White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Joe lives in White Center and uses the Myers Way Park-and-Ride, which is in Seattle city limits. Earlier this week, his car was stolen from the P/R, and he asked if we would send out an alert to be on the lookout for it. Before we got a chance to publish it, he found out that his car had been recovered – on Delridge Way SW, across the street from the vacant Boren Middle School building. He said it’s “in pretty good shape … the stereo and car battery are gone but the windows and tires are still intact.”

Just in from WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz – More than 20 law-enforcement vehicles rushed to help a King County transit deputy after an attack attempt around 9:45 pm in White Center. A KC Sheriff’s Office supervisor told Deanie that the deputy tried to make a routine traffic stop, pulling over the vehicle in a business parking lot at 106th/16th. As the deputy approached the vehicle, the driver threw it into reverse, gunned it, and tried to run over the deputy, according to the KCSO supervisor. Deanie says the call for backup brought cars from Seattle, Burien, and Sound Transit as well as the Sheriff’s Office. The deputy wasn’t hurt; one arrest is reported, and three more people were detained for questioning.

Received a notice indicating the monthly meeting is on tonight as usual – 6 pm, White Center DSHS building between 14th and 15th SW just south of Roxbury, second floor. No agenda mentioned so far (we’re checking).

We have the court documents this morning in a case first reported last night by seattlepi.com – two suspects charged with drug violations in connection with what authorities call a “drug house” in the 10400 block of 8th SW. The charges are filed against 51-year-old Charles Whitney Nelson and his 54-year-old brother Vance Mclay (aka Martin Nelson).

According to court documents, the King County Sheriff’s Office first got a complaint about the house in August 2008; the suspected drugs were heroin and meth. They checked on the area and “contacted” people from time to time, including surveillance and two arrests in December 2008; after that, the court documents say, activity “declined” – till early 2010. June 30th of last year was a pivotal date, according to the charging papers; a deputy and detectives parked nearby, watched comings and goings, and started stopping and arresting people. Then they discovered a three-year-old boy was in the house, grandson of Charles Nelson. Checking inside, the KCSO team found what they summarized as “overwhelming filth, dangerous drugs and paraphernalia” and took the child into protective custody. They talked to Nelson and Mclay, who acknowledged the drug activity and promised to clean things up. They didn’t, according to numerous subsequent visits by law enforcement that are detailed in the court papers, and a raid last December netted 13 arrests.

Each brother faces two charges resulting from the court documents summarizing countless KCSO visits. King County Jail records show that Charles Nelson was in jail for a little more than one day after the mid-December raid; he has been jailed twice since then, once for about a day for a public-nuisance charge, once for half a day for criminal trespass. Mclay (Martin Nelson) also spent one day in jail after the mid-December raid, and half a day since then for criminal trespass. Both are reported to have criminal records going back into the ’80s.

From the King County Sheriff’s Office – a long-awaited program has launched:

The Sheriff’s Office has launched online reporting for a variety of crimes, suspicious circumstances, and traffic complaints.

The service is available to citizens living in unincorporated King County, as well as the 12 communities that contract for police services from the Sheriff’s Office. That’s over 500,000 people.

However, citizens who still want “human contact” can do so by telephoning the Sheriff’s Office Communications Center at (206) 296-3311. A deputy will come to the door if preferred.

➢ All emergencies must still be reported to 9-1-1!

“This new reporting system was developed for the convenience of folks who may not want to call in or wait for a deputy”, said Sheriff Sue Rahr. “It just gives citizens another option”, she added. Due to budget cutbacks, wait times for deputies in unincorporated King County have increased for incidents that are not emergent, Rahr said.

In addition, the new program allows crime victims to print a copy of their report which can be sent to their insurance company, if needed.

Some of the many crimes that can be reported through the Sheriff’s Office web site include vandalism, car prowls, thefts from vehicles or yards, identity theft, nuisance phone calls, as well as thefts of mail and bicycles. Burglaries and car thefts still require a visit from a deputy, but follow-up information after the initial report can be sent via the new system.

Reports of abandoned vehicles, suspicious activity, narcotic activity, and chronic traffic problems such as neighborhood speeding can be reported using the on-line system.

The link to view the complete list of what can be reported and other criteria is at www.ReportToSheriff.org.

On-line reporting and resource information is also available in Cambodian, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. By calling the Sheriff’s Communication Center, callers can be linked with a live translator for other languages.

Today the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged “Green River Killer” Gary Ridgway in the murder almost 30 years ago of Becky Marrero. She grew up in White Center, as noted here last Christmas. Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg writes in “The Prosecutor’s Post”:

Today, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (PAO) charged Gary Ridgway with Aggravated First Degree Murder for the death of 20-year-old Becky Marrero, whose remains were found in December of 2010 by three teenagers exploring a steep ravine near Auburn.

Marrero’s remains were discovered within 100 feet of an area that had been thoroughly searched by members of the King County Sheriff’s Office’s Green River Task Force in 2003. Ridgway had directed the Task Force to that area, among many others, during the five months he was interviewed by the Task Force. An exhaustive search of the area was conducted, but only the remains of another victim, Maria Malvar, were found at that time.

Ultimately, Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts of Aggravated First Degree Murder in 2003. The plea agreement required Ridgway to plead guilty to the original seven charged counts and any and all future cases where his confession could be corroborated by reliable facts revealed by the investigation.

Ridgway confessed to killing Becky Marrero in 2003, but was unable to provide details of the crime. The PAO determined that there were not sufficient supporting facts to warrant a charge at that time. Prosecutors expect Ridgway to plead guilty to Marrero’s murder under the plea agreement.

This is not a death penalty case because it falls squarely within the agreement made in 2003. Seeking the death penalty would not only be difficult, it would be impossible under the agreement. When Norm Maleng made the difficult decision in 2003 to trade the death penalty for the truth about unsolved cases, he had cases like this one and families like the Marrero’s in mind.

Becky Marrero’s family was finally able to bury her after a church service this past weekend. They finally have answers. They have provided a proper burial, and with these charges and anticipated guilty plea, they will have achieved some level of justice for Becky.

(Note: While our West Seattle site is down – its server-management company says they’re under denial-of-service attack – we’re posting stories here, since this site is unaffected, using a different server-management company. When the outage is over, we’ll move them to WSB and delete them here unless they’re of White Center relevance too.)

New development tonight in the wake of yesterday’s Lincoln Park attack and arrest. Tonight police have gone public with that sketch they say was made because of an attack in the park last December. They want to hear from anyone and everyone who not only might have had a suspicious encounter in the park, but anyone who might have been subject to “unwanted touching” elsewhere in West Seattle. As we reported earlier today, the man arrested yesterday, 46-year-old Duane Starkenburg, is currently charged only in one incident – and police are working hard to see if there are others he might be responsible for. Here’s their full update.

An update this morning from King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart, with the cause of the weekend fire and the scope of what KCSO calls a grow operation:

An early morning fire in a single family residence did more than burn up the house. It sent a good-size, illegal marijuana grow operation up in smoke as well.

The fire was reported about 1:00 AM on Sunday morning, January 23rd, in the 10400 block of 10th Ave SW (White Center neighborhood of unincorporated King County).

Responding firefighters called the Sheriff’s Office after they found the marijuana grow operation in the basement of the residence as they were knocking down the fire. There were about 55 medium size plants, lights, timers, ventilation equipment, and other growing supplies in the house.

No one was home at the time of the fire and there were no arrests.

A fire investigator from the Sheriff’s Office believes an electrical malfunction was the likely cause of the fire.

4:15 PM: According to KING5.com, a fire on 10th Avenue SW early this morning has sparked a King County Sheriff’s Office investigation – because of an alleged marijuana-growing operation. Here’s their story. We’ve got messages out to find out more.

6:07 PM UPDATE: A little more information from King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart – The fire was in the 10400 block of 10th Ave SW. A county fire investigator has been to the scene but the investigator’s report isn’t filed yet, so details will have to wait until at least tomorrow, including the size of the “grow op” he says they found. The house was fully involved when fire crews arrived, according to Sgt. Urquhart, who says fire crews called for KCSO around 1:12 am.

Just in from Sgt. John Urquhart with the King County Sheriff’s Office:

A party at a house in White Center “went bad” early Sunday morning (January 16th). Numerous shots were fired about 3:10 AM by one suspect and one man was hit. He is at Harborview Medical Center after undergoing emergency surgery.

The house is in the 600 block of SW 107th St (map). A number of people were at the party and a fight broke out when one of the party-goers apparently grabbed the butt of one of the female guests. Her boy-friend took exception and there was a fistfight. The grabber was summarily ejected from the house.

About an hour later several men came back to the house, pounded on the front door, and then fired several rounds from a handgun into the house. A 20 year-old Seattle man was hit in the torso. The suspects fled.

The Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the shooting by neighbors.

Friends of the victim drove him to Harborview where he remains in critical condition. The friends remained and were interviewed by detectives.

There have been no arrests and the case is under investigation today.

We heard this pursuit on the scanner last night but didn’t realize it had begun in White Center. Just in from King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart:

The New Year is starting with a bang as one car chased another car while firing several shots at the fleeing vehicle. Apparently no one was hit.

Then it got interesting. A Sheriff’s deputies found the suspect car twice, and the chase(s) was on!

It all started about 10:50 PM last night (January 2nd). The Sheriff’s Office received a 9-1-1 call about a black Acura chasing a red SUV in the White Center area at speeds up to 80 mph. The driver of the Acura was leaning out the window shooting a handgun at the SUV.

Ten minutes later a deputy found the Acura, now in the Top Hat neighborhood and a short pursuit ensued. But the suspect vehicle got away.

A few minutes later a 2nd deputy found the car again, this time on SR 599. Another pursuit ending up on southbound I-5. The chase was ended when the deputy lost sight of the car at about the Kent-Des Moines Road.

At 12:15 AM a White Center woman called to report her 1997 Acura Integra stolen. Deputies believe this was the vehicle involved in the shooting and the chase. The license number is 403ZJG (Washington). The car is distinctive because it is black but with red and silver wheel rims.

So far there are no reported injures. No one is in custody. Neither the stolen vehicle nor the red SUV, possibly a 4Runner, have been found.

Anyone with information is asked to call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hours) or 9-1-1.

10:32 AM UPDATE: According to the scanner, police have found the stolen car. No word if they found a suspect with it. It wasn’t in West Seattle or White Center – someplace else in Seattle city limits, couldn’t quite pick that up from the radio transmissions.

Following up on the King County Sheriff’s Office announcement that remains of another likely Green River Killer victim had been identified, seattlepi.com tells more of her story tonight, in an interview with her sister. The photo of Becky Marrero , who disappeared in December 1982, is courtesy of KCSO. In case you missed the earlier coverage, here’s their official announcement:

A skull found in an Auburn ravine on Tuesday (December 21st) was positively identified as Rebecca “Becky” Marrero. The remains were identified by Dr. Gary Bell, who performs forensic odontology for Medical Examiner’s Office and the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab.

Detectives believe Marrero very likely a victim of serial killer Gary Ridgway, the so-called Green River Killer.

Marrero was last seen on December 3, 1982 when she left a motel room at S. 168th and Pacific Highway South. She was 20 years old at the time.

Marrero was reported missing to the Sheriff’s Office by her mother on July 20, 1984. Her disappearance was investigated by the Green River Task Force, and she was believed to be a Green River victim.

Ridgway was arrested on November 30, 2001. Two years later he pleaded guilty to the murder of 48 women and was sentenced to 48 consecutive live terms. He was not charged in the Marrero case.

The remains of Marie Malvar on September 28, 2003 in the same general area where Marrero was found. Malvar was last seen in 1983 at S. 216th and Pacific Highway South. Ridgway was convicted in the Malvar homicide.

Ridgway was questioned extensively in 2003 about Becky Marrero’s disappearance. However by policy, the Sheriff’s Office does not discuss what suspects say or don’t say during the investigation of open cases.

Story and photo by Karen Berge
Reporting for White Center Now

The White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition held their final meeting for the year last night in the White Center DSHS building. This gathering was a mixture of fun as well as business, as the group organizers wanted to celebrate “a year well-spent” with a potluck. Attendees included 15 adults and a handful of well-behaved young children.

Co-chair Sean Healy opened the business portion of meeting shortly after 6 p.m. with a round of introductions and a few remarks. He noted that there were no representatives from the King County Sheriff’s Office and Seattle Police Department at the meeting as there have been in the past. It’s not clear if members of KCSO will be able to attend future meetings because of budget cuts; he said they do expect and hope to have representatives from SPD on hand at upcoming meetings.

Next, Pat Price, from the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council briefed the group on a “Teens Against Drug Abuse” event she attended in High Point last month. She participated in a roundtable discussion about prescription drug use, a problem with growing prevalence and impact; their conclusion is that “Take Back Our Meds” programs are a huge step toward reducing the problem and could be implemented here. A one-day take-back collection effort recently resulted in more than 1300 pounds of drugs being collected. Price proposed inviting one of the speakers from the King County Hazardous Waste Division to present at a future meeting of this group; there was unanimous interest in having her pursue that. The group also touched briefly on whether they could establish a permanent take-back drop-off location in one of the local stores.

Moving on to other potential meeting topics, the WCSDCSC has received e-mail from the Technical Access Foundation . They want to present their plans to the group for a new 3-story facility near Hicks Lake. They have a well-established after-school program and have been fundraising and planning for a new building for several years; they plan groundbreaking sometime in the spring. One attendee asked how this fit in to WCSDCSC; Sean Healy replied, “Promotion and advocacy is how we tie in.”

Other Announcements

· Healy also mentioned to the group that he is helping establish a Block Watch group on 12th Ave SW near Mount View. He added, “They feel like they’re being held captive,” so he wants to see them get started.

· Healy announced that the White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition is now on Facebook; he urged those at the meeting to send a friend request.

· Dick Thurnau, with Friends of Hicks Lake, updated the group on his plan to approach the King County Council to take action on contamination levels in the lake. He noted that this is an ongoing issue, a danger to the community. Thurnau plans to meet with new County Councilmember Joe McDermott. He asked the group if they would attend the presentation to the Council (a date has not yet been set). By show of hands, the group agreed.

· One member asked about “a strategy to build the populace of this coalition”; in the discussion that followed, Sean Healy mentioned that he had talked with a Girl Scout troop leader about conducting a community assessment of the youth; “What do they see?” and “What do they want to see?” Someone followed with the suggestion of trying to obtain a grant that could focus on generating more participation from youth.

Following up on topics from earlier meetings:

· Liquor license renewals – the announcement that Center Market chose not to renew their license received a round of applause at the meeting. However, there are still issues with chronic inebriates hanging out at the Chevron station next door…

· Liquor signage regulations – they discussed supporting and thanking the businesses that do follow the regulations and bringing pressure to bear on businesses that don’t.

· Enforcement of drinking in parks – Dick Thurnau reiterated some of the problems in Lakewood Park; “YouTube them” was one suggestion in reply. Someone else added a word about budget cuts.

· Club Evo – Pat Price said that the Sheriff has run some quick stats and noted a 40% drop in police calls since it’s been closed.

New business: Co-chair Angela Rambo had two items of note:

· A focus group recently surveyed White Center families what they needed; they plan to send Rambo the final results, but the preliminary report is that these “are doable needs, very small things”.

· Angela Rambo has e-mailed both Starbucks and Tully’s to suggest that they consider opening a new location on the northwest corner of 16th and Roxbury. To date, Starbucks has acknowledged her email, but Tully’s has not. Rambo hopes that others will echo that request to show these companies that there is strong community support.

The business portion of the meeting wrapped up around 7 p.m. with an invitation to stay afterward, socialize and have a bite to eat.

The White Center Community Safety Coalition generally meets on the 4th Thursday of each month, from 6 to 8 p.m., in the DSHS building at 9650 15th Ave SW in the second floor lobby. This meeting wrapped up their first year in this venue; they plan to reconvene there on January 27th.

An update on this morning’s lockdown at local schools during a search for a possible gun on campus. King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. John Urquhart just sent word that it was determined to be a hoax, and a student was arrested:

A series of hoax calls to the Sheriff’s Office 9-1-1 center about a gun seen in the school put Evergreen High School and the adjacent Cascade Middle School into lockdown mode this morning. The schools are at SW 116th St. and 8th Ave SW in White Center.

The first call came in at 9:33 AM. The voice on the phone said there was an AK-47 in a locker at the school, and “We need help quickly”. A total of five calls with variations on that theme came in.

The school was placed in lockdown and about 20 deputies and detectives arrived to block off access and search both schools. A K-9 dog that can sniff-out weapons was brought in to check lockers. Nothing was found.

The lockdown was lifted about 10:30 AM.

Detectives were able to track the cell phone to a student in the school. He was called out of his class and arrested. His cell phone was seized. The student is 15 years old.

The boy was booked into the Youth Center on a threats charge.

It’s what you don’t see in that photo that’s more noteworthy than what you do see. Gill shared photos after noticing that the graffiti vandalism east of the stairs around the 98th Street Corridor-area pond is gone, as is the graffiti on the nearby stone wall.

However, one eyesore remains (we’ve blurred the tag as per our policy):

The graffiti vandalism was a lingering problem after some repairs had been done on other damage nearby so that the corridor could be reopened to walkers (here’s our report from three weeks ago, also courtesy of Gill).

Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for White Center Now

We stopped by the White Center DSHS offices for Thursday night’s White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting, where about 20 attendees gathered to discuss neighborhood safety issues, liquor and crime enforcement, and policies for reporting “problem properties” in the WC community.

The meeting was led by WCSDCSC chair Sean Healy and was called to order shortly after 6 pm.

Three upcoming events, mentioned by attendees:

• North Highline Unincorporated Area Council: Next meeting Thursday November 4^th from 7-9 pm at the North Highline Fire Station, 1243 SW 112th St. (map).
• Landlord Training Workshop: Keeping Your Property Safe & Crime-Free: Held by the Seattle Neighborhood Group
  on Monday November 15th from 8:30am-4:30pm, at 2100 24th Ave South. Cost is $25/person, register online at the SNG website.
• South Seattle Drug Free Communities Coalition Meeting: “Come join efforts in High Point to create a safe and healthy community that supports youth and prevents drug, alcohol and tobacco use.” Held on Thursday November 18^th from 3:45-5:45pm at High Point Neighborhood House, 6400 Sylvan Way SW.

First on the agenda for the evening was Lt. Woodrow Perkins from the Liquor Control Board, who reported on two active cases his team is working on:

• Center Market: Perkins reported that the store’s current liquor license expires Oct. 31st (this weekend), and that he hasn’t heard from the owner if they definitely plan to renew. The store had been selling liquor under two temporary permits recently, and had been subject to a suspension.
• Evo (aka Club Evolution): With complaints about Evo dating back to 2002, Perkins reported that his team had made a visit to the club and found they were serving alcohol, which they “confiscated and destroyed in large quantities.” Perkins’ team is doing additional follow-up now (and on a similar club in another location), and is planning to file a report with the King County Prosecutor’s Office with the recommendation that 2 individuals involved would be criminally cited.

This segued into a discussion about alcohol and tobacco advertising in the area, with comments from Perkins as well as Mike Graham-Squire (pictured below, with a poster showing his group’s efforts) from High Point Neighborhood House. Squire led a project this past summer to visit businesses in the 98126 and 98106 area codes to evaluate their compliance with the Liquor Control Board’s new alcohol advertising restrictions adopted statewide earlier this year.

A summary of what the rules entail:

Limiting to four the number of signs advertising alcohol, brand names and manufacturers that are visible from the outside of a retail licensed premises such as stores, bars and restaurants;

Restricting the size of alcohol signs visible from the outside of a retail licensed premises to 1,600 square inches; and

Applying the rules to signs at civic events where alcohol is served, such as beer gardens.

Graham-Squire told meeting attendees that his group found a “high concentration of violations around White Center,” which prompted nods around the room and comments like “that’s not surprising.” He added that his group is planning to do a similar effort again, including giving awards to businesses that go above-and-beyond to limit alcohol advertising. He also said he’s involved with the state’s new Let’s Draw The Line campaign against underage drinking, and encouraged anyone interested in helping to contact him.

Perkins said citizens who notice violations to the advertising rules are encouraged to report them to the project hotline – 888-838-3956 – and “we’ll go visit them.” He did note that his enforcement team is “spread pretty thin” with 4 officers working 8 areas, each covering 500-600 locations, but tries to respond as best they can.  His team uses a “progressive discipline” approach for enforcement, moving from verbal/on-site warnings up to legal action.

Perkins also talked about the city’s Good Neighbor policy, targeting individual businesses selling alcoholic beverages, and listened to concerns from attendees about the rising consumption of energy drinks with high alcoholic content. Local residents reported seeing a huge increase in discarded containers of these “crazy beverages,” which Graham-Squire said  “are the equivalent of 6 beers and 5 cups of coffee in a single 24-ounce can, for $3.”  Perkins acknowledged the issues with the drinks, but said the LCB isn’t in a position to really target them — banning them would require state or federal legislative action.

Next on the agenda was the evening’s guest speaker, Kay Godefroy, executive director of the Seattle Neighborhood Group, who offered tips and strategies for dealing with “problem properties” and “nuisance issues” in the area’s residential neighborhoods. Godefroy encouraged neighbors to gather documentation like photographs and detailed log books (but be safe collecting the information) about any problems you see.

“It’s all about gathering good documentation, getting good detail, and having lots of neighbors do it,” she said. “If we can all help create safe livable residential communities, with no drug dealers or problem neighbors, it makes us all safe.”

Godefroy said the small-claims court system (or rather, the mere threat of small-claims) is an effective way to put pressure on problem neighbors, but “it clearly works best when there are many neighbors co-signing a strongly-worded letter about the problem, not just one signer.” In most cases, she said, the issue never even has to go to court, and the neighbor voluntarily moves toward compliance if 10-15 neighbors manage to co-sign and file a complaint. “You have to be ‘noisy’ and stand up for yourselves,” she said.

Godefroy also emphasized education of property owners, using her group’s Landlord Training Workshops as an example of how they’re trying to keep people informed. The hardest situations, Godefroy said, are single-family properties that are owner-occupied, particularly by someone who may be “2nd or 3rd generation of a family, they inherited the property and just don’t value it.”

When asked by an attendee if renters have the same rights, Godefroy said yes — you can file complaints with the landlord on behalf of multiple residents. In all cases, the idea is to get a letter together — that way, if the issue does go to court, the recipient “can’t say they didn’t know about the problem, they can only say they chose not to address it.”

When asked about how this extends to businesses that may not be cracking down on troublesome activity on their property, Godefroy clarified the difference between criminal activity and “nuisance activity.” If you see a crime happening, report it to 911 and the local authorities immediately. She said it’s good to also document such reports, for the future.

“It’s amazing what a business can do, to help the problem,” she said, saying there are businesses in White Center that had “people outside doing bad things, and got them to stop or to move somewhere else.”

Next meeting: Because of holidays in November and December, the group will hold a single meeting to cover the rest of 2010: It will be on Thursday December 9^th, at the DSHS offices at 6 pm.

From the official announcement:

The White Center-South Delridge Community Safety Coalition Meeting will be this Thursday, October 28th, from 6-8 pm. We will be meeting at the DSHS building located at 9650 15th Ave SW in the lobby on the second floor.

This month, our guest speaker will be Kay Godefroy from the Seattle Neighborhood Group. She will be sharing information on ways to address concerns about problem or nusiance houses in your neighborhood. With daylight savings quickly approaching and the change in weather, the resources and information from this meeting are sure to be an asset.

Just in case you are wondering what’s going on and why traffic is blocked on westbound Roxbury around 14th SW – there has been a multiple shooting incident, with four people reported dead according to scanner traffic (though police have not yet formally confirmed that), at 14th and Cambridge, just north of Roxbury. We are posting continuing coverage at partner site West Seattle Blog.

After a couple reports today about a large King County Sheriff’s Office presence in downtown White Center last night, possibly related to a shooting at or near Club Evo, we contacted KCSO’s media liaison Sgt. John Urquhart – and here’s what he tells us: Just before midnight last night, “a very large group of people (was) in the street (100+) and many of them (were) fighting. A gun came out and several shots (were) fired. One of our deputies on the scene saw the man firing and ran him down. (The suspect was) arrested and booked. One handgun was recovered. Much of this was gang related.” Sgt. Urquhart says an 18-year-old was reportedly shot but not seriously hurt, “since he refused treatment and was not transported. ” The suspect, he says, is also 18.

Just in from the King County Sheriff’s Office:

Sheriff’s detectives are looking for help from the public to solve a 2001 homicide. The crime occurred on August 28, 2001, exactly nine years ago tomorrow.

➢ Specifically, they at least hope to find the White Center house where the suspect took the victim and her sister prior to fatally shooting one of them on a street corner.

Case History: Crystal Vaughn (above; age 29 at the time) and her sister Misty were drinking beer at a bus top in White Center when they were contacted by the suspect. They went back to the suspect’s house for a drink. An argument ensued and the sisters were driven back to the area of SW 101st and 15th Ave SW.

The argument continued between the suspect and Crystal. The sisters were out of the man’s car and walking away when he pulled up next to them and shot Crystal three times. She died at the scene.

Suspect’s Residence: The house was about a mile or so away from where the women were first approached, generally in the area of the 3700 block of SW 106th, unincorporated King County in the White Center neighborhood.

➢ See attached drawings of the interior of the house (above).

The women were asked to remove their shoes when they came in. The man said his “niece was sleeping” and to they had to be quiet. The interior of the house was neat and tidy, and there were children’s toys in the house.

There was a large stereo and a CD collection, as well as a free standing stove or fireplace in the living room. The women were served brandy to drink.

Suspect Description: A black male about 27 to 35 years old (above). He was “big” and 6’ to 6” 3” tall. He smoked Marlboro Red cigarettes.

Vehicle: A black or possible dark green SUV, similar to a Chev Tahoe (above). There was a dolphin display on the stereo face. The front seat might have been a “bench seat” and the seats were possibly leather.

The public can also view the drawings on our web site beginning this afternoon.

Anyone with information, especially on the house, is asked to call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hours) or 9-1-1.

2:43 PM UPDATE: Here’s the webpage on which KCSO has posted all its imagery and info in the case.