Local News

Renton police seek robber who beat smoke-shop owner

The owner of a South Renton smoke shop was robbed inside his business Wednedsay and severely beaten in the process, Renton police say.

A video  released by police showed the two suspects, identified by police as Joel White and Christopher Lockett Jr.  beating owner with a stick, bottles, fists and feet.

White was arrested Friday by detectives, but Lockett remains at large.

Renton Police are asking anyone with knowledge of Lockett’s whereabouts to call 911 and consider the man violent and dangerous.

0 comments | More in General news, The Blotter | Topics: beating, Renton, Renton Police

Victim of Renton hit and run dies; witnesses sought

The victim of a hit-and-run accident in Renton on Tuesday has died from his injuries, police said.

The victim, Oscar Stevens, 54, died at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center. 

Stevens was found just before 6 a.m. on the side of a road after he was apparently struck by a vehicle, police said.   

Renton police are asking anyone who may have seen Stevens prior to the arrival of officers to call the department at 425-430-7500, and refer to case 12-4424.

0 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: hit and run, Renton, Renton Police Department

UPDATE: SWAT team clears Renton house, finds ‘contraband’ but no robbers

A King County sheriff’s SWAT team has cleared a home in Renton where  a supposed home-invasion robbery occurred Wednesday morning.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West said the team didn’t find any people, but did recover some unspecified “contraband” that detectives intend to talk to the residents about later.

It’s still not clear whether anyone actually ever broke into the home. The two women who reported the robbery shortly before 7  this morning have given conflicting stories, West says, and it’s still unclear exactly what the robbers were supposed to be looking for.

Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a report of shots fired in the home, which is in the 10200 block of 128^th Avenue Southeast. They were met by two women who said that three armed men broke into the home through a window and announced they were looking for “something.” Shots were fired and the women fled, West said, and one of them told deputies she had to jump out a window.

“We haven’t been able to verify any of this yet,” West said.

The women said the robbers told them that they had wired a car outside with explosives, and that there were bombs in the house. West said those reports, and an “abundance of caution and concern for public safety” resulted in a long search of several nearby vehicles using a robot. After announcing on a public address system for anyone still inside the house to come out –  and then waiting for an hour for anyone to comply –  the sheriff’s office then sent a robot into the house to look for explosives there.

It wasn’t until nearly 3 p.m.  that a SWAT team entered the house.

0 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: home invasion, King County Sheriff's Office, Renton

UPDATE: Gunmen break into Renton home, allegedly rig car with bomb

A King County sheriff's explosives team operates a robot near a Renton home Wednesday morning. Three men invaded the home and then said they had rigged a bomb in a car there. The sheriff's team planned to use the robot to blow open the trunk with a water canon to see if there is a bomb there. (Photo by Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)

UPDATE AT 12:04 P.M.: King County sheriff’s bomb experts are still at a Renton home where three men claimed they rigged a car with explosives.

Deputies were called to the home in the 10200 block of 128th Avenue Southeast just before 7 for a report of shots fired and someone yelling, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West. When deputies spoke with people in the home, they said that three armed men entered the home and fired shots. No one was hurt.

The residents said the suspects claimed they were looking for “something,” West said.

Before leaving, the men told the residents they had rigged one of their vehicles with explosives, West said.

Explosives experts are trying to examine a Mercedes-Benz for explosives, West said. Major crimes detectives are securing a warrant so they can search the home, she added.

No arrests have been made.  It’s  unclear whether the residents knew the men.

0 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: armed robbery, bomb, King County Sheriff's Office

One dead, two injured in crash on Northeast 6th Street in Bellevue

A 21-year-old Renton man is dead and two others were injured after the black BMW they were in crashed head-on into a jersey barrier on Northeast 6th Street at Interstate 405 in Bellevue  just after midnight on Saturday.

According to the Washington State Patrol, the car driven by a 31-year-old Renton man failed to negotiate a curve and struck the barrier. The driver was taken to Harborview Medical Center. The 21-year-old man died at the scene. A 19-year-old Renton woman was also injured and taken to Overlake Hospital Medical Center.

The State Patrol is investigating and said drugs or alcohol were involved.

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Free eye exams for low-income and unemployed people

About 100 appointments are still available for free eye exams for low-income and unemployed people.

Coordinated by the Renton Lions Club, the exams are to be performed April 20 at the Valley Eye and Laser Center in Renton.

Lions Clubs and their members have worked on projects to prevent blindness, restore eyesight and improve eye care for almost 100 years, said Cornelia Clark, coordinator of the vision program for the Renton club.

To schedule a free eye exam, contact the closest local Lions Club:

Auburn, Heidi Harris, 253-735-5340

Burien, Maurice Godfrey, 206-242-6456

Covington – Tom Russell, 206-271-0246

Des Moines, Megan Chamberlin 206-552-1613

Fairwood, Sandy Knutowski 425-271-3822

Federal Way, Elisa McKinny, summerelsie47@yahoo.com

Fife, Mike Hall, Charlie_mike@mac.com

Kennydale, John Brooks, 425-228-5465

Kent, Cheryl Croft, 253-852-5466

Kirkland, Efren Pascua, 425-820-9209

Normandy Park, Kelly Fox 206 242 1010

Renton – Cornelia Clark, 425-282-0487

Seattle/Rainer, Maria McDaniel, 206-856-7642

Seattle/Seatac Juanito “John” Araucto 206-419-8302

West Seattle, Harvey Rowe, 206-762-1221

0 comments | More in General news | Topics: Auburn, Burien, Covington

‘Butt-dialing’ leads Renton police to suspected thief

Renton police say a series of inadvertent cellphone calls to emergency dispatchers by suspected thieves while they were searching for cars to prowl has led to the arrest of one man.

The first call was placed on March 14 to Valley Communications, the emergency dispatch center for several South King County law enforcement and fire agencies. The dispatch center’s call receiver got no answer when she tried to determine the nature of the call, but she heard voices in the background, according to a Renton police news release. 

The call receiver realized that the call was an open-line call, also known as a “pocket dial,” or “butt dial.” She believed that the males she heard on the other end of the call were looking for cars to steal, Renton police said. The 911 system showed that the call came from downtown Renton. 

The males remained on the line for 44 minutes as they apparently drove through the Renton area and discussed what kind of cars to target, and what kind of property they could get from the cars, police said. The main voice heard on the call belonged to a male who instructed the driver on how to position their vehicle so he could jump out, “jiggle the key” and take the car, according to police.

Police were unable to locate the source of the call. However, when Renton police Officer Wayne Blackard responded to a report of a stolen Toyota 4-Runner from downtown Renton a few hours later, he realized that the theft was likely related to the earlier 911 call, police said. 

Four days later, Valley Communications received two additional 911 calls from the same phone number. In one call, the same male voice was heard arguing with another male as the sound of a racing car engine could be heard in the background, police said. The male could be heard discussing the same 4-Runner that had been stolen following the first call, according to police. 

The call receiver dispatched police to find the vehicle by tracking the call. Officer Eric Stevens found an abandoned Honda which had been reported stolen earlier in the day from Burien, police said.

On April 1, police were sent to an apartment complex in the Renton Highlands after dispatchers received a fourth inadvertent 911 call from the same cellphone. An officer spotted an occupied car in the lot. One of the passengers, 40-year-old Wesley Strom, told Stevens that his cellphone sometimes called 911 for no apparent reason, police said.

Stevens confirmed that Strom’s cell number matched all four of the 911 calls, and that Strom lived next to the site where the stolen Honda had been found. He also learned that Strom had a warrant for his arrest.

Strom was arrested and charged with possession of the stolen 4-Runner and the stolen Honda. He remains in custody in lieu of $70,000 bail. 

0 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: Possession of stolen property, Renton, Renton Police Department

Watchful neighbor foils burglary at Renton home

Teenage burglars were no match for a watchful Renton resident who summoned police yesterday when he saw them walk into a neighbor’s back yard.

Renton police said the neighbor saw the five boys, ages 14  to 18, knock on the door of a home on Talbot Crest Drive in the middle of the day. Getting no answer, the group then walked into the back yard.

The neighbor, suspecting that the group might break into the house, called 911. When police arrived the five fled the home carrying  jewelry and a TV, police said.  However, all five were arrested and booked for investigation of residential burglary.

Police said the boys used a rock to shatter a sliding glass door at the back of the house.

0 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: Burglary, Renton, Renton Police Department

Trooper fires at driver who ran over his foot in Renton

A trooper opened fire at a suspected car thief who ran over the trooper’s foot while fleeing from a traffic stop this morning in Renton, according to the State Patrol. The trooper was taken to Valley Medical Center in Renton for treatment for a foot injury.

The trooper pulled over the car around 10 a.m. because it was being driven illegally in the HOV lane on northbound Interstate 405 near Northeast 30th Street, State Patrol spokeswoman Julie Startup tells KOMO-TV. As the trooper approached the driver, the driver sped off, running over the trooper’s foot.

The trooper fired a gunshot at the fleeing car, but missed, Startup said.

The driver was arrested a short time later when he crashed into some brush in the 1600 block of Northeast 30th Street, according to KOMO. Startup said the car had been stolen.

The name of the 30-year-old trooper has not been released, but Startup tells KOMO he’s a six-year veteran of the State Patrol.

0 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: car theft, Renton, shooting

Bellevue police searching for band of thieves

Bellevue Police are searching for four people in connection with two home robberies in the Bellevue and Renton-areas late last month. (Graphic provided by the Bellevue Police Department)

Bellevue police are asking for your help in tracking down what they believe is a traveling band of armed thieves that hit two homes in the area in one day last month.

They broke into a Renton-area man’s home on March 22 in broad daylight at about 1:30 p.m., just as he was getting home, according to Bellevue police.

The robbers, three of them, threatened and robbed him at gunpoint and took a large amount of gold East Indian jewelry.

Surveillance video showed them getting away in two vehicles, a black GMC Denali and a Silver Nissan Altima. Some witnesses said that the Denali had out-of-state license plates, perhaps from Oregon or Idaho. While the driver of the Altima was not seen, the driver of the Denali was a woman, possibly in her 20s or 30s.

Just a few hours later, a Bellevue woman and her 9-year-old son passed a black GMC Denali driven by a woman. When they got home, they found three men walking out of their home with bags of stolen goods. These thieves are believed to be  the same men who had robbed the Renton-area man earlier in the day.

Police have provided this identification information:

• All three men are black and appear to be in their 20s.
• All are Spanish speakers.
• The woman driver, who is white, was driving a newer model black GMC Terrain Denali.
• In both cases, the same method was used to force their way into the homes.
• The robbers appear to have targeted collections of jewelry.

Police say the out-of-state plates, the descriptions of the robbers and the fact that police haven’t had information about this band of thieves in this area before makes authorities believe they are a traveling group of robbers. Police also think they may be staying in motels in the area.

Police would like to know if you have seen this group or anyone matching the descriptions selling jewelry in the area. Police also ask that if you have any other information that might help the investigation to contact Bellevue Police Detective Bean at 425-577-5656 or King County Sheriff’s Office Detective Sampson 206-296-3311.

0 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: armed, Bellevue, Renton