White Center Now: The blog about White Center

2:52 PM: The King County Sheriff’s Office says that’s the vehicle whose driver hit and killed an 81-year-old man at 15th/Roxbury on Monday night; the crash was first reported on our partner site West Seattle Blog.. Today KCSO released the photo with this request for help:

Case#: C24013796

On Monday, April 22nd, just after 10:00 PM, the King County Sheriff’s Office received 911 calls reporting a hit and run just south of the intersection of SW Roxbury Street and 15th Ave SW in unincorporated White Center.

On arrival, deputies located the victim, an adult male in his 80s. The victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center, where he later was pronounced deceased.

KCSO’s Major Accident Response & Reconstruction (MARR) detectives are asking for the community’s help in locating the fleeing vehicle. The suspected vehicle (picture attached) is described as a silver, 2007-2016 Jeep Compass with front-end damage to the grill and hood.

If you have any information about the incident or were in the area and may have dash camera footage, call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), visit P3Tips.com, or use the P3 Tip App. Tips are anonymous.

4:12 PM: The King County Medical Examiner’s Office released the victim’s name this afternoon: Thomas J. Garrett.

We just checked with King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Eric White for an update on the carjacking we reported Friday night. He tells us it actually happened in the O’Reilly Auto Parts lot while the victim was sleeping inside the car. Then on Sunday, Seattle Police found the car in the 9700 block of Myers Way South and arrested one person, according to Sgt. White, who had no further details on the circumstances of the arrest. We’ll be following up with Seattle Police.

(Also published on partner site West Seattle Blog)

This alert was just relayed over Seattle Police radio – King County Sheriff’s Office deputies are investigating a reported carjacking outside Domino’s Pizza at 17th/Roxbury. Three armed carjackers are reported to have arrived in a white pickup and taken off in both that vehicle and the newly stolen white Toyota Camry, westbound on SW Roxbury. The only description of the carjackers so far: white men in their 20s with goatees and black hats. If you have any info for investigators, call 911.

8:41 PM: An air and ground search is under way in north Burien right now after a pursuing following a carjacking in West Seattle. The pursuit went through White Center, south West Seattle, and other parts of Burien before two suspects were reported to have abandoned a stolen car – not the car taken in the carjacking – near 18th/116th. Police pursued two suspects through south West Seattle, White Center, and Burien after a carjacking. While the stolen vehicle is reported to be a white Audi, officers pursued another vehicle believed to be related, a dark gray Hyundai Tucson reported stolen from Federal Way. The Guardian One helicopter has been assisting; the suspects reportedly abandoned the Hyundai in north Burien, with a ground search ensuing too.

8:46 PM: They’ve taken one suspect into custody in the Salmon Creek Ravine area and are still searching for the other. The original armed carjacking happened in an alley off 35th SW in West Seattle just north of SW Roxbury.

9:14 PM: While the search continues, officers have just radioed that they’re closing streets in the area of 18th/116th.

11:03 PM: We weren’t able to monitor the end of the search live but here’s what we have since gleaned from archived audio: The second suspect apparently was bitten by a police dog and taken for treatment. Police have found various items of evidence in the area where the suspects ran, including a stolen gun, a backpack, and ski masks. The originally carjacked white Audi has been impounded (found thanks to a tracking device). We’ll be following up with police and prosecutors Monday and will add any other information that emerges sooner.

Announced today by the King County Sheriff’s Office:

Last week, our Precinct 4 Special Emphasis Team concluded a several month-long joint narcotics operation with Homeland Security Investigations. The operation targeted a Drug Trafficking Organization responsible for distributing narcotics to White Center, Shoreline, Renton, Seattle, Marysville, Woodinville, Kirkland, Tulalip, Mt. Vernon, Des Moines, and Snohomish County.

The operation involved several warrants, and resulted in the following:

– 71,000 M-30 Fentanyl Pills
– 31 pounds of Methamphetamine
– 2.76 pounds Fentanyl powder
– 1.12 pounds of Heroin
– $7047 cash seized
– 1 car seized
– 2 individuals were booked into the Federal Detection Center (FDC) pending federal charges.

This operation could not have been possible without the collaboration of our partners at Shoreline Police Department SET, City of SeaTac SET, DEA-Tacoma, Burien Police Department, Skyway Patrol, KCSO’s Crime Analysis Unit, and our King County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center.

Drugs kill, and we’re determined to collaborate with local and regional law enforcement partners to apprehend those accountable for distributing narcotics into our neighborhoods.

Thanks for the texted tip – we went over to Patrick’s Café and Bakery at 15th/100th after a report of gunfire at the intersection.

Speaking to us and other media at the scene, proprietor Patrick Choy said he and others in the cafe heard the gunfire around 10:40 am but didn’t see it – he speculates it was someone in a vehicle shooting at someone in another vehicle.

Some of the bullets hit the café building – no injuries but a very close call for a woman inside – her boot was hit by a bullet. Patrick said deputies found shell casings in the street, too. We checked with the King County Sheriff’s Office, which tells us they have no description information so far: “The suspects are unknown at this time.” Meantime, Patrick’s remains open for business as usual.

A familiar name was on today’s list of deaths investigated by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office: Matthew Robert-David Hicks. The KCMEO says Hicks is the 38-year-old man who died at the Lotus/Little Caesar’s restaurant building at 10439 16th SW last Friday, and lists his cause of death as an accidental overdose including fentanyl and methamphetamine. Hicks is the man who pleaded guilty to the arson that destroyed the former Yarington’s Funeral Home site at 16th/107th, a few blocks from where he died. Court records show he was sentenced to 13 months in 2021, but had already served more than half that time. Then in February of last year, he was charged with assaulting a man, and found guilty last December, subsequently sentenced to 19 months, but again had already served more than half the time by then. We don’t know how long Hicks had been out of prison at the time of his death.

(Also published on partner site West Seattle Blog)

(15th south of Roxbury, October 3)

The King County Sheriff’s Office has announced that 17-year-old White Center bus-murder suspect Miguel Rivera Dominguez is in custody. Here’s the entirety of the announcement:

This morning, November 6, 2023, at 9:55 AM, homicide suspect Miguel Rivera Dominguez turned himself into the King County Sheriff’s Office without incident. Rivera Dominguez was named as the suspect in the shooting of 21-year-old Marcel Da’jon Wagner, who was fatally shot while riding on a King County Metro Transit Bus in White Center on October 3rd.

We want to thank our neighboring law enforcement agencies and community members for their assistance, tips, and support during this extensive investigation. Together, we are working to make our community safer.

According to a tipster, he surrendered at the KCSO precinct in Burien, the city in which he had been residing. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Rivera Dominguez as an adult with first-degree murder last week, saying video from the bus suggested he shot and killed Wagner – who may have been asleep – without provocation or any sort of confrontation, without even saying a word. He’ll be held in lieu of $3 million bail.

He’s still not in custody, but the teenage suspect in last month’s murder aboard a Metro bus in White Center is now charged – as an adult.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed charges of first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful gun possession against 17-year-old Miguel R. Rivera Dominguez in the death of 21-year-old Marcell D. Wagner. And with that, an “active warrant” is out for Rivera Dominguez’s arrest, which would put him in jail with bail set at $3 million. The charging documents tell the story of what police and prosecutors believe happened – and for those who assumed there must have been some sort of dispute or confrontation between the two, apparently not: “Without any provocation, and in fact without having ever interacted with the victim at all, the defendant fired five rounds into the victim’s head and neck at point blank range. The defendant then fired two more shots through the door of the bus and fled to a location where he could change his clothing before returning home again.”

Investigators eventually identified Rivera Dominguez by tracing back to the Burien neighborhood where he and a friend had gotten on that bus. They learned he had once been reported as a runaway from his home there, and that he had been suspended from Highline High School for a fight during the last school year. Watching the bus’s on-board video of the shooting, detectives noted that the suspect’s friend appeared as shocked as the bus’s other 15 passengers when he pulled a gun and opened fire on the victim, who was described as possibly sleeping. The court documents say detectives eventually talked to the friend and he also told them he had no idea Rivera Dominguez was going to shoot someone, and that neither of them knew the victim, who had boarded the bus before they did, and was seated in the rear, where they also sat. Deputies found six casings on the bus and one outside. Rivera Dominguez was last seen at the Boys and Girls Club in Greenbridge shortly after the shooting, where he changed his clothes. If you have any information on Rivera Dominguez’s whereabouts, call 911.

Two weeks after a 21-year-old man was shot and killed on a Metro bus at 15th/Roxbury, the King County Sheriff’s Office has identified a 17-year-old suspect and is releasing photos, asking for your help in finding him:

King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) Major Crimes Detectives are seeking the community’s help in locating the suspect of a homicide in White Center on October 3rd.

17-year-old Miguel Rivera Dominguez (pictured) has been identified as the suspect who fatally shot Marcel Da’jon Wagner, 21, on a Metro Bus earlier this month.

Rivera Dominguez has strong ties to the Burien area and is known to use public transportation or seek rides from others. It’s likely he will be wearing a mask to conceal his face while in public. Rivera Dominguez is believed to be armed and extremely dangerous.

Anyone with information on the suspect’s whereabouts can submit a tip by calling (206) 263-2090, via email at mcutips@kingcounty.gov, or anonymously via the P3Tips app. If located, call 911 immediately.

We asked KCSO for any additional descriptive information. They tell us he is 6′ tall, 170 pounds.

According to a bulletin broadcast by Seattle Police (though it’s a King County Sheriff’s Office case), the mini-mart at 15th/Roxbury was hit by a strong-arm robbery a short time ago, and the clerk needed medical attention after being punched in the face by one of the robbers. We don’t know whether this was a shoplift-turned-robbery (which would be defined as such by the use of violence) or a holdup. Five suspects described only as being in their teens and 20s got away in a “blue sedan”; a car of similar description took off after a hit-run crash shortly thereafter at 17th/Roxbury.

(WCN photo, Monday: Memorial for bus-shooting victim)

“M.W.” are the initials spelled out at the memorial along 15th SW for the man shot to death aboard a Metro bus there one week ago tonight. When we photographed the memorial yesterday, we didn’t know what the initials stood for – but tonight we do. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victim as 21-year-old Marcell D. Wagner, who died from “multiple gunshot wounds.” Still no word of an arrest; we’ll be checking again with the King County Sheriff’s Office tomorrow.

(Added: WSB photo)

5:52 PM: A man is reported to have been killed in a shooting on a Metro bus on 15th SW just south of Roxbury. Seattle Police were the first on the scene so our coverage launched on partner site West Seattle Blog, but it’s in King County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction, so they’re taking over the investigation. It was reported around 5:10 pm. The victim was described as “around 30 years old.” We haven’t heard anything else about exact circumstances; the bus was a RapidRide H Line headed for Westwood Village, our photo shows. Conflicting descriptions of the shooter have been broadcast so we don’t have anything for sure right now. If you’ve seen/heard a helicopter, that’s the shared TV chopper, not Guardian One. We’ll add anything more we find out; 15th SW is closed near the scene while the investigation continues.

6 PM: Now Guardian One is also over the scene.

10:08 PM: Here’s the KCSO news release, for the record (though it doesn’t say anything we haven’t already reported:

This evening (October 3rd) at approximately 5:10 pm, deputies from the King County Sheriff’s Office responded to the vicinity of SW Roxbury ST and 15th Ave SW for reports of a shooting that occurred on a Metro bus. Upon arrival, deputies discovered a single victim, who was unfortunately pronounced deceased at the scene.

Multiple specialized units, including Guardian 1 aerial support and a K9 Unit, responded to conduct a thorough search for the individuals involved. As of this moment, the search operation has concluded, and the suspect(s) in question remain at large.

The King County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit will be investigating.

11:20 PM: 15th has reopened, per a Metro advisory.

Thanks to Zac for the tip and photo.

Zac noticed last night that the Mr. O.G. cannabis store at 9823 15th SW had the telltale boarded-up front. We checked with the King County Sheriff’s Office this morning. They say a vehicle was used to break into the shop early Monday and the burglars left the vehicle (no description given) behind.

That security-camera image is from a theft in which Drew says he lost $10,000 worth of guitars and bicycles. It happened in his storage unit at 125 SW 112th and he’s hoping someone might spot some of the items. Here’s a full list – with more photos – of what was stolen, including contact info for Drew and for investigators, if you have any information.

Two overnight incidents: Just after 1 am, a man was found at Steve Cox Memorial Park with a gunshot wound to the leg. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center. King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Capt. Cory Stanton says the Major Crimes Unit is investigating. Meantime, we also asked about an incident on the North Highline Fire incident log suggesting a possible gunfire-related incident around 12:30 am near Roxbury Lanes. Capt. Stanton tells WCN, “Witnesses reported someone was seen shooting into the air. There are no reported injuries at this time. A suspect was located and booked into KCJ.”

A White Center store was held up this afternoon and an intensive search ensued for the robbers. We’ve been covering all this in real time on partner site West Seattle Blog because it came to our attention with the search centered on the city side of the line, but we eventually learned it had started with a White Center robbery: The Top to Bottom clothing store, 9651 15th SW, was robbed around 1:30 pm. KCSO says four people with guns were involved and got away with about $500 in merchandise. No injuries. Some of the stolen clothing was recovered in the West Seattle neighborhood a few blocks north where officers, deputies, and the Guardian One helicopter were searching for a while. Two possible suspects were detained but released for lack of evidence; this past half-hour, at least one other person was detained for questioning in White Center, but we don’t know yet how that worked out.

9:58 AM: King County Sheriff’s Deputies are getting assistance from Seattle Police in what’s basically a parking lot standoff just south of (corrected) Bartell Drugs at 15th/Roxbury. They told us at the scene that a man who’s in a parked vehicle was making threats toward passers-by and may be armed, so they’ve closed off 15th south of Roxbury. No other info so far; avoid the area.

10:01 AM: They’re reopening 15th, but 14th will be blocked south of Roxbury.

10:15 AM: Via Twitter, KCSO describes the suspect as experiencing a “mental-health crisis.”

12:29 PM: We’re back in the area to check. The lot is still taped off, with many police vehicles. 14th SW has reopened, so this situation is now confined to the parking lot.

3:59 PM: The person has been taken into custody since our last check in the area.

(Also published on partner site West Seattle Blog)

(WCN photo from April 2021 crash scene)

A South Delridge woman has pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide in the April 2021 crash (WCN coverage here) that killed an Arbor Heights couple in North Burien. Court documents say Irene Plancarte-Bustos, now 28, was driving drunk, going over 60 mph, with her 3-yeqr-old son in her car, when she slammed into the car carrying 35-year-old Lauren Dupuis-Perez and 38-year-old Kamel Dupuis-Perez. The impact pushed their car into the path of a pickup truck whose driver couldn’t stop before also hitting it, and orphaned the Dupuis-Perezes’ two children. After the crash on the Ambaum Boulevard “S” curve, Plancarte-Bustos drove north a short distance to the Rainbow Mini-Mart, where officers found her. She’s been in jail ever since. In the agreement, in addition to the vehicular-homicide pleas, she pleaded guilty to one gross-misdemeanor count of hit-and-run, while two felony hit-run counts were dropped. She has no record and as part of the plea bargain, prosecutors are recommending the low end of the standard sentencing range, 8 1/2 years plus an extra year for the “enhancement” of having a child in the car. The final sentencing decision will be up to King County Superior Court Judge Averil Rothrock on July 14th. Family and friends have created this website as a tribute to the victims, their work, and their legacy.

11:05 AM: Big callout right now for King County Sheriff’s Deputies and medics for what’s reported as a stabbing at 15th and Roxbury. More details as we get them.

11:20 AM: Our crew at the scene reports this happened at the service station on the southwest corner of the intersection. The victim has been taken to Harborview Medical Center. A suspect is in custody (and currently on a stretcher).