Ecstasy turns friend into foe
On April 16, in the early evening hours, a group of friends were at the West Seattle Stadium watching an acquaintance participate in a Special Olympics competition. One of the women decided she wanted to leave the event and stated her intention, causing another friend to become very irate. The woman left anyways, but her irritated friend followed her with a skateboard to the entrance on 35th Ave. S.W. There, the “friend” called the victim a few explicit terms and struck her in the arm and back with the skateboard before punching and slapping her. Police arrived around that time and discovered the aggressive friend had ingested two Ecstasy pills earlier in the day and appeared to be having a bad trip. The victim refused medical attention at the scene and said she would go to the hospital herself. The suspect on drugs was handcuffed and transported to Harborview for assessment. She would later be arrested for assault.
Intervention turns ugly
As April 14 approached midnight, a husband and wife living in an apartment on the 6500 block of California Ave. S.W. heard a disturbance and stepped outside to take a look. There, they saw two men trying to pull an acquaintance out of his car with the apparent goal of assault. The couple yelled at the men to stop and walked out to the scene. At that time, the victims said the two men turned around and started attacking them. The woman said she was punched several times and lost consciousness briefly. The man said he was thrown to the ground and had his neck scratched (police could see scratch marks on his neck). It was unclear what role the third male (the one who was originally being pulled from his vehicle) played once the suspects turned their attention away, but it was clear he did not intervene on the victims' behalf (he would later give police no information on who his attackers were). The suspects fled the scene before police arrived. The female victim told police she thinks the man they were initially trying to help may have punched her as well, but refused to press charges against him because they were friends.
Shooting victim on the road to recovery
27-year-old Rick Powell, the Capitol Hill resident who was shot in the chest four times in an attempted robbery on S.W. Avalon Way in West Seattle on April 1, is out of the hospital and recovering, according to the administrators of an online fundraiser to help pay his medical bills. On April 15, it was reported that Powell was released from the hospital “and relaxing and recovering in the comfort of his family’s home.” Powell, who had a concealed weapons permit, was able to shoot his alleged attacker (19-year-old Juan Carlos Garcia-Mendez) in the confrontation. Mendez is facing assault and unlawful possession of a firearm charges. He had just been released from prison days before the attack.
Crimes reported from April 15 - 21:
Burglaries by block: 5000 40th Ave S.W., 5000 42nd Ave. S.W., 7100 30th Ave. S.W., 3500 S.W. Juneau St., 5200 41st Ave. S.W., 9200 17th Ave. S.W., 2300 California Ave. S.W., 3200 Alki Ave. S.W., 3100 S.W. Avalon Way, 3200 S.W. Avalon Way
Car prowls by block: 3200 S.W. Morgan St., 5400 34th Ave. S.W., 4000 California Ave. S.W., 3200 61st Ave. S.W., 4800 California Ave. S.W., 3200 S.W. Avalon Way, 8000 Fauntleroy Way S.W.
Vehicle thefts by block: 2600 S.W. Barton St., 5000 40th Ave. S.W., 7200 17th Ave. S.W., 9000 9th Ave. S.W. (2 on the same day), 3200 Benton Pl. S.W., 2600 42nd Ave. S.W., 3700 S.W. Oregon St., 4100 Fauntleroy Way S.W., 2100 S.W. Holden St., 9200 21st Ave. S.W., 5600 Delridge Way S.W., 3000 64th Ave. S.W., 4000 S.W. Thistle St.
