Third robbery at knifepoint; this time in Roosevelt (UPDATE)

The Seattle Police Department Blotter is reporting that a third robbery at knifepoint occurred on the afternoon of Friday, February 22.

HOWEVER, we have learned from the full police report with narrative for this incident that it actually took place on Wednesday, February 20 — the same day as the attack near NE 65th Street and 36th Avenue NE. MORE BELOW in the UPDATE.


View Robberies by knifepoint in February (3) in a larger map

Around 2:15 PM, a 50-year-old woman was walking southbound on the eastside Roosevelt Way NE near NE 72nd St when she felt a tug on her purse (strapped around her body diagonally). She shouted and grabbed it back, and then:

At that moment the suspect circled around her and she saw that he was holding a silver-colored knife in his hand. Seeing the knife, the victim let go of her purse and the suspect ran off with it eastbound on NE 72nd Street and remains at large.

The victim was not injured. Unfortunately, there is no suspect description available. Description now below, in the UPDATE.

Descriptions of the previous robberies can be found in this earlier post.

UPDATE (Monday, February 25): The narrative from the full police report is now available (PDF; registration required).

The victim reported the crime by calling the police non-emergency phone number on the day that the crime occurred (Wednesday, February 20). She was interviewed by an officer later in the week, on Friday, February 22. All of this is according to the full police report posted online today.

This would mean that the initial Seattle Police Department Blotter post on this robbery (“On February 22nd at approximately 2:15 p.m. …”) is also incorrect.

So, according to the full police report, at about 2:15 PM on Wednesday, February 20, the victim, was talking on the east side of Roosevelt Way NE on the 7200 block and was headed south. Her black crochet purse, worn diagonally across her chest, was tugged on from behind. The victim yelled out, “Hey, hey, hey!” as her bag came away from her body, and she grabbed it. The suspect, holding the other end, came around to her front, holding a silver knife that he had apparently used to remove the purse from her body. Upon seeing the knife, the victim let go of her purse, and watched it and the suspect run off eastbound on NE 72nd St.

The victim circled around the block, hoping to find her purse discarded somewhere along the route, but had no luck. She left the area and then called the non-emergency police number to report the incident.

She described the suspect as “white male, 16-20 years old, 5-3, 130-140lbs, stocky build, broad shoulders, short dark hair, clean shaven, wearing a pull-over hooded black sweatshirt (with the hood up around his head), black sweatpants with zippers on the ankles, and dark sneakers.”

Then, about 45 minutes later, a woman was robbed at knifepoint near NE 65th St and 36th Avenue NE.

Comments

  1. This is quite unnerving!!

  2. Walk with an umbrella and wear your purse inside your jacket, or walk with someone.
    The opportunist who is robbing people at knife point is counting on surprise and picking on single men and women.

    Post little signs on telephone polls telling people to snap out of the trance states until we catch this guy.

    So far we have a white male, late 20-30 something

    People need to keep walking, but pay attention and walk with a stick or umbrella will make this thief think twice. Walk with a friend and you are not going to be bothered is my guess.

    Timothy

  3. This guys gonna run in to someone like me who carries and his crime spree will end tragically.

  4. Stephanie Hamrick says:

    proof read before posting.
    “talking southbound”

  5. There seems to be a pattern here. A knife was used in all three crimes. All three robberies took place during broad daylight.

    In this latest case: Roosevelt Way is a busy street, and there are usually some pedestrians in that location, but for some reason, none of this discouraged the robber.

  6. “walk with a stick or an umbrella”?! Hahaha….how cute. How about walking with a concealed pistol and keeping your brain alert and combat-ready? A stick or an umbrella against a knife-wielding thug. That’s rich.

    • How much longer of a reach does a cane have than a knife then, expert of everything?
      How about a cane with a concealed blade?
      Valiant effort though, but try again.

  7. I dont normally read this blog but I am sure it is a great community service. I would ignore rude people with petty comments about your grammar – in fact I would be inclined, given the tone, to now allow it to be posted (eg its insulting). i hope this guy is caught soon. hey, somebody catch my punctuation!

  8. To the person who “carries,” so far the perpitrator has not hurt anyone. He is carrying a knife, not a gun, and he used the knife once to slash a purse strap and take it. Although this is indeed a serious crime, it is conceivable that he has a family to support and needs cash badly in this jobless economy –it does not seem like he is seriously out to hurt someone, rather to threaten them (except for the huge hassle of losing one’s purse/wallet). Bad as that is, it is not right to take the life of a human being “in self’ defense” if you are defending a wallet or a purse, and not your body. However, the gun would certainly scare him away if you just aimed it.

    • Actually, the victims in the first two attacks were injured: The man whose wallet was stolen on the 14th was shoved into a wall. And the woman whose purse was cut off her and taken on the 20th had a laceration that the SFD staff said could use stitches.

      These first two victims tried to keep their valuables. The third did not.

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