Kent Police Blotter | Jan. 10-30

A sampling of Kent Police incidents from Jan. 10-30:

Jan. 9

Shots fired at apartment: 8:34 a.m., officers were dispatched to an illegal discharge that occurred at the Valli Kee Apartments, 23401 104th Ave. SE. One of the apartments had been hit by multiple rounds. Video surveillance showed a vehicle arriving in the parking lot and positioned itself in front of the victim apartment. The driver of the vehicle fired rounds at the apartment and fled in the vehicle. The resident of the apartment exited and returned fire. The resident was seen getting into a vehicle and driving towards where the suspect vehicle had gone.

Jan. 10

Stolen vehicle tracked: 10:09 a.m., officers led an effort to recover an occupied stolen Dodge Ram that was being live tracked by Sirius Radio. Phone contact was made with Sirius Radio and they were able to direct officers as the vehicle moved. Ultimately, the vehicle was located and recovered unoccupied at the Rite Aid, 20518 108th Ave. SE. The driver was not located but the passenger was detained and booked on warrants. Interestingly, during the recovery of the vehicle, officers located a suspected new auto theft device, a “push-to-start ignition bypass device” which may mimic a vehicle key fob allowing it to be started, and then stolen, without a key fob or damage to the vehicle. This has been in the California area for some time but appears to be migrating north.

Attempted kidnapping: 8:38 p.m., an officer was flagged down at the Kent Police Station, 232 Fourth Ave. S., regarding an attempted kidnapping. A 17-year-old male was leaving the Sounder Station when he was grabbed from behind and the suspect held a knife to his throat. The victim brandished his own knife, tried to stab the suspect who let go, and the victim ran from the scene.

Jan. 11

Shot in knee: 7:04 p.m., officers were dispatched to Valley Medical Center in Renton regarding a subject with a gunshot wound. The victim had been shot once in the knee. The victim and family did not provide any information to officers except that the shooting occurred in Kent.

Shot in arm: 10:24 p.m., officers were dispatched to St. Anne Hospital in Burien regarding a shooting victim. The victim had been with friends in a park in the area of SE 192nd Street and 108th Avenue SE in Kent when shots rang out and he was struck in the arm.

Jan. 12

Stolen vehicle speeds away: 11:45 a.m., officers located an occupied stolen vehicle at the Grandview Apartments, 3900 Veterans Drive. Officers followed due to the vehicle being stuck in traffic. One officer went to get in front of vehicle when vehicle took off, hit the patrol vehicle, and sped off. Officers did not pursue vehicle.

Jan. 13

Parking lot shooting: 9:34 a.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting at Golden Pizza, 26200 116th Ave. SE, where there were two males on location shooting at a vehicle. Upon arrival both vehicles were no longer there. A short time later the victim reached out and officers found his vehicle had at least one bullet strike from the incident. The victim had confronted a group of subjects as he felt one of them was responsible for stealing his vehicle prior. One of the subjects hit his vehicle with a crowbar and eventually someone shot at him.

Shot in calf: 6:49 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting that occurred at the Riverwood Apartments, 24620 Russell Road. The victim who had been struck in the calf. The incident was most likely prompted as retaliation to a fight that occurred a few hours prior between the victim and other tenants. Three unknown suspects came to the victim’s apartment in attempt to confront him and ended up firing through the front door. The victim was transported to Valley Medical for further medical treatment.

Jan. 14

Dead body: 4:02 p.m., officers were dispatched to Morrill Meadows Park, 10600 SE 248th St., regarding a suspicious circumstance. Two subjects had found a body of a deceased male in the woods. Detectives responded and were able to tentatively identify the male as a reported missing person out of Kent. He is the suspect in a Kent homicide that occurred in the first half of 2022.

Jan. 16

Pointed gun: 10:30 a.m., officers were dispatched to a threat with a weapon near Safeway, 20830 108th Ave. SE. A male driving a vehicle pointed a firearm at another occupied vehicle. The victims had been driving and avoided some trash in the middle of the road. This caused vehicles behind them to slow down. When they reached the intersection near Safeway, they saw the driver of one vehicle pull up beside them and pointed a gun at them. Officers located the suspect who claimed the victims had been following him. Video surveillance showed that was not the case. The suspect provided consent to search his vehicle and a firearm was located. The suspect was booked for unlawful possession of a firearm and felony harassment.

Weapon threat: 6:31 p.m., officers were dispatched to a threat with a weapon which occurred at the Kent Library, 212 Second Ave. N. The victim had been walking from Safeway on Washington Avenue North and was near Kaibara Park. He noticed a couple subjects driving a vehicle where the passenger was wearing a mask and holding an AR-15 style rifle. The suspects apparently tried to rob the victim who was not forthcoming with his information.

Patrol officer struck: 7:04 p.m., a Kent officer was at 25900 Pacific Highway South with a blocking disabled car in the middle of the road. While waiting for a tow with emergency lights on, the patrol car was rear-ended by a large truck while he was sitting inside. The officer and was transported Valley Medical Center with neck/back pain.

Pedestrian robbery: 8:30 p.m., officers were dispatched to a robbery that occurred in the 800 block of First Avenue N. The victim was walking when a vehicle pulled up and multiple people got out. One suspect approached her and put a handgun to her back. Another suspect was carrying a rifle. One suspect ripped her bag from her grasp while the other threw her to the ground causing her to cut her finger. The suspects made off with the victim’s bank cards and $100 in cash.

Jan. 17

Vehicle theft arrest: 2:04 p.m., officers located a stolen vehicle in the parking lot of Snow White Laundry, 23250 Pacific Highway S. The driver was pinned in but when he woke, he started ramming police vehicles and when that didn’t work, he then fled on foot. Officers were in a short foot pursuit and the suspect was taken into custody.

Jan. 18

Attempted high speed rundown: 12:58 p.m., the entire day and early swing crew police officers were involved in a priority call involving a report of an imminent fight at the transit center on Railroad Avenue between dozens of juveniles let out early from school. Two juveniles, ages 15 and 14, were in a stolen Hyundai and attempted to run down dozens of children at the Metro Kent Transit Center in speeds likely in excess of 100 mph. These juvenile suspects made two laps through the transit center, with officers on scene and attempting to stop them, before bailing out of the vehicle and initiating a foot pursuit. Both suspects were taken into custody (but were refused booking by King County Juvenile Detention) and charged with multiple felony charges. The suspects were brought to the Kent city jail for an administrative booking and released to their parents.

Jan. 19

Gunfire exchanged: 8:40 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting between two vehicles near the YMCA, 10824 SE 248th St. One casing was located and taken as evidence. Involved subjects fled on foot prior to officer’s arrival. The following day officers responded to a suspicious subject call where two people were trying to retrieve a bag out of a homeowners’ yard. This residence was in line with where the subjects fled the shooting scene the day prior. Officers located a firearm on the roof of a shed which was collected as evidence.

Jan. 20

Juveniles arrested: 12 p.m., officers responded to Target, 26301 104th Ave. SE, for an occupied stolen vehicle. The victim’s Apple AirPods were in the vehicle and she was able to track it to Target. Target Loss Prevention was able to catch the driver and passenger of the stolen vehicle walk into the store on video surveillance. The occupants were two juvenile males. Officers recognized the driver of the stolen vehicle as the same juvenile driver of the stolen vehicle from the Metro transit station incident earlier in the week. Both juveniles were located inside Target and arrested. The passenger later admitted to stealing and crashing another vehicle in Kent the night before.

Jan. 21

Robbery in driveway: On January 21, at 8:01pm, officers were dispatched to a welfare check at a residence in the 26400 block of 136th Avenue SE. The reporting party was in California, but she could see people in her driveway via her Ring camera. The people were armed with handguns and threatening, pistol whipping and robbing her boyfriend who was also in the driveway. During the subsequent K-9 unit track and assistance from Washington State Patrol, it appeared the suspects were able to get to a running vehicle and fled the scene.

Bar parking lot robbery: 12:51 a.m., an officer was dispatched to a robbery at the Firestarter Bar & Grill, 21008 108th Ave. SE. The victims arrived in the parking lot, and when they began to get out of their vehicle two suspects began to rob them at gunpoint. One of the suspects knocked the female victim to the ground and stole her keys, wallet, and phone. The suspects were seen getting into a vehicle and fleeing the scene.

Shotgun threat: 10:53 p.m., officers were dispatched to a domestic dispute with a shotgun, where suspects were inside the house threatening to fight family. The suspects were a male and female known to the victim, there was lots of arguing heard, kids in the background, and then they hung up on the call receiver and stopped answering calls. Officers arrived, finding a trailer on some acreage on the north end of a long driveway. After a short standoff with no response, officers discovered an elderly female was alone inside the trailer and the victims had escaped from the suspects by fleeing out the back and waiting nearby. The victims are two females that live at that location with kids. The suspects are known family members/significant others and they randomly showed up tonight, pointing a shotgun and demanding money.

Jan. 22

Apartment shooting: 3:16 a.m., officers were dispatched to the Alvista Lake Meridian Apartments, 14901 SE 272nd St., regarding a shooting. The victim interrupted someone trying to steal his vehicle. The suspect ran from the scene and got into the passenger seat of a running vehicle. The driver of that vehicle saw the victim and fired several shots at him. The suspects then fled.

Robbed at knifepoint: 3:29 p.m., an officer responded to the Driftwood Apartments, 1610 W. James Place, regarding a robbery. When the victim arrived home and parked her vehicle, she was approached by a male suspect who robbed her at knifepoint. The suspect was only able to take the victim’s key fob.

Jan. 23

Shots fired inside apartment: 1:17 p.m., officers were dispatched to Valli Kee Apartments, 23401 104th Ave. SE, for a domestic dispute involving a gun. The subject went into his mother’s apartment and demanded money from her, telling her that he needed money because he was wanted for a murder in Auburn. When mother refused to give him money, he began waiving a silver revolver around and talking to himself saying, “Don’t kill them!” The subject then shot a round off inside the apartment before fleeing. Arriving officers observed the man fleeing in a black vehicle. Employees from Kent Chiropractic reported seeing a male fleeing on foot through their parking lot armed with a gun. A perimeter was established, and a drone was deployed. After an extensive search, the subject was not located.

McDonald’s robbery: 11:30 p.m., officers were dispatched to a robbery at McDonald’s, 1236 W. Meeker St. The suspect had ordered food through the drive thru and when he pulled up to the pay station window, he got out, pointed a gun at the employee’s chest and demanded money. The employee said the till had less than $100 in it, and the suspect ended up taking the entire till. He then fled in his vehicle.

Jan. 24

Shell station robbery: 10:31 p.m., officers were dispatched to a robbery at a Shell Gas Station, 23953 104th Ave. SE. The suspect entered the store with a handgun and began assaulting the owner of the business with it while demanding money. During the incident, the suspect fired the gun into the ground while yelling at him to hurry up. The suspect took about $300 in cash during the robbery.

7-Eleven robbery: 11:41 p.m., officers were dispatched to a robbery at 7-Eleven, 13131 SE 240th St. Three suspects entered the store while the victim/employee was behind the counter. One of the suspects approached the victim, pointed a gun at him, and demanded his cellphone and money out of the cash register. One of the other suspects robbed a customer within the store in the same fashion. All three suspects were seen leaving in a vehicle.

Jan. 25

ATM robbery: 12:27 a.m., officers were dispatched to a robbery at the Bank of America, 25638 104th Ave. SE. The victim was at the ATM withdrawing money. When she was walking back to her car, a vehicle pulled up and blocked her in. Three suspects got out and robbed her of the cash she just withdrew and demanded she pull more money out of the ATM. She was forced to go back to the ATM and show the suspects she did not have any more money in her account. The suspects then ran back to their vehicle and fled the scene.

Rollover crash: 7:31 p.m., officers responded to a two-vehicle collision at SE 192nd Street and 116th Avenue SE. One vehicle had rolled over and the occupants were trapped but were able to get out. The driver of the suspect vehicle fled on foot. The suspect was making suicidal statements as he walked away. Officers located the suspect and the suspect told officers to shoot him several times and refused to comply with commands. Less lethal force was used to take the suspect in to custody. Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority medic personnel stated the victims of the hit-and-run sustained internal injuries and most likely broken bones. They were transported to the hospital for further evaluation.

Jan. 27

76 station robbery: 12:48 a.m., officers were dispatched to a robbery at the 76 Gas station, 1513 W. Meeker St. The victim/employee was walking down one of the aisles when two suspects entered the store with handguns. One suspect escorted him back behind the counter at gunpoint and stole the victims cellphone and around $2,000 in cash from the cash register. The other suspect robbed a customer of their cellphone. The suspects fled the store and were seen getting into a vehicle.

Stolen vehicles arrest: 1:27 p.m., officers responded to Home Depot for a report of a stolen vehicle. An officer learned the vehicle belonged to an employee and there was video footage of the theft. When the vehicle was stolen, left behind, running, was a second stolen vehicle which an officer recovered. Later in his shift, an officer learned of a second vehicle theft on the East Hill in which the Home Depot employee’s vehicle was left on scene. An officer recovered this vehicle as well. Even later in the same shift, an officer responded to a report of a juvenile problem at Meridian Green Apartments for juveniles doing donuts in the parking lot. Upon arrival, an officer and his beat partners located a stolen Kia leaving the complex. Upon contact they were able to take the driver into custody and learned he was a 14-year-old juvenile who lived at Meridian Green. Although the juvenile suspect was not questioned due to the child’s lawyer invoking his right to remain silent on his behalf. An officer determined through investigations in his previous vehicle recovery cases earlier in the day that he was able to determine the same juvenile reportedly was responsible for all of the vehicle thefts. The juvenile suspect was subsequently booked into the King County Juvenile Detention Center for one count of taking a motor vehicle, two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle and one count of trespassing in the second degree.

Shot in face, neck: 10:48 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting victim who was at St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way. The shooting occurred near the Buena Casa Apartments, 25701 27th Place S., in Kent. The victim had injuries to the face and neck. The victim had been sitting on a bench with a friend within the complex when a vehicle with two occupants drove up. They rolled down their windows and one of them said hello. Right after the victim responded, the two occupants began shooting at the victim and his friend.

Jan. 28

Shots fired at home: 1:49 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting at a residence in the 12900 block of SE 275th St. Someone had shot through the victim’s rear door. The officer canvassed the area of where the suspect would have fired from and recovered spent casings. The victim did not know exactly when this occurred and there are no witnesses at this time.

Stolen vehicles, drugs found: 4:40 p.m., officers conducted a routine patrol in the 12200 block of SE 199th St. Since Aug. 1, 2022 there has been 15 police cases generated resulting in the recovery of 13 stolen vehicles, four firearms and narcotics. Officers located an occupied and running stolen vehicle parked in the east driveway of this residence. A female exited from the driver’s position of the vehicle and a male exited a white BMW parked next to the stolen vehicle. Officers determined that not only was the vehicle stolen, the plates mounted on it were stolen as well. The female was arrested. Officers located a large shard of crystalline substance consistent with the appearance of methamphetamine and a rubber container. Within the container was a dark, tarry substance that appeared consistent with heroin. Officers also noted that the BMW contained in plain view a large crystalline substance that appeared to be methamphetamine on the driver’s seat, a large baggie full of blue, disc shaped pills consistent with fentanyl on the dash, and a large amount of loose cash. Officers impounded both vehicles and applied for a search warrant for the BMW.

Police pursuit: 10:39 p.m., detectives located a Kia Soul in the Target parking lot, 26301 1o4th Ave. SE, with no license plates. The vehicle was running with both the brake lights and reverse lights illuminated and the passenger side rear window was broken out. A male was slumped over across the console and appeared to be passed out. Several officers arrived on scene to help, but before they could make contact the driver woke up and accelerated away swerving and unable to maintain a line of travel and directly towards officers, before turning and exiting the parking lot. Officers activated emergency lights and sirens, attempting to get the driver to stop the vehicle. Based on the reasonable suspicion of DUI, and public safety officers were authorized to pursue. Ultimately, the pursuit headed north on Highway 167 and north on I-405 where it was terminated.

Jan. 30

Stolen vehicles found: 8:50 a.m., officers responded to the 24200 block of 101st Place SE for a stolen vehicle recovery. The victim was tracking their stolen vehicle by Apple Airtag to this location. Officers located the stolen vehicle backed into the driveway of the residence still running. Several subjects were seen around the vehicle and fled on foot when they noticed the police vehicles. One subject fled into the residence, locking the door, and refused to speak with officers. A second occupied stolen vehicle was found parked across the street from the residence as well and the driver was arrested on two felony warrants. It was discovered that other reported stolen vehicles had been recovered from this address on Jan. 18.

Jan. 31

Arco store robbery: 3:08 a.m., officers responded to an in-progress armed robbery at Arco am/pm, 13130 SE Kent Kangley Road. Two masked suspects entered the store and immediately pointed handguns at the clerks demanding their wallets, cellphones and the cash register. The suspects took both clerks cellphones and one of the suspects stated something to the effect of “Give me the cash or we’ll shoot you.” The clerks handed the suspects the cash drawer from the register which contained $800 to $1,000. Both suspects fled in a black Chrysler 300. Officers were eventually able to find the stolen phone they were tracking, near Reber Ranch.

Major emphasis patrol

On Jan. 23, officers conducted a joint operation with the state Liquor Control Board. Only one business sold alcohol to a minor without asking for ID. The suspect employee was cited for furnishing alcohol to a minor.