Friday, Feb. 15, was a dangerous night in West Seattle as three teens were robbed at knife-point on California Ave. S.W. and a man was robbed with a fake gun on Delridge Way S.W. Police were able to detain suspects in both cases and continue to investigate.

According to Det. Jeff Kappel with the Seattle Police Department, three juveniles were walking along the 2600 block of California Ave. S.W. just before 9 p.m. when four suspects with their faces covered by bandana approached, donned a gun (later determined to be an airsoft pistol) and knife, and stole a cell phone and camera from the victims before fleeing the scene.

Police responded with a canine unit and detained three suspects on the 2800 block of Walnut Avenue S.W. Found in the near vicinity were a SIG-Sauer-copy airsoft pistol, two masks and a knife, Kappel wrote.
The juveniles were identified and released to their parents/legal guardians “pending further investigation.” A fourth suspect was later contacted at his home and positively identified for further investigation.

On the opposite side of the peninsula, a man left a large house party around 10:50 p.m. and was walking home on the 4800 block of Delridge Way S.W. when a male walked up behind him, pointed a pistol at him and demanded he empty his pockets or get shot, according to Kappel.

The victim dropped his cell phone on the ground and the suspect picked it up before fleeing.

Police arrived to investigate and decided to check the house party for their suspect. Sure enough, they found a male with the victim’s cell phone and a “realistic looking plastic pistol” in his possession. The suspect was booked into King County Jail for investigation of robbery.

No injuries were reported in either robbery.