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Safety Forum last week, the point was made that in some cities, a woman's cry for help - such as the cries let out by Shannon Harps - would be ignored by people more concerned with "minding their own business." (Kitty Genovese, anyone?).

Despite the isolation and obsession over privacy that this city prides itself on, Seattle - and Capitol Hill specifically - is a community where neighbors watch out for each other. Skillings was doing just that...and paid a hefty price.

There's little doubt that the rest of his life will be dramatically altered because of his spur of the moment choice to defend this woman. His intentions were good; but did he think his decision all the way through? Many of us like to believe that in a similar situation, we'd do the same thing.

Hopefully, we won't ever have to find out.

Note: the picture above is a fist. In case you couldn't tell. - Ed.

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Seattle city council member Richard McIver will avoid standing trial on charges he beat his wife last October, according to a blurb on the Times' website:

King County prosecutors have dropped domestic violence charges against Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver. Details to come.

Just a coincidence this comes the same day a judge rules that 911 evidence in the case is inadmissible in court? Doubtful.