White Center Now: The blog about White Center

(WCN/WSB photo, Thursday evening)

Seattle Police converged on a house at 18th/98th after gunfire was reported near Holy Family early Thursday evening. We covered it on partner site West Seattle Blog because the initial report was “20th/Roxbury” though the subsequent investigation moved a bit south of the city-limits line. Here’s what it boiled down to: Though SPD initially reported an injury, police at the scene could not find anyone wounded, even after questioning multiple people who had been in the house. We don’t know whether anyone was arrested – we won’t be able to request a copy of the report until Monday.

When a shoplifting case turns violent – or threatening – that can lead to a felony criminal charge. That’s what prosecutors say happened in the case of 42-year-old Kanyel L. Boldien. He is charged with first-degree robbery for an incident at Saar’s Super Saver Foods in White Center a week ago. Court documents say Boldien was at the store early that morning with his 48-year-old girlfriend, and that she was shoplifting. When store security tried to stop her, prosecutors say, he threatened them with a stick – and then a flare gun that they thought was a firearm. Deputies arrested them at their South Delridge apartment later that day. Boldien remains in the King County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail. We’re not sure about his girlfriend’s status – jail records don’t show her having been booked.

12:59 AM: For the second time in less than 7 hours, somebody’s been shot in White Center. Only very early information so far – deputies are out searching the area. The dispatch was to 16th/100th. No further details yet.

1:28 AM: The King County Sheriff’s Office confirms one person was shot, a male victim reported to be in stable condition and taken to Harborview Medical Center. No one’s in custody. The location is now descrbed as the 10600 block of 16th SW.

6:16 PM: 107th is blocked just east of the White Center Library as deputies investigate a deadly shooting. KCSO says the victim is a 20-tear-old man. No other details yet.

8:29 PM: We checked with KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Abbott, who says this is all they currently know:

5:20 PM, a deputy was in the area of SW 107 near the 1400 BLK on an unrelated call when he heard multiple gunshots. As he came around the corner on 14 AVE SW he saw a male running away from the scene and a second male lying on the ground. He lost sight of the suspect and put out the last known direction of travel and began life-saving measures on the victim. Medic 1 arrived on scene and continued life-saving measures but the victim died at the scene, a 20 year old male. Witnesses stated the suspect fled in a vehicle, unknown description. Major Crimes is on scene investigating.

The photo is from Barbara, who reports: “This happened sometime last night on 20th Ave in White Center – a good reminder for folks to pick up their mail every day.”

(King County Sheriff’s Office photo)

Almost a week after his arrest, the man suspected of breaking into Grace Church remains in jail. 39-year-old Zachary J. Ufkes is charged with second-degree burglary, his bail set at $10,000. The charging documents say Ufkes smashed a window with a rock last Sunday and was found eating and drinking items from the church’s kitchen (chocolate ice cream and Sprite soda, according to a social-media post by the King County Sheriff’s Office). Prosecutors noted that Ufkes’s record includes a 2004 conviction for attempted murder; this newspaper story about that case says he beat, stabbed, and choked a woman with whom he was staying, after she asked him to move out. He also has burglary and assault convictions, and had a case pending for allegedly violating a domestic-violence no-contact order, plus a Department of Corrections arrest warrant. Case documents also say he gave deputies a fake name but they ID’d him through fingerprints.

Thanks for the tips. That was part of the scene at 16th/112th as a King County Sheriff’s Office search wrapped up early this morning. We asked KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Abbott for details:

The Ladybug Espresso at S. 126/ Des Moines Memorial Drive was robbed at gunpoint at 5:20 AM by two suspects who fled in a car. A short time later, the same suspect car crashed into a fence at SW 112/ 16 AVE SW; the suspects fled on foot. They were both caught a short time later by deputies and arrested. They were both booked into Jail for investigation of robbery.

King County Sheriff’s Deputies are trying to sort out a shooting in downtown White Center. We got a tip that a shooting had been reported at 16th/Roxbury and went over to find out more. Between the last deputies at the scene and KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Abbott, here’s what we have learned: A man was found with a gunshot wound to the knee – found in the 9600 block of 15th SW, per Sgt. Abbott, but they don’t know exactly where the shooting happened; he says the victim, a 30-year-old man, has been “uncooperative” so far. Deputies at the scene said they first responded to a report of multiple gunshots. No arrests so far.

(Photos from Washington State Gambling Commission)

Announced by the Washington State Gambling Commission:

Gambling Commission agents made 11 arrests following an investigation into a Seattle business that has been operating illegal gambling.

For the past year, our agents have been conducting a joint investigation with the Seattle Police Department into illegal gambling activities occurring at a café in White Center. The café does not have, and has never had, a license to operate gambling. While serving a search warrant on Feb. 5, agents located evidence of illegal gambling, including: electronic gambling machines, cards, dice and gambling records.

During interviews, agents learned that the business was charging players an hourly fee in order to participate in the gambling activities.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been to this location. Our agents have conducted six other investigations into the café’s illegal gambling activities, beginning in 2004.

Seven players and three employees were arrested and booked into the King County Jail. The players were charged with professional gambling in the third degree, which is a gross misdemeanor. The employees were charged with professional gambling in the first degree, which is a Class B felony. One of the employees was also arrested in 2011 when we served a search warrant at the same location.

The business owner was arrested at the airport on Feb. 14 as he returned from an international trip. He was booked into the King County Jail on the following charges: ownership or interest in a gambling device; professional gambling in the first degree; money laundering; use of proceeds of criminal profiteering; and leading organized crime (class A felony).

The WSGC did not identify the business, but its announcement on social media showed SPD cars in the street on Delridge just north of Roxbury.

As reported here last week, the suspect in the violent, video-recorded Southside Pizza robbery is out of jail after a judge cut his bail. Thursday was 27-year-old Vernon Jackson Jr.’s first scheduled court appearance since leaving jail.It was a short one – a routine “case-setting” hearing, at which his lawyer told the judge they’re still putting the case together. Jackson’s next hearing is set for February 27th.

The video and report are from the King County Sheriff’s Office, which is still looking for a murder suspect, almost three years after the deadly May 7, 2017, shooting outside Taradise Café in downtown White Center:

King County Sheriff’s Office detectives are releasing (for the first time) an edited video compilation showing suspect Billy Dawayne Williams‘ movements on the night we believe he murdered a man in front of the Taradise Café in White Center in 2017. This video was gathered from multiple locations and enabled detectives to track Williams’ movements for several hours, right up to the murder itself.

The video being released today is highly edited for media release but it shows how video evidence was used by detectives to help positively identify the suspect in this case.

At approximately 1:40 AM on May 7, 2017, KCSO deputies were dispatched to the Taradise Bar in White Center (9800 block of 16 Av SW) in regards to a shooting. The shooting followed closely on the heels of a physical fight between females inside and outside of the bar. The shooting victim died in the street near the bar. The male shooting victim was identified as James C. Little, 55.

Witness accounts and surveillance video in the area helped establish a suspect within a day of the initial investigation. That suspect is Billy Dawayne Williams, 32 years old. A nationwide felony warrant was issued for Williams’ arrest for Murder 1st Degree in May of 2017. The bail amount remains $1,000,000.

Williams has been featured as a “wanted person” on local media several times since this crime occurred. However, as of January 24th, 2020, Williams remains a fugitive at-large. Detectives believe Williams may have altered his appearance to avoid arrest. Detectives also believe Williams has either remained in or visited the Puget Sound area since this murder.

KCSO detectives are once again requesting the public’s assistance in locating Williams so he can be safely arrested for this crime.

If anyone has any information on Billy Williams, call the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206/296-3311 or you can be completely anonymous and leave a tip with Crime Stoppers at p3tips.com

As reported here a week and a half after the murder, when Williams was charged, he is accused of killing Little without provocation, Here’s a photo of him circulated at the time and re-released by KCSO today:

When 27-year-old Vernon L. Jackson, Jr., was charged two weeks ago in the video-recorded robbery at Southside Pizza, his bail was set at $150,000. Since then, though, according to jail records, his bail was cut to $25,000 and he got out last Friday afternoon after posting bond. The motion to reduce bail was granted by Superior Court Judge Karen Donohue at Jackson’s arraignment last Thursday, despite Jackson having a criminal record including three failures-to-appear since 2011. Police say Jackson told them at the time of his arrest that he committed the robbery – which netted him a reported $40 – to get money to buy drugs. He is due back in court on January 30th.

The 27-year-old man arrested in connection with last week’s Southside Pizza robbery, Vernon L. Jackson Jr., is now charged.

We’ve obtained the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office court documents charging Jackson with first-degree robbery. They say that after his arrest in Seatac on Friday, Jackson admitted to the robbery, saying he did it to get money for drugs and that he didn’t expect anyone to be in the restaurant’s office when he broke in.

His criminal history, according to prosecutors, includes convictions for residential burglary and auto theft. The charging documents also reveal how Jackson was identified as a suspect; A pawn-shop employee saw the security video of the robbery and recognized him from a transaction on New Year’s Eve. A bulletin for his arrest was put out on Friday morning, and hours later a deputy saw his car and followed to a gas station, where he made the arrest. Jackson, a Burien resident, remains in the King County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail; his arraignment is set for January 16. (Image: KCSO screengrab from robbery video)

1:15 pm: We first reported here Monday night about a robbery at Southside Pizza in downtown White Center. KCSO now says it knows who the robber is and is searching for him, after publishing this security-camera video of the incident:

KCSO said the robber “enters through a back door and heads straight to the office, where an employee was counting cash at closing time … then assaulted the employee while he was trying to grab the bag of money.” If you know where the suspect is:

Anyone with information on the suspect is urged to call the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311 – reference case #C19050197. You can also leave an anonymous tip with Crimestoppers at p3tips.com – Your information might get you up to a $1000 reward if it leads to the suspect’s arrest.

2:17 PM: KCSO has just announced it’s arrested a 28-year-old man, who will be booked into jail for investigation of robbery. We will track the case.

Thanks for the tips (we’re at 206-293-6302, text or voice, any time) about a big KCSO search in downtown White Center. Sgt. Ryan Abbott tells WCN that Southside Pizza (at 98th/16th) was robbed. The robber ran away; deputies with a K9 team searched but were unable to find him. Scanner traffic we monitored suggested he didn’t get away with much – $40 was mentioned.

(WCN photo, November 30th)

On November 30th, we reported briefly on a holdup at the MetroPCS store (15th/100th). Now we know at least two suspects have been arrested in a robbery rampage including that store, another MetroPCS store in Burien, and other holdups as far north as Burien. Both suspects, 17 and 18, were arrested Friday in West Seattle, and other suspects were being sought. Full details are in this report on our partner site West Seattle Blog.

We got some questions Monday afternoon about a Guardian One search over White Center. KCSO answered those questions with this update today:

On 11/4/2019, at about 2:50 PM, Deputy Hancock located an occupied stolen vehicle near the 9800 block of 13 Avenue SW in White Center. The driver of the vehicle got out and fled through an apartment complex.

Guardian 1 took to the air, and Deputy Gervacio grabbed his K9 partner “Paco” to assist in the hunt for the suspect. Guardian One noticed a suspicious hot spot, and K9 Paco found the suspect hiding at the bottom of a rock wall.

The 43 year old male, from White Center, was arrested without incident. The suspect denied he had driven the stolen car, but deputies were able to locate video of the suspect behind the wheel, wearing a beige jacket – which was found hidden inside the car.

KCSO adds that the suspect “was booked into King County jail on several outstanding warrants. The vehicle theft investigation remains open.”

(Also posted to partner site West Seattle Blog)

Took a while to get the details on this but for everyone who asked why the Guardian One helicopter was looping over White Center and South Delridge for a while – it was part of the search for someone who robbed an employee of Proletariat Pizza (9622 16th SW) in the alley behind the business, says King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Abbott. He says a robber armed with a handgun took the employee’s wallet and cell phone “and fled northbound into Seattle on a bike.”

7:06 PM: Got a few questions about helicopters just south of White Center. The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting in North Burien, 2nd SW and SW 120th [map]. KCSO says a 27-year-old man was “shot in the face” and was taken to Harborview in serious condition. No other info yet.

11:35 PM: Update from KCSO: “Deputies were able to determine actual shooting took place in the Top Hat area of unincorporated King County and the victim fled to a house in Burien. This entire incident was over a vehicle. The suspect is still outstanding.”

If you’re headed southbound, an FYI from KCSO:

The photo and update are via Twitter: “Collision investigation in Burien near S 128/ SB on-ramp 509. Suspect vehicle fleeing a shoplift struck a truck at a high rate of speed. Police were not involved prior to the collision. Suspect vehicle passenger critical injuries. EB S 128 will be closed while MARR investigates.”