Residents fed up with crime activity at Kent West Hill home

Residents are fed up with living in danger near a Kent West Hill home where two people were recently shot and injured.

Neighbors say they have called 911 to report crimes at the home for as many as 15 years. Drug dealing, prostitution, stolen cars, fights and shootings. All part of life in the 3000 block of South 259th Court, a short dead-end street with a handful of houses just west of Interstate 5.

”It puts lives in danger,” said one resident. “It’s awful to have to live in danger.”

Kent Police are still investigating the Oct. 18 drive-by shooting that injured two people inside the home. Both gunshot victims were treated and released at local hospitals. Police found nearly 70 gun shell casings outside the home.

Residents reached out to the Kent Reporter after reading a short article about the shooting. They wanted people to know it’s been a problem house for years and they want police to do more to try to stop the incidents.

“It blows my mind the number of times we’ve talked to police about that house and nothing really happens,” another resident said.

The Kent Reporter is not using the names of the residents because of the seriousness of the crimes

that surround them. But through phone and in-person interviews with residents, an interview with Kent Police Chief Ken Thomas and a look at 911 call listings and police incident reports in connection with the house at 3015 S. 259th Court, it’s clear crime remains rampant.

Kent Police have filed 15 incident reports over the last two years in connection with the home, according to a list of cases released by the police. The incidents include drug cases, warrant arrests, vehicle theft and assault. Kent Police also made a domestic violence arrest.

Renton Police know the address as well for drug cases connected to people in their city. In January, Renton officers used a search warrant to enter the home and arrested two people for investigation of drug charges.

A total of 23 calls were made to 911 in connection with the home during a nine-month period from October 2015 to July 2016, according to records released by the police. The calls included a fight, suspicious vehicles, suspicious circumstances, stolen auto recovery and other incidents. Officers made several of the calls to 911 to check on warrants and vehicles.

“We agree,” said Thomas when told residents want something done to stop the crime.

But the chief emphasized responding to crime at a home is one thing, stopping it can be a lot tougher.

“That house has been on our radar and we have been working hard,” Thomas said. “Drugs, stolen cars, stolen property – it’s a real problem residence.”

The challenge for police remains trying to get the landlord to work with them. That becomes more difficult when the landlord and tenants are related.

“It’s a rental house and the father owns the house,” Thomas said. “The father’s two daughters live in the house as well as additional people they allow to live there. We tried to address it with the landlord and he’s completely uncooperative and won’t work with us at all. He’s essentially enabling and allowing the criminal activity.”

In September, police compiled a nuisance report about the house, listing all the criminal problems at the address. The police are working with the City Attorney’s Office and code enforcement officers to determine the next steps the city can take based on the criminal history of the property.

“We are involved now, but everything in terms of available courses of action is preliminary at this point from our office’s perspective,” City Attorney Tom Brubaker said in an email. “Generally, though, I can tell you, that when it comes to removing someone from their property – their residence and home – serious constitutional issues arise that make it very, very difficult to take away someone’s home and property. It is a slow, deliberative, legal process that has to be carefully undertaken, though it can be accomplished.”

Thomas said police have determined it’s time to look at taking the legal steps of getting a court to declare the property a nuisance.

“When the government comes in to take somebody’s property that’s a pretty high burden,” Thomas said. “It takes a lot of evidence and a lot of work, but this house is a candidate for close examination to go through that process.”

A house that requires so many police responses remains rare in Kent, the chief said.

“Generally speaking, we work with the owner of the house and get progress,” he said. “We identify houses with a lot of criminal activity where we are making arrests, officers are called there a lot and there is suspected drug activity. Our Neighborhood Response Team officers go out to look at data and try to come up with solutions.”

Most of the drug houses are rentals and police work with the landlords to get the problem tenants removed. But in the case of the West Hill home and a North Park (north of Kent Station) home that had similar crime problems, renters who are related to the landlords become much tougher to deal with.

“Both cases have family members as owners of the house renting to family members, so there is not a lot of emphasis to kick family members out of the houses,” Thomas said.

Police and city officials, however, took the legal steps to shut down and board up the North Park home last month through the city’s nuisance ordinance.

“In the North Park neighborhood, it came together,” Thomas said.

The potential shutdown of the West Hill home remains uncertain.

“It’s been in discussions for a period of time,” Thomas said. “We needed legal opinions on whether we could do it, and if we did it how we go about doing it to stay within the constitution. To say we have a rock solid process to follow would not be accurate. We have been looking for potential solutions to a very complex issue for a long time.”

But when the criminal problems continue, nearby residents want quicker results.

”The difficult corner we get put into is we don’t want to violate somebody’s rights,” Thomas said. “On the other hand, we want to protect the rights of the neighbors to have a decent quality of life and not be impacted by significant criminal activity.”

House calls

(Kent Police compiled 15 case reports for incidents from October 2014 through October 2016 at 3015 S. 259th Court)

2015

Feb. 28: 3 warrant arrests

April 2: Stolen vehicle recovery

Oct. 2: Theft

2016

Jan. 22: Drugs (Renton Police report)

Feb. 3: Stolen vehicle recovery

Feb. 5: Stolen vehicle recovery

May 23: Drugs

May 28: False Statements

June 26: Drugs

July 20: Suspicious circumstances

July 17: Assault

July 21: Impound

Aug. 9: Vehicle Theft

Sept. 16: Nuisance

Oct. 18: Drive-by

Oct. 24: Obstructing