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UPDATE: This post has been changed since it was first published. Video of the crash scene has been added.

A high-speed chase across Capitol Hill ended around 6:45 p.m. this evening when a vehicle crashed into the northwest corner of the playground at Rogers Playfield.

Amazingly, there apparently was no one on the piece of playground equipment the car came to rest against. No one was injured.

The suspect in the chase was caught shortly after the crash.

Our affiliate news source, Capitol Hill Seattle, reports that the chase began at Bellevue and Pike after officers stopped the car's driver. The car, followed by half a dozen police cars, raced down 10th, then west on Roanoke over I-5 before the car jumped the sidewalk, went down a rocky embankment and landed next to the playground equipment.

Witnesses said the suspect fled the car and started across Rogers Playfield before doubling back. Officers captured him a short time later.

Officers at the scene would only say the chase was "the result of an ongoing investigation." Capitol Hill Seattle was monitoring police radio and reports:

According to East Precinct radio transmissions, the missing person investigation involves a woman reported missing to the Washougal police department a few days ago. When he was pulled over, the suspect told police he had just received the car from the woman but a plate check revealed that plates from another vehicle had been swapped onto the car. The suspect sped away east on Pike at 6:44 PM before heading up 15th Ave.

In fact, the plate on the front of the vehicle didn't match that on the back.

Police quickled cordoned off the area and searched the vehicle, removing some items.

Tow truck drivers maneuvered the vehicle out between playground equipment and several large trees about 7:45 p.m. and towed it away, with several police cars following close behind.

Thanks to Justin at Capitol Hill Seattle for sharing his reporting on this story.

Two Eastlake residents in the 2300 block of Yale Avenue E. were the victims of a theft of electronics on Monday.

The couple was in the process of moving from Yale to another part of Eastlake. The left several packing boxes on the parking strip on Yale and forgot about them in the confusion of the move (they'd been moving for three days and were exhausted). When they returned on Tuesday to look for the boxes, they found that they had been cut and torn open and some items were missing.

The stolen items include a Sony Bravia home theater DVD player and remote, an iPod and an iPod dock. The iPod has sentimental value and the DVD player can't be used without the remainder of the system.

The couple is willing to reward whoever comes forward with these items. If you have information or the items, contact them at kcandwn@gmail.com. The theft has been reported to Seattle Police.

Two recent Eastlake break-ins involved cars in a garage and several businesses:

• Three cars were entered in a garage in the 1500 block of Eastlake Ave. E. early in the morning of Sunday, May 23. Witnesses coming home at 4 a.m. found two suspects breaking into the cars. Both suspects ran and the witnesses were able to chase and subdue one of them. He admitted that he had broken in to a car and that he had to do this in order to make ends meet. He gave the witnesses a backpack with stolen items in it, including a cell phone, an amplifier, screwdrivers, change, a Rosary, two garage openers and employee ID. The suspect then fled. The witnesses gave the backpack and items to a responding Seattle Police officer. The officer was able to return some of the stolen items to the victims.
• On Saturday May 22, several businesses in a building in the 2300 block of Eastlake Avenue E. were reported to have been broken in to over night. Suspects broke in through the garage entrance. The building manager reported two laptops...

Cecilia Grevson of the Eastlake Community Council's Safety Committee has forwarded crime reports from Terrie Johnston, the crime prevention specialist in the East Precinct. Recent incidents include:

• A yacht under construction in the 1100 block of Fairview Avenue N. was entered through a glass door on Sunday, May 9. High-end electronics were taken and there was damage to wood floors where flat-screen TVs were mounted. Johnston reports that the owner is still itemizing the loss. A Seattle Police detective is investigating. Although this area is more South Lake Union than Eastlake, it's not that far away from Eastlake's water front so be careful and watch for suspicious activity, Johnston says. Call 9-1-1 if you see anything suspicious.
• The 2000 block of Franklin Avenue E. was hit on Tuesday, May 11. A car was prowled and two bikes were stolen from a bike rack.

Johnston tells Cecilia that there are several things you can do to protect yourself from being a crime victim:

• Keep windows locked. If you need...

Eastlake's mini-crime wave continued Monday with a break-in at an apartment in the 1800 block of Eastlake Ave. E. sometime between 9:45 a.m. and early evening.

The apartment's resident returned home to find the front door of the unit unlocked and a window screen leaning against a wall inside. He thought maybe a building maintenance person had been inside and was calling the manager to complain when he noticed a loose coin bowl was missing from his dresser. The manager said there hadn't been any maintenance people at the building that day.

The resident found another bottle filled with coins was missing as was a digital camera valued at $200.

The resident realized the screen came from a bathroom window which he usually leaves open a few inches. An investigating officer found that the burglar had cut a six-inch gash into the screen in order to open the window and gain access to the apartment.

Lesson learned: We should all be careful about leaving windows or doors open during the day.

Arrests have apparently been made in the theft of $300 from Patrick’s Fly Shop on Monday.

John Farrar, who was working at the shop when the theft occurred, said he was called by a Seattle Police detective on Tuesday who said that three suspects had been arrested and that they had confessed to the crime. I’m still trying to confirm details of the arrests with Seattle Police.

Farrar described the two men and a woman as “pretty cool” and that they worked a classic scam of distracting him while lifting the money from the till. He said one person was the distractor, one was the lookout and one was the thief. They deployed themselves strategically around the shop and, when his attention was diverted, took the money.

A similar theft occurred on April 23 at the Flower Lady. Anne Becker (she works there but wasn’t working at the time of the theft) said four men entered the store and distracted the two women working there, then took a wallet from one woman's purse and money from the till....

Capitol Hill Seattle reports on the second stolen car incident in the Eastlake area today, this one involving a state trooper who had stopped a suspected stolen car on E. Roanoke near the I-5 off ramp around 5:30 p.m.

CHS quotes Central District News as saying the trooper had one suspect in custody but another fled and was wearing handcuffs. From the CHS story:

One witness said the suspect was seen jumping down an embankment from Roanoke. After a near hour-long search around Roanoke, Delmar Drive and Boyer, a trooper apprehended the second suspect at Hamlin and 10th Ave.

Read the whole CHS story here.

We don't have many details but the police activity at Boylston and Lynn this afternoon was a stolen car case.

SeattleCrime.com reports that State Police arrested two men around 4:20 p.m. today in connection with a stolen vehicle. One Eastlake Ave. reader reported seeing five Seattle Police cars at the scene and that the two men were lead away in handcuffs.

No other details are available at this time.

The Seattle Times is reporting that Vivian Ellis, 44, also known as Rainbow Love, "has been charged with three counts of second-degree promoting prostitution and attempting to promote prostitution."

Ellis ran the Sacred Temple in the 3100 block of Eastlake Ave. E. until she was arrested in May 2009 after a receptionist at the temple complained she was fired for refusing to masturbate clients as her manager requested.

The Times says prosecutors say it took nine months to bring charges because extra investigation was required. Ellis is due in court to be arraigned on March 2.

Read the Times story here. SeattleCrime.com's story on the charges is here.

The original story of Ellis's arrest last May is here.

SeattleCrime.com's map shows where crimes are happening. Click here or click the picture to go to the real map.

At its meeting last night (Wednesday, Feb. 17), the Eastlake Community Council Board talked about plans for a public meeting in April on emergency preparedness and crime.

Canek Gordillo and Cecilia Grevson are in charge of the ECC's committee on crime prevention and preparedness. Gordillo told the board that they hope the public meeting will include representatives from the police department and other emergency services. Part of the focus will be on helping Eastlake neighbors to help each other in case of a natural disaster. The other part will be focusing awareness on crime prevention.

As I've pointed out in posts about the monthly Seattle Police Department crime statistics, its tough to know how we're faring because Eastlake is split between two precincts. North of E. Lynn, the neighborhood is in the East Precinct (headquartered on Capitol Hill on 12th). South of E. Lynn, the neighborhood is under the West Precinct (headquarters are downtown on Virginia). Our crime stats get folded in with Capitol Hill or downtown.

There is a way to see what crimes are being reported here. Check out the interactive crime map maintained by our fellow Neighborlogs news site, SeattleCrime.com. You can see crimes for today, this week or this month. Or, you can set a date range. You can sort for different types of crimes. Just click the drop-down lists.

In the screen shot attached to this post, I've selected property crimes for the past month. When you go to the real map, you'll be able to click on those blue dots to see a pop-up showing details of the crime. The map also shows fire and aid calls.

SeattleCrime.com also has a new app for your iPhone and iTouch that lets you tap into the map while you're on the go.

We'll have more details on the ECC's public meeting on crime and emergency preparedness when they are available.

A 36-year-old man was arrested outside a tavern in the 2300 block of Eastlake Avenue E. early this morning after getting into a fight with a 63-year-old patron, the Seattle Police Department is reporting.

The SPD is reporting that the two men had been drinking at the tavern when they got into an argument around 12:50 a.m. The SPD reports:

The suspect had promised to walk one of the employees home, and got up to do so.  The victim reportedly grabbed at her and followed the two of them outside and across the street.  At that point, the suspect removed his belt and began swinging it above his head.  The suspect struck the victim twice with the belt and the victim fell to the ground.  The suspect then followed up by kicking the the victim in the head while the victim was on the ground.  Witnesses stated that they had to physically pull the suspect away from the victim before the suspect walked away. 

Police found the 36-year-old suspect nearby, arrested him and booked him...

SeattlePI.com's Casey McNerthney is reporting on an altercation at TOPS@Seward School last week that also made the Stranger earlier in the day.

McNerthney says the Seattle Police report says that in a French class, one seventh-grader asked another if he knew the "pen to skull" trick. When the victim said no, the alleged attacker reportedly held a pen in a closed fist and hit the victim in the head five times, drawing blood. 

But, McNerthney says, there's a question about who instigated the altercation. See the rest of his blog post here.

Central District News is following the breaking story of threats made via cell phone against students at Washington Middle School.

KING/5 is reporting:

Police are keeping students inside Washington Middle School in Seattle this afternoon after 911 received a cell phone threat from a man threatening children.

Seattle School District spokesperson Theresa Whipple says a cell phone trace put the location of the call somewhere near the school at 2101 S. Jackson Street.

Eastlake kids who attend Montlake Elementary move on to Washington for their middle school years.

Click here for ongoing coverage from Central District News. Follow CDNews on Twitter at twitter.com/cdnews.

Casey McNerthney has a report on the situation on SeattlePI.com.

An early-morning burglary on Jan. 4 at Pete's Wine Shop, 58 E. Lynn St., netted cash, wine and cigarettes for two thieves.

The value of the cigarettes and a damaged display case of champagne was estimated at $8,000. About $300 in cash was taken. The value of other items stolen has yet to be determined.

A surveillance video showed two men entering the store around 2 a.m. after breaking a window. One suspect was described as a white male in his 20s. Both were wearing baggy black jackets with what appeared to be hoods and both had dark gloves on their hands.

The two men took wine, champagne and cigarettes and placed them in baskets they took from the store. An office area was also entered.

The pair left around 2 a.m. and then returned around 2:20. They left for good around 2:25 a.m.

There were no witnesses to the burglary. Police are searching for the suspected burglars. If you have information, contact the East Precinct at 206-684-4300.

Several property crimes were reported on Fairview Avenue E. in Eastlake during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. They included:

• A houseboat in the 2200 block of Fairview was burgled of its appliances, the Floating Homes Association reports, between completion of a renovation and the new owners moving in. Neighbors saw two men in the houseboat sometime in late November or early December. The assumption was that they were working on the house, but they were cleaning the place out instead. They drove a white Dodge van, had keys to the houseboat and even locked up when they were finished.
• The Floating Homes Association also reports that a convertible top on a car was slashed and destroyed in the 2000 block of Fairview E. sometime during the night of Nov. 23.
• A car was stolen in the 2200 block of Fairview E. overnight, Dec. 12-13, the Floating Homes Association says. It was found near the ship canal in Ballard the next morning but the plates had been switched with those from a similar car on Franklin....

The citywide crime statistics have been released for August and September by the Seattle Police Department.

Burglaries were up in August from July and from a year ago, and they were up in September from the previous year. But, September's burglary numbers were down 20 percent from August.

The SPD says major crimes and violent crimes are up from 2008:

"Through September, there has been a citywide increase in Major Crimes of 8%, up from 7% at midyear.  Violent Crimes are up 18% compared with the same period one year ago; and Property Crimes are up 7%. The year-to-date increase in Major Crimes had stabilized in July and August, but rose slightly in September."

As I've explained before, it's difficult to see Eastlake's exact numbers in these statistics. We're included in two larger police beats (Capitol Hill and the Cascade neighborhoods). To make it even more difficult, Eastlake is split between two police precints: North of E. Lynn, you live in the East Precinct; south of Lynn, you're in...

Here's more detail on the sentencing of David Mendoza, owner of Pazzo's Pizzeria on Eastlake Avenue E.

A statement about the sentencing from the U.S. Attorney's Office is here.

Turns out Pazzo's was NOT included in the property Mendoza forfeited as part of his plea agreement as was reported by the Seattle Weekly. Former Mendoza property that now belongs to the feds is located in Bellevue, Tacoma and Deer Park, Wash., as well as a movie theater in Bend, Ore. According to the U.S. Attorney's statement: "Mendoza admits these properties were purchased with the proceeds of the drug conspiracy."

According to the statement, U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly told Mendoza at the sentencing:

“You truly did have all the opportunities in the world – President of Garfield High School, you got a degree, -- and then you got involved in drugs.... It’s tragic.... You don’t have anybody to blame but yourself.”

The U.S. Attorney's statement says Mendoza "was identified as the leader of a...

UPDATE: This story has been changed since it was first filed. The details of exactly which properties have been seized have been clarified. We previously reported that Pazzo's was one of the properties seized but that appears not to be the case. See below.

The Seattle Weekly reports that Dave Mendoza, the owner of Pazzo's Restaurant, 2307 Eastlake Ave. E., was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for his role in smuggling marijuana into the U.S. from British Columbia.

Mendoza pleaded guilty in June to importing thousands of pounds of marijuana into the U.S., "much of it by helicopter," according to the Associated Press. He fled the country in 2006 after federal authorities identified him as the head of the group that imported thousands of pounds of B.C. pot into the U.S. between 2001 and 2006. Federal agents caught up with him in Spain and he was returned to the U.S.

In October, Mendoza issued a letter of apology to the Eastlake neighborhood for his actions.

According to a statement from...

The July crime statistics have been released by the Seattle Police Department. Vehicle thefts were up dramatically -- 140% -- in the two precincts Eastlake is a part of.

As I've explained before, it's difficult to see Eastlake's exact numbers in these statistics. We're included in two larger police beats (Capitol Hill and the Cascade neighborhoods). To make it even more difficult, Eastlake is split between two police precints: North of E. Lynn, you live in the East Precinct; south of Lynn, you're in the West Precinct (check the attached precinct map to make sense of this).

So, crimes that show up on this report may, or may not, have occurred in Eastlake. My unscientific observation is that our crime rate seems to be lower than Capitol Hill or downtown.

In July, vehicle thefts took a big jump to 12, up from five in June. But, that was one less than July 2008.

Burglary and theft were both up four from June 2009, but both categories were down from July 2008.

There was one rape last month (not sure where), compared...

Casey McNerthney at Seattlepi.com reports that an Eastlake dentist's office was the object of a break-in early on the morning of Monday, Oct. 12.

The case may be related to a rash of medical or dental burglaries since early September. Most have been in north Seattle. Items taken in those burglaries include dental gold, money and narcotics.

McNerthney says police responded to a security call at 5:50 a.m. on Oct. 12 at a dental office in the 2700 block of Eastlake Ave. E. Glass had been broken, the front door dead bolt was removed, and a security keypad had been torn off a wall. Despite all that, nothing was apparently stolen.

A second break-in that day occurred in the 600 block of West McGraw Street. A metal cash box was taken.

Read more of McNerthney's report on Seattlepi.com here.

The Seattle Police report that a cab driver was assaulted in the 1100 block of Eastlake Ave. E. at 3:04 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10.

Officers saw a young male suspect run from the scene when they arrived. A young woman stayed behind. Officers caught the man a short distance away.

The cabbie said he had picked up the pair a block away. He asked if they had money and they said "no."

When the cabbie turned around, the woman began hitting him in the head and the man started to hit the cab door with his skateboard.

Police report both suspects were under 21 and both appeared intoxicated. The young man was booked into King County Jail on minor in possession of alcohol, property damage, theft and obstruction charges. The young woman was booked for assault.

The June 2009 crime statistics are out. There aren't any big changes in the two precincts Eastlake is a part of, although thefts went up by a third, from 36 in May to 44 in June.

As we noted when reporting on the May stats, it's difficult to see specific numbers for Eastlake because we're split between two precincts: north of Lynn St., you're in the East Precinct (and added to the Capitol Hill numbers); south of Lynn and you're in the West Precinct (and counted with downtown and the Denny Regrade). Check the precinct map attached to this post to see where we are located.

It's really impossible to pull Eastlake's numbers out of the statistics. What I've done in the chart is summarize the numbers for the two precincts we belong to.

As in May, there were no homicides in either the C1 or D2 precincts, which is good news. There were no rapes in May or June, down from one a year ago, also good news.

The total number of crimes went up 2% between May and June but is down 5% from June 2008.

Assaults took a slight...

Casey McNerthney reports on Seattlepi.com's 911 Blog that a man was arrested at 12:45 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Eastlake Avenue East and East Lynn for threatening another man ... with a BB gun.

The incident ended with two men fighting in the street and with the man with the BB gun being arrested at his home on Fairview Avenue East. Seattlepi.com's report is here.

The Seattle Police Department has released crime statistics for May. And, for Eastlake, the numbers are ... hard to fathom.

The SPD splits coverage of Eastlake between the East and West precincts. The dividing line is E. Lynn Street. North of Lynn and you're in the East Precinct; south of Lynn and you're in the West precinct.

This means that our stats are spread between two precincts. And we're lumped in with two much larger areas: Capitol Hill  for the East Precinct, and downtown and Queen Anne for the West. The precinct map will show you the two beats we are part of, C1 and D2. 

Pulling just Eastlake's numbers out of that is pretty much impossible. But, a couple of things are notable: There were no homicides in either of the beats we are part of, and rapes dropped from one in April to zero in May. And that's down from two in May of 2008. 

You can see the other numbers for beats C1 and D2 in the accompanying chart. Total crimes were up 8% between April and May, but down 7% from May of 2008. Again, these numbers aren't just for Eastlake but include a much bigger area. I've been looking at police calls in the neighborhood for a few months now and, just from a casual inspection, they seem to mostly cover property and vehicle theft, with the occasional drunken fight..

The SPD is reporting that, city-wide, crime is up 8% in the first five months of the year:

Increases have occurred in all crime categories except homicide, rape and vehicle theft.  The increases in robbery, burglary and larceny continue a trend seen in the latter half of 2008.  The increase in aggravated assaults reverses a downward trend from the last two years.

Capitol Hill Seattle reported that one of the major drivers for the increase in the East Precinct was a big rise in thefts, up 43% from the same period in 2008. That trend is slowing somewhat, CHS reports.

A Lake Union houseboat burglary netted the thief the victim's purse and her car in a break-in earlier this month.

According to the police report, the burglar entered the houseboat moored in the 2600 block of Fairview Ave the night of July 3rd. The report states the suspect entered the house through an unlocked door, and took the purse of a 58-year-old woman staying at the residence. The purse contained keys to the victim’s car. The thief then made off with the purse and the vehicle, which the report valued at over $15,000.

The report did not provide information on what type of car was stolen. According to the report, no fingerprints were found at the scene.