I have grown increasingly concerned about my safety and well-being while living in this area, especially living alone as a young female. I thought I’d share my experiences/concerns.
Over the summer I was taking my dog out after work on the back patio of my condo building, which is above the Burke Gilman and overlooks Northlake way. I saw a man manually siphoning gas from multiple cars. I called 911 and gave a description of what was happening and what the man looked like. The call was brief and I didn’t get the indication that the police would come. I stood on the back patio for a few more minutes waiting for my dog to finish going to the restroom. The man siphoning gas began yelling at me saying he saw me calling the cops and he was going to “come beat the sh*t out of me” I kind of hid behind a bush and he described what I was wearing and what my dog looked like and repeated that he was going to “come beat the sh*t out of me”. I went in the back door of my building so he couldn’t see where I was going and called 911 again. The police came 5 hours later, didn’t take a signed statement and did nothing. I certainly learned my lesson that confrontations can occur unexpectedly and escalate quickly and that it is not worth calling the police. I learned it is best to just keep my head down when I see something.
Fast forward to January 2022 we have a new RV neighbor. They have produced a lot of noise (dogs barking, music, engines revving) early in the morning/late at night, which isn’t ideal because I have to wake up very early for work. While walking my dog I noticed that there was a bonfire underneath a plastic tarp next to the rv. Also under the plastic tarp was a propane tank. The entire neighborhood was smoky and smelled awful. I have included a picture where you can see the bonfire under the tarp and how smoky it is under the streetlight. This is concerning because I saw an RV fire a few months ago where black smoke went many feet into the sky. I included a picture of the charred rv that is the aftermath of that fire. These fires are a very serious health and safety concern for everyone in the neighborhood.
These are only two incidences of many. I think the most shaking one was when our building was broken into on Christmas Eve. I had to leave Christmas with my family to check on my apartment and was extremely scared, luckily my apartment was fine but it was still very violating.
I appreciate your efforts to help enact change in this area. I am so saddened by the state of it. I understand that these are humans living in the RVs and this issue must be handled delicately and respectfully.
The RVs and tents are moving more to the west of N Northlake Way (closer toward gasworks). The open drug dealing is very scary. We feel we are at risk just walking our dog. We have not had the police respond to our calls about the drug use and dealing. We have watched them closely and now think they have some form of a lab and are making drugs. The cars roll in and out all night with the deals. If the sweep does not remove them we all need to keep calling the police. We cannot let up.