A Capitol Hill woman says she was robbed at gunpoint earlier this afternoon by a man who chased her down, tackled her and stole her iPod.
Ashley Wolff, a 24-year-old Capitol Hill resident, says she was walking on 15th Ave between E Prospect Street and E Ward at about 3pm when an African-American man in his late teens or early twenties approached her, tapped her on the shoulder and asked her for change for a dollar.
When Wolff said she didn’t have change, the man demanded her iPod Nano. When she refused, he pulled out a black handgun. Wolff screamed and took off running, but the man chased her down the block and tackled her to the ground. The man took her iPod and ran off.
Bystanders called 911. “There were a lot of witnesses,” Wolff says. “There were kids playing out there on the sidewalk.”
Police and got a description of the man, Wolff says, and paramedics treated her at the scene. “I have a big four inch scrape on my back that’s pretty nasty,” she says. “I’m bruised and scraped up, but other than that I’m fine.”
Wolff says she generally feels safe in Seattle, but says she’s shocked by the amount of force used in the robbery. “I never thought anyone would come after my iPod with a gun,” she says. “It’s an iPod.”
Unfortunately, cases like Wolff’s are becoming increasingly more common in Seattle. According to statistics released by the Seattle Police Department late last month, robberies have been on the rise since 2007. Department records say that in 2007, there were 1,522 robberies in Seattle. In 2008, that number rose 6% to 1,612. However, in the first four months of 2009, police say there were 570 robberies, up a whopping 25% from the same period last year.
In an interview with The Stranger earlier this month, Interim Police Chief John Diaz pointed to “job losses and the economy” as a significant contributing factors to the rise in crime in Seattle, where burglaries and assaults involving weapons have also increased 10% and 17%, respectively.
Look, people, if someone points a gun at you and demands you give them your iPod, just do it. No, it doesn’t feel good, and it lets them “win” or something, but fucking around with a scared, desperate asshole with a handgun can get you killed really easily.
There are ways to avoid being a victim in this type of crime, but running away after they’ve got you at gun point is not one of them.
Holy crap.
This same thing happened to me roughly.
I was sitting in Westlake Park typing on my Dell 9 netbook.
A guy came up to me held what looked like a half-dollar in my face, and when I turned to look, another guy ran past me and snatched it.
This happened approximately one month ago.
I am going to contact Seattle Police, and using my case number make a reference to this crime.
I’ve also reported it to Dan Satterberg and his staff and asked that they increase pressure on this type of snatch and run theft!
@2: Dunno if you read the actual article or not, but that’s not “the same thing […] roughly.” Getting your pocket picked isn’t the same as being held up at gun point.
i’d say screaming and running is probably not as bad as actively resisting, but agreeing with #1 – i’d definitely just have given the iPod over.
damnit that’s my hood and somebody waves a gun at me i’ll get clint eastwood on their sorry ass. and i’m talkin’ some “get off my lawn” shit.
what a bunch of bullshit.
when the crime rate drops the cops are quick to claim credit with “new, innovative techniques”, but when the crime rate goes up it is always some external force beyond their control to blame. bullshit.
i respect cops, but SPD is full of non-strategic lemons.
Ashley, you did great. Well done for defending yourself. I hope your friends get together and buy you a new iPod first thing tomorrow morning.
Screw @1Lee and @4Pfft – they’re all talk and no balls.
@7: How is giving in to the demands of the gunman “all talk and no balls”? I can see the “no balls” part (though my point was that the temptation to be “ballsy” in that situation likely gets you killed for no reason), but the “all talk” part literally makes no sense whatsoever: “all talk” would be if I suggested doing something unrealistically aggressive like Kung Fu moves or a “Let’s roll! (courtesy of the red white and blue!)” cell phone call.
I don’t see how my suggestion of meekly handing over the iPod and living to buy another one is “all talk.” I look forward to your explanation.
@8 – don’t feed the trolls. and don’t worry about blank12357. based on his comment I assume that natural selection will likely weed him out of the gene pool soon enough.
I agree that SPD isn’t doing much about these kinds of crimes. When my purse was snatched from me at the 3rd and Pike bus stop last February, the cop who responded to my friend’s call (within two minutes, actually very good response time) said, “He’s done this before, and he’ll do it again.” With all due respect, sir, he’s only been running for a few minutes, and if you took the time to GO FIND HIM, he might not do it again. I’m glad the guy didn’t point a gun at me, but I was annoyed that the cops shrugged it off.
Statistic, shmatistics, Jonah… someone just got robbed in broad daylight on 15th Avenue in Capitol Hill. How often does that happen?
Oh, and I’m not being sarcastic. That to me has always been a safe street, even at night. WTF
@9: I’ll be damned if I’m going to let someone named pffft tell me what to do.
But seriously, whatcha doing this weekend?
@1 Lee is right: if you’ve got a gun in your face, hand over whatever item the robber demands. An iPod Nano can be replaced; the last thing you want to experience is a ride to the hospital if the robber gets trigger happy.
“job losses and the economy” cause someone to steal someone’s Ipod? Bullshit. How about entitlement? A lot of people, including myself, don’t own nice things. If this guy was in his teens or early 20’s pretending like he did it cause he has a family to feed and his house is going into foreclosure and he got laid off his job of 30 years….. that really doesn’t fit, does it? Maybe it’s greed. I think so.
#15 – You’re obviously an unbelievably massive idiot, but to all the other borderline racists, there are over 56,000 black people in the city of Seattle (as of 2000) and this was just one asshole. And white men also commit violent crimes disproportionate to their population, without the excuse of any economic disadvantages.
@17.. economic disadvantage is a poor excuse for this crime too. Women and older people are more likely to be poor than young men, regardless of race. The “economically disadvantaged” card doesn’t work for a black male in his teens/20’s stealing an IPOD at gunpoint.
I would have traded him my iPod for his gun.
I’m with @12 though, I would not expect that on 15th.
17. A little too hair trigger to go after a racist troll there, lizzie. Compensating? For example, a lot of white people tend to over-bristle at racist remarks to cover up for the fact that they themselves tend to hold “all my friends are white because that’s my comfort level” style prejudices. Perhaps your guilt obligates you to get over-the-top angry about stupid racist remarks? You’re not the only one in Seattle, for sure.
As for the point… yeah, it’s blindingly stupid, but that’s “sky is blue” level obvious. It almost doesn’t deserve more than a trite response, like the following:
15. Go fuck yourself.
@20 Way to show us how to do it!!!
Douche.
Smug much?
@20 What are you? Some sort of superhero fighting internet trolls?
You’re all, like… “DON’T WORRY MA’AM! I’LL HANDLE THIS!!!”
And she’s all like… “My hero…”
Awesome job, dude.
i, being the one who was assaulted would like to say something. NOT ONE of you know what this is like until you have a gun pointed at you. you don’t have much time to think clearly. yes, maybe what i did was not the smartest and no an ipod is not worth my life. my instincts told me to run. i wasn’t going to give in to someone who demanded something from me. i doubt the gun was real, i doubted he was going to use it. although i could tell he’d done this before. i would feel worse if i had just given to him. i screamed “fuck off” and it felt good. i’m glad i did what i did even though it didn’t really do me any good. no one can take that away from me. (and i actually do know some kung fu but that all went out the window went i saw the gun)
Aj
I’m so sorry you went through that. You have a backbone and I 100% respect that. Crimes like this wouldn’t happen as often if there were more women like you who put up a fight. People target women because they know it’s easy and you didn’t make it easy. What a pathetic little ass that guy was. Good luck to you girl. I’m proud that Seattle has a few people who aren’t willing to cower. Crime sucks and cowering just encourages it.
22. You’re right, I should’ve been more like “Yeah well YOUR MOM”
“Interim Police Chief John Diaz pointed to “job losses and the economy” as a significant contributing factors to the rise in crime in Seattle”
Almost all muggings in Seattle are committed by people in their teens/early 20’s. And given how often they attack people in groups and how often they use unnecesary violence it seems really unlikely they are part of the demographics that are being hit by layoffs and foreclosures.
In other news – Zune owners safe to jog at midnight (anywhere)
@23: Good for you sticking up for yourself here and when you were attacked. People really don’t know what it’s like yet they feel free to spout off about what they would do or to judge others for how they reacted. They should go watch “Unforgiven” for a primer on the reality of violence.
Those pesky crackheads would even sell their mothers for another hit.
Let’s recapitulate, girls:
Seattle is full of pussy Liberals who are ripe to be taken by some punk thug.
Said pussy Liberals will blame their own white asses for the crime when it occurs.
Anyone who points out glaringly obvious demographic facts concerning crime is Seattle is a worse villian than the punk thugs of unmentionable hue who terrorize the streets.
In this sad scenerio there are no good guys.
And it is just the latest chapter in the almost finished chronicle of “The Collapse of the (Morally and Financially) Bankrupt Liberal Big City Welfare State in America”.
Seattle is just a couple more swirls around the bottom of the bowl from disapearing down the crapper.
@23: You’re right, I don’t know what I would have done in the split second that you had to decide how to react. Point taken. Again, though, I don’t think the satisfaction of fighting back is worth the risks, in an objective analysis, and however good it may have felt, encouraging others in that situation to respond recklessly is not good. I acknowledged in my first post that it’s humiliating to be assaulted like that — I just don’t think that’s enough reason to put one’s life in danger.
Again, I am acknowledging that you decided what to do based on a split-second judgment, and I’m not saying I would have done different. I’m saying that in retrospect, you probably should have handed over the iPod.
Again, there are ways to dissuade these kinds of crimes: walk in groups, be aware of people who are in close range of you, act like you’re aware of you’re surroundings. It doesn’t guarantee safety, but it makes you less of a target.
Ultimately, muggings and burglaries are an unfortunate reality of life in every city I’ve lived in, and most people I know have been a victim at some point. The best thing to do is minimize what they can take from you.
@30: Right, let’s blame innocent black people for the crimes committed by people with the same skin color, strip them all of their civil rights, and immediately lock up the ones who look shifty to your blue-eyed ass.
Yep. That will totally stop crime from ever happening again.
Asshole.
32
No one said anything about black people.
@23: I’m just glad your ok. It’s probably best to keep off the comment thread here — I don’t know if you know this, but SLOG commenters can get pretty offensive and unkind.
If running felt right it was probably the right choice. You only lost your iPod, so you probably made the right choice.
If you start up some sort of paypal link, I’d donate to the get you a new iPod fund.
@31: She was WALKING DOWN 15TH in broad daylight — how are any of these points (walk in groups, be aware of people who are in close range of you, act like you’re aware of you’re [sic] surroundings.) relevant in this situation?
This crime was a shocking act committed in sight of witness, in a generally safe area, in the middle of the day — this is why it’s shocking and why there’s little we as normal citizens can really do to prevent these sorts of events.
I think those are great suggestions to minimize exposure at night, or while inebriated but in this case, sort of unrealistic expectations.
@34
Well,not just the iPod…
I totally shit in and ruined
my favorite lavendar silk thong panties 🙁
This action was taken by an operative of the New RIAA. The goal of the New RIAA is unchanged: to protect our members from thieves, a.k.a. MP3 pirates. Our new tactics cut out the pesky lawyers and have never bankrupted anyone.
If your iPod has any of our licensed material on it, and if you have not paid full royalties for that digital content, then please hand over your electronics when asked to do so.
Re 37 – bad joke made worse by a typo in the sig line. [Boycott]
Sorry to all, esp AJWolff.
@ 35 and 7, she got fucking mugged. Why should people “donate” to buy her a new ipod? She is not asking for donations, in fact for all we know she could already be listening to pod casts on her new one.
scratch that, @ 34, not 35.
“African-American man in his late teens or early twenties”
MAN that is just a HUGE TOTALLY UNEXPECTED FLABBERGASTING SURPRISE!
I am FUCKING SHOCKED!
Black adult males make up only about 3% to 4% of the ENTIRE USA POPULATION, but somehow they manage to commit at least 52% of all murders and at least 34% of all rapes in our country every year.
In the year 2005 alone, black men raped or sexually assaulted at least 37,000 white women. That same year, white men raped less than 10 (ten) black women.
Of the roughly 8,000 blacks murdered in the USA every year, at least 94% of them are murdered by other blacks… but for some reason we are constantly subjected to blacks whining about how “whitey racism beez keepin them down n’shit”.
39 — the offer to donate seemed like a nice and sincere gesture. Why are you flipping out?
42
Luckily Seattle women are so damn ugly (and not just the lesbos) that not even the black rapist will touch them.
Black adult males make up only about 3% to 4% of the ENTIRE USA POPULATION, but somehow they manage to commit at least 52% of all murders and at least 34% of all rapes in our country every year
Well, technically they get charged and convicted with “52% of all murders and at least 34% of all rapes”, but don’t let thinking get in the way of your daily racist rants. You know they’re outbreeding you, right?
tiktok – “You know they’re outbreeding you, right?” – then get ready for some rape and murder in your future.
These stats are according to VICTIM SURVEYS, not arrest totals. Wake up to reality.
52% of murder victims surveyed reported that they were attacked by black men, everybody. Please make a note of it.
@31; when yr making that split second decision there isn’t time to weigh risks. I did the same thing when I was mugged in New Orleans. When two guys jumped out of a car w/guns, I ran. And I didn’t lose anything. Another in our group dropped her purse so they wouldn’t chase her. The two that stayed behind, one lost her purse, the other got hurt (pushed to the ground; not seriously hurt). I was the only one that avoided any trouble, so I would say I made the right decision. And yes, you read that right…there were four of us! We wondered how many people one had to walk around with. This was pre-Katrina. Personally, I still think the best thing you can do is run. Once you freeze, it’s game over. I guess I learned that from the first time I was mugged, in Seattle (walking w/one other person). There was a split second I could’ve dashed in the street and I didn’t take advantage of it. So I made sure I did the next time.
And yeah @39, what’s wrong w/a fund for a new ipod? I’ve read about disabled folks who get their van stolen and people put up $$ for a new one; no one pulls that “Hey, it was only a stolen car” line. It’s just a nice gesture. Yr shaken up after yr mugged, not to mention in this case being injured. It’s something that would make you feel better. But I guess some people have empathy, and the vast majority don’t.
i hope people notice that the post #36 was not me. the screenname is similar but spelled differently. i knew people could be assholes but grow up.
@23: You’ve got my respect, sister, and I’m glad to know people with guts are in my neighborhood. I’d like to think I’d have run or fought back as well, but like you said, you never really know how you’ll react in a situation like this.
To those telling this woman what she should have done, unless you’re one of her loved ones, it’s not your fucking call or yours to fucking judge how she reacts to a mugger, it’s hers.
Hey # 48, did it ever occur to you that very often, in a murder situation, there are also other victims/witnesses who are also hurt but not killed?
Did it ever occur to you that often times these crimes are committed in broad daylight in front of other witnesses/victims?
(Hmmm, violent crime in broad daylight in front of witnesses, that sounds pretty familiar for some reason…)
Did any of that ever occur to you?
Of course not, because you are a wimpy white Seattle liberal apologist for black criminals.
Go hang out by yourself tonight at 3rd and Pine or 23rd and Jackson and tell all the buhrathaz how “down” you are with them.