SPD:
On November 27th at approximately 8:45 p.m. a husband and wife rode the light rail from downtown. When they got off at MLK Jr. Way South and South Henderson Street, a group of male suspects began following them. One of the suspects asked a disarming question, putting the victims at ease. Then the couple was assaulted.
Both victims were struck numerous times and suffered minor injuries however, they declined medical attention. The female victim’s purse was taken during the robbery. The suspects remain at large.
CORRECTION: The original headline of this story incorrectly stated that the incident occurred at the Rainier Beach light rail station when in fact it actually occurred near the light rail station at the Chief Sealth Trail.
Furthermore, Sound Transit Spokesman Bruce Gray had this to say:
Sound Transit Police tell me they have seen no trends of thugs targeting train passengers. That’s based on their work with SPD. If we were seeing anything like that, we would be on top of it.
Photo/Will Austin Photography
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{ 62 comments }
This is terrible. Where is the security? What about the video cameras? Wake up Seattle!
No description of these criminals? Super helpful.
Why I won’t even consider using light rail after dark…which means 4PM during the winter.
My condolences to the victims.
I am becoming more and more uncomfortable using light rail, especially after I was recently accosted by a local drunk/crackhead while walking home down Othello. He backed off only after I screamed like a crazed woman that I would kill him, as I held my keys in my knuckles aiming for his eyes.
This is just scary, seeing as it’s the stop I would need to take to get home from downtown. I’m starting to think I won’t be on the light rail after dark if I can help it.
What does the light rail have to do with any of this? The couple could’ve just as easily taken the 7 bus, or driven their own car, or walked from Alaska. They were assaulted after getting off.
It sucks they were assaulted, but Henderson & MLK isn’t exactly the best area to be walking around after dark anyways.
Fear == terrorists win == hoodlums win
Curby: if you live here, that’s where you have to get off. If you commute using public transportation, you’re getting off in the dark. It may not, in fact, be the best area to walk around in at that time, but many people don’t have a choice about that. I feel like saying, “sucks that they were assaulted, but….” kind of blames the victims in a way I’m not comfortable with.
I think we should be able to walk our neighborhood without fear and that includes the henderson station.
fooey.
Curby, I am more vulnerable when taking light rail because my walk home is much farther than the bus stop.
That kind of thing is going to happen, occasionally.
Curby is right.
It’s not a light rail thing, but a southEND thing.
Who attends meetings of the neighborhood community association? What can you do as a community to make your neighborhood safer?
Be careful with your lap top, I pod, cell phone, all that stuff, it’s kind of an easy shopping area for thugs around the stations.
I’ve had my eye on a Zune HD, 32G.
Bet watch out at Henderson.
Our neighborhood community association unfortunately does not involve itself with crime issues. Not sure what the SEDC is doing about it either.
Pa.Lease Tom A.
Just what is your community association, anyway?
Mt. Baker.
Does the Columbia City Assn deal with crime issues?
There’s a Columbia City Assassin?
What, did you like…find that on craigslist?
just kidding.
Not funny given what happened in Lakewood today.
I hate to say I told you so, but if you check your RVP Archives I predicted that the MLK Lightrail stops would serve as a veritable treasure trove of victims for the local thuggery. Liberal idealism trumps common sense every single time. I am grateful that the victims were not seriously injured.
Funny, still.
We can’t all be paralized by the goings-on everywhere.
They will still be going on. Forever.
Tru ‘nuf. Both counts.
“Liberal idealism trumps common sense every single time.”
Glad you think so, Findlay. It really does.
This is very disturbing to me. I wish the muggers had been described (even if they were masked). Whitney is correct that our walks from the train are longer than they were from our bus stops. Our bus service was cut because of light rail. Also, potential victims get off the train at regular intervals, and a few people wait at dark bus stops. If I am followed from the train, I will walk down the middle of Othello on the yellow line. I have noticed the pay lots that have sprung up around the train stops, and I appreciate that businesses are putting in parking that the City decided we didn’t need. It’s sad that of all the training Sound Transit did, they failed to address personal safety.
this is too much- light rail is being blamed for this? that’s pretty stupid.
people have been getting mugged all over our neighborhood, not just walking from the light rail station. So is what you are saying is that walking the street should be illegal?
We need to take our streets back.
Basic principle of opportunistic crime: the thugs go where the victims are. While it would be ideal to have armed law enforcement everywhere where thugs and their victims are likely to assemble, that is probably an impractical and unrealistic solution.
There are proven techniques for people to make themselves less attractive to random thuggery, and anyone who must frequent thug/victim assembly points would be wise to acquaint themselves with those techniques. If the worst-case scenario does come to pass, and victimization at LR stations becomes a chronic problem, it would be appropriate for the operators and managers of the systems to budget for additional private security — rent-a-cops, cameras, etc.
@Findlay Street
Half the people on here predicted this would happen.
It will be interesting to see what the new mayor does. My impression was that addressing crime wasn’t that high on his to do list.
Sound Transit has their own police-where are they? Maybe we need to
get Sound Transit to the table and put the monkey on their back. All their
police do is patrol the light rail stations, if anything happens, SPD still has to take the report.
MQ
Get a can of Wasp spray, It shoots about 30 feet.
What about that idea of walking groups to promote safety? I second every one’s comments about feeling nervous walking home from the light rail. I really like taking it but do feel worried coming home when it’s dark.
The lack of buses coordinated with the light rail evening arrivals is just ridiculous. With LR arrivals occurring every 7 minutes or so during evening rush hour and buses on the 30-minute cycle, someone who needs to transfer to the 39 bus to get the rest of the way home may end up waiting 30 minutes (usually more) for the next bus to arrive.
We need some local neighborhood shuttles cycling every 10 minutes at peak times so people can get people from the stations to the neighborhoods that are far east and west of the rail line.
Once Lightrail hooks up with Seatac Airport, can you just imagine all the naive out of towners lugging their suitcases onto the train thinking they are getting a discount ride to downtown? They will be lucky if they are only relieved of their luggage. How long will it take before they have to post warning signs at the Seatac station advising against taking lightrail after dark.
Another wonderful “benefit” of lightrail is that you cn’t even change the route if it poses problems. But the elitists wanted their choo choo train…
They had people on the Metro route 7 last week with a questionnaire about route changes and such, nobody is happy with the rerouting that I could hear, and the elderly were quite vocal about it.
concealed weapon and problem solved…………
Yes, Punk Gentry. Shuttles make sense. Without parking, it is far, too far, for many of us to get to LR. Waiting for the buses, since they’ve lightened the schedule, adds half hour to each end of the trip. And leaves one vulnerable on the way back coming off the LR. We need to address this.
Findlay, I’m curious: do you have a Master’s in Snark?
Rather than gloating rudely over the misfortune of those residents or visitors who are compelled to use public transportation, how about contributing some ideas to solve the problems. Crime is not a ‘liberal’ problem, but one for the community at large to solve. Or is the ultra-conservative world you inhabit completely crime-free?
The solution to this problem really shouldn’t take a whole lot of time to cook up. It’s not like it’s an unprecedented issue. London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and many other immense cities in the world depend on extensive public transit systems to move millions of people every day, and they’ve managed to run these systems efficiently and protect the people who use them from unreasonable levels of danger.
Fritzrl: I am not opposed to public transportation per se, but I am opposed to throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at an inefficient, unnecessary and antiquated transportation model. It would have been far more efficient and much, much cheaper to have built dedicated lanes for buses on those routes where lightrail was deemed a vital neccesity.
In any case it seems to me that lightrail boosters were determined that Seattle boast a lightrail system, where it actually ran was secondary and was probably driven more by politics than actual need.
PS: Sorry for the snark, I will try to cut back.
“I will try to cut back”
I hear they have a patch for that…just kidding.
I was bit a flutter over the price tag and possible alternative uses for that $$, for a long time. Then a friend encouraged me to be a bit less “antiquated”, myself (as in-get with the program.)
It’s there already. We might as well get the most out of it. Except cutting feeder bus service seems like the opposite, of getting the most out of a fixed line rail system… But there was some good news (a little), recently…
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010333994_metrobus23m.html
SolvayGirl yesterday morning for the win. Why would anyone consider riding light rail after dark? No parking allowed. Shuttle service in name only. Thugs all over the place. We took it to a ball game one night…never again.
I won’t even take the bus after dark, let alone the light rail. I opted to take a shuttle from Seatac instead of the train recently. It was Saturday night at 10pm. As we rode along MLK I saw the saggin pants set out in full force at every train stop. The 40 bucks to ride safely home was well worth it.
I was out Saturday night, in a car, and Rainier was crawling with these guys, same for MLK. The streets aren’t safe after dark.
I intuit the incident that just happened is going to be repeated, repeated, repeated.
Vote for feeder shuttles to/from Link Light Rail stations.
Fritzl,
How come the thugs don’t go to the Bravern or Bellevue Square? Just wondering since it seems like a world of opportunity.
Thanks, TDPG. I cast my votes.
I would like to hear from South Seattle Cop. What should we do when we are forced to walk from the rail stops in the dark (because our bus service was cut)? How could this mugging have happened when people were driving by on a busy street? Henderson and Othello seem to be well-lit and busy arterials. That’s what I tell myself as I walk almost a mile on Othello. Should we get our CWPs, wasp spray or what? Also, why don’t we have descriptions of the assailants?
I was interrupted from reading this post tonight by 4 shots fired within a block or two of my house. 25th and plum area. pleasant.
I have seen a string of cars parked along the curb Renton Avenue. Evidently this is the light rail parking lot the city never built. If you get off the light rail at MLK and have to walk to Renton Avenue, and people are following you… 1+1=2
Why can’t there be a parking lot close to the station?
Blaming light rail itself for this unfortunate incident is about as productive or sensible as blaming our backsides for the occurrence of hemorrhoids. People get mugged all over town at all sorts of places (cf. recent armed robberies near UW).
Having said that, though, the RB station is really in a crappy location… rather isolated and with no “eyes on the street”. The key here is going to be encouraging development that will bring more, not less, people to the area at later times of the day. It’s not the station that’s the problem but rather then neighborhood around it.
“How could this mugging have happened when people were driving by on a busy street?”
I was a t a concert on a friends B-Day downtown and he had a slight buzz tripped hit the ground and I gave him a couple fake stomps / kicks (maybe one half fake) while many people walked by and did nothing, lucky I was playing or I could have literally “kicked the s#*t” out of him.
So being in a busy area does not mean a thing if people do not step up.
Mark B…with the sociological experimentation…
Yeah the Kitty Genovese effect is *alive and well*.
ahow
Guess who got stomped?
Just when the neighborhood was starting to turn around……..(not!)
Sound Transit spokesperson Bruce Grey needs to ride the transit at night and check the calls to 911. We have called during our commute home at night when young males are hanging out at the stations (Beacon Hill, Mt Baker, Columbia City, Othello) on the side where riders disembark. These males are not riding the train and seem to scatter when more people are around. These kids are waiting to pounce on vulnerable riders.
“Sound Transit Police tell me they have seen no trends of thugs targeting train passengers… If we were seeing anything like that, we would be on top of it.”
So, since Sound Transit Police say everything fine, lets just do nothing…
Yay SPD…
I can fill in the blanks on this one because it was my wife and I who were assaulted that night. We took the train to Rainier Beach after attending the Christmas tree lightning downtown that night.
I believe that the suspects were on the train too but I did not see them get off. I did see them cross from the train platform to the west side of MLK. Then they waited on that corner for the light to cross north across Henderson. After arriving at the crosswalk ourselves, we stood and waited for the light to cross to the west side of MLK. The train platform is in the middle of MLK.
When the light changed I heard the group, 5 or 6, cross back to the train platform behind us and then to the west side of MLK where we were headed. We were already victims at this point, it was just a matter of where.
After half a block, we turned onto the Chief Sealth trail that I use every day after work. In hindsight, we should have tried to make it to Vince’s restaurant a block away but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and I suppose now that I am somewhat naive too.
We were a short distance into the trail when I heard them turn onto the trail too. They said something about how long the steep the hill was and then one of them hit me in the back of the head. I never saw who hit me. I was then pummeled, in the face, by all but one of them.
One went to my wife and pushed and pulled on the purse strap that was across her body. She may have been punched in the body too. She never struggled to keep her purse.
The attack ended after they finally had her purse. My wallet was not taken.
The group back-tracked by crossing Henderson and then MLK. They ran north, the same direction where they were originally going before this started.
My wife and I just looked like easy prey I suppose.
Like I stated before, I use that trail everyday to and from the light rail station. I admit that I always had an uneasy feeling about using the trail, especially when it is dark in the mornings and in the early evening after I arrive home. Now, I drive myself to work.
There was no chance to use a gun or spray. Pepper spray would not have been effective against a large group. I will never carry a gun when moving out of the area is an option. Besides, I am of the belief that if one pulls a gun, one should use the gun immediately or risk being disarmed or shot. I could be looking at charges myself too.
Where does this leave my wife and I? I was on the fence about selling our house here but not any longer. My wife is also now committed to selling. A realtor is stopping by this Sunday. By this time next year, we will no longer live in this area.
In our five years here we witnessed a drive-by shooting, had countless episodes of gunshots in the area including many only yards away from our home, and many, many murders.
The solution? Responsible mothers and fathers that love and care for their children and locking up criminals and especially repeat offenders that already exist.
How to make this happen sooner rather than later? I dunno.
One more thing. The police said that there are people stalking bus riders in the area. They specifically said that there have been no reports of this happening to train riders.
Thugs watch for bus riders using ipods, cell phone, etc. and then get off the same stop as their victims. They follow them until it is “safe” and then jump them.
They also said the most of the victims have been Asian.
If I was looking to mug someone for a laptop or I pod I would go to the light rail station since most of the riders are going to work downtown. Being a logical thug I know at least 4-5 people are going to disembark the train with what I am looking for, making for easy pickings.
And please do not say that thugs can’t be logical, it will just make you look dumber than you think they are.
@APJ
Sorry to hear about you and your wife. It really sucks that you feel you have to sell your house and move but it is understandable.
Tonight when I got off the train at Henderson station at around 6:45pm I was relieved to see a transit police car parked on the East side of MLK with the lights on. I think it said “SHERIFF” across the car. That is the first time I saw an actual security person down here. I see security people in the University Station often. They normally are hanging around in the upper level leaning on the railing absorbed in talking with each other. I don’t see them on the platform. I had to ask one of them to move since he was leaning against the card scanner. They seem to be enjoying the socializing.
The Metro police are Sheriffs, you will often see them trailing the #7.
It sucks right ow that it is dark when you go to work and dark when you get off. At least during the summer you have light til damn near 10:00
Fern, I’m not disputing your experience. But as for me, I usually always see at least two “rent a cop” types of security at each station in the tunnel. I do see them make the rounds around the mezzanines and platforms. And I don’t fault them for socializing; it’s a downright boring gig most of the time.
But, yeah, south of Beacon Hill, or sometimes Mt. Baker, there’s no security presence to speak of. I use the Othello stop and the walk through that desolate block north of Myrtle is kinda creepy after dark. I always keep wishing some developer would build some places that stay open late or somesuch on either side of that block. I always feel better once I reach Rose Petals Restau Ant. Since ST owns one of those empty lots, I sort of wish they would get all Chicago-style and build a little drop-off/pick-up lot, along with an adjoining greasy food joint and donut shop… where they could post some security personnel and have pedestrians around to keep several pairs of eyes on the immediate area.
As it turns out, the stops and stations aren’t a problem so much as bad spots in the nearby neighborhoods were crooks feel they have free reign. Unfortunately, no neighborhood is immune from this; many times I actually feel safer down here than waiting at certain UW bus stops at night.
(@APJ, sorry to hear about this incident. I hope you all are feeling better)
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