Seattle police step up patrols amid Capitol Hill armed robbery spree
Sep 2, 2014, 6:30 PM | Updated: 6:43 pm
Seattle police have stepped up patrols on Capitol Hill amidst a string of robberies, assaults and harassment. (AP)
(AP)
The Seattle Police Department has stepped up patrols on Capitol Hill after a string of robberies, assaults and harassment one prominent businessman worries could lead to a rape or murder.
“It seems to be the same guys perpetuating the same crimes or harassment and it’s been going on easily for more than a year now,” says Jason Lajeunesse, co-owner of Neumos and Lost Lake, along with the Capitol Hill Block Party.
Lajeunesse has sent a letter to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on behalf of local businesses and residents, pleading for help.
The Seattle Police Department says it is investigating 22 different robberies targeting nightlife patrons near Broadway and Pike since early August. In a number of cases, the suspects attacked their victims or held them at gunpoint, stealing money, cellphones and other valuables.
“I had a friend who got jumped just last week,” Lajeunesse says. “It was about six guys jumped him, hit him from behind with some sort of object, they stole his phone, they stole his money.”
Lajeunesse says he’s also heard of a number of other incidents of the suspects sexually harassing women and gays with threatening language and slurs, most recently at his restaurant last weekend.
And in his letter to the mayor, he warns “someone is going to get raped or killed and SPD and the Mayor’s office will be to blame.”
“I just think ‘why wait until that happens?'” he says. “If there’s even the threat of it, if there’s even the chance, the possibility of that, it should be treated as an imminent threat or danger.”
Seattle police say they are working to schedule a meeting between East Precinct commanders and local businesses and residents as they continue to investigate.
While Lajeunesse says he’s confident police are dedicated to curbing what he calls “organized crime,” he worries the department isn’t putting enough resources to the effort.
“I do believe they are trying. I think they just need better resources and they need help,” he says.
In the meantime, the longtime businessman says he is working to implement ride-sharing or walking escorts to provide additional security for his own employees during the early morning hours, when the crimes have most commonly occurred.
