SEATTLE, WA - Police with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) have arrested a 13-year-old teenage boy for stealing a woman's purse and assaulting her at a West Seattle pharmacy.
According to Fox 13, the violent incident was caught on surveillance video. Police were dispatched to reports of a strong-arm robbery taking place at a pharmacy located in the 2600 block of Southwest Barton Street. The victim told police that there was a group of teenagers inside the store and one of them approached her and forcibly took her purse before making a dash towards the pharmacy exit.
The woman chased the boy and managed to catch up to him at the entrance. She told police that at that moment, the teenage boy grabbed her shirt and forcefully threw her to the ground. Despite her additional attempts to chase after him, the situation escalated when he allegedly struck her multiple times in the face.
After that, the teen and the rest of the group fled eastbound on Southwest Barton Street. The victim called 911, leading police to locate the suspect and two other teenagers near 18th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Barton Street. The 13-year-old was taken into custody and booked into the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center on suspicion of robbery. The other two teenagers were identified and subsequently released.
The victim also told police that an employee of the pharmacy had confront the group of teenagers inside of the store for allegedly not paying for their items. According to some who live in the area, similar incidents like this one have been happening. Ryan Shirley, who lives four blocks away from where the robbery was reported, said that while things have remained safe for the last two years, he has seen similar incidents.
He said, "There's a lot of attempts to help curb this stuff. If the money is misguided and there's not the appropriate resources being spent in the appropriate places, at least from what I can see." Tarry Nelson, who was at the pharmacy during the incident said, "The blantaness of that assault was disgusting. It makes me so sad."
Nelson has lived in West Seattle for more than two decades and said that she witnesses theft like these or from other stores regularly, claiming that she had just witnessed one moments before the robbery. She said, "They think that nobody's getting hurt, but everybody that's getting hurt."
She also said that lately, she hardly carries anything inside of her purse, just the bare minimum. Nelson said, "Let it go. Let your bag go. Don't chase after them; get as far away from the situation as you can because unfortunately, this was a situation where there were several of them, but a lot of them have guns. A lot of them have guns and you can't walk away from that."
King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office Spokesperson Casey McNerthney said, "What we're seeing is the numbers are returning to 2019 levels." According to a juvenile detention auditor's report, the number of youth booked into secure detention declined from 2017 to 2023. There were 1,429 youth bookings then, but those numbers have begun to increase again since the first half of 2023.
At the same time, those teens getting into trouble are staying locked up longer, with average stays exceeding 30 days. McNerthney said, "The goal of having better behavioral health services, having more therapeutic alternatives is correct, but we also have to have an answer to what to do with people who commit serious crimes."
According to Fox 13, the violent incident was caught on surveillance video. Police were dispatched to reports of a strong-arm robbery taking place at a pharmacy located in the 2600 block of Southwest Barton Street. The victim told police that there was a group of teenagers inside the store and one of them approached her and forcibly took her purse before making a dash towards the pharmacy exit.
The woman chased the boy and managed to catch up to him at the entrance. She told police that at that moment, the teenage boy grabbed her shirt and forcefully threw her to the ground. Despite her additional attempts to chase after him, the situation escalated when he allegedly struck her multiple times in the face.
After that, the teen and the rest of the group fled eastbound on Southwest Barton Street. The victim called 911, leading police to locate the suspect and two other teenagers near 18th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Barton Street. The 13-year-old was taken into custody and booked into the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center on suspicion of robbery. The other two teenagers were identified and subsequently released.
The victim also told police that an employee of the pharmacy had confront the group of teenagers inside of the store for allegedly not paying for their items. According to some who live in the area, similar incidents like this one have been happening. Ryan Shirley, who lives four blocks away from where the robbery was reported, said that while things have remained safe for the last two years, he has seen similar incidents.
He said, "There's a lot of attempts to help curb this stuff. If the money is misguided and there's not the appropriate resources being spent in the appropriate places, at least from what I can see." Tarry Nelson, who was at the pharmacy during the incident said, "The blantaness of that assault was disgusting. It makes me so sad."
Nelson has lived in West Seattle for more than two decades and said that she witnesses theft like these or from other stores regularly, claiming that she had just witnessed one moments before the robbery. She said, "They think that nobody's getting hurt, but everybody that's getting hurt."
She also said that lately, she hardly carries anything inside of her purse, just the bare minimum. Nelson said, "Let it go. Let your bag go. Don't chase after them; get as far away from the situation as you can because unfortunately, this was a situation where there were several of them, but a lot of them have guns. A lot of them have guns and you can't walk away from that."
King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office Spokesperson Casey McNerthney said, "What we're seeing is the numbers are returning to 2019 levels." According to a juvenile detention auditor's report, the number of youth booked into secure detention declined from 2017 to 2023. There were 1,429 youth bookings then, but those numbers have begun to increase again since the first half of 2023.
At the same time, those teens getting into trouble are staying locked up longer, with average stays exceeding 30 days. McNerthney said, "The goal of having better behavioral health services, having more therapeutic alternatives is correct, but we also have to have an answer to what to do with people who commit serious crimes."
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Comments
2024-04-29T14:23-0400 | Comment by: Jane
It's simple ... keep their azz'z in jail!
2024-04-29T17:40-0400 | Comment by: Raconteur
Keep voting for those socialist Democrats. It's working SO well.