Pistol Whipped in Wallingford

Lunarmodule spotted this story from the Seattle Police Blotter, and posted to the Wallyhood Forums:

On March 1st at approximately 3:17 a.m. officers responded to Latona Avenue NE and NE 43rd Street for the report of an armed robbery. Preliminary investigation indicates that the adult male victim had been walking to a friend’s house from a Wallingford area gas station/convenience store when two unknown male suspects approached in a black Toyota Tundra pickup truck and called out to the victim to stop. The victim did not comply. The suspects then got out of their vehicle both armed with handguns. They pistol-whipped the victim on the head and robbed him of his money. The suspects then fled the area northbound on Latona Avenue NE in their truck and remain at large. The victim sustained a laceration to his head.

The suspects were described as a white male and a Native American male, both about 5’8″ tall and both with medium builds. The suspect’s vehicle was a black Toyota Tundra pickup truck with a black canopy.

This area, close to the I-5 entrance ramp, has been the source of complaints from residents for years now, with reports of drive-by drug sale activity. Note Mandy’s comment from two years ago on the “Incident outside JSIS” story, for example:

I think the bigger question is: What is going on right near us on Latona street? Another JSIS parent said there is a group of parents very concerned. There is a “drug house” on Latona near 42nd, there have been parents witnessing drug deals en route to school in the morning, etc. Yes, we all signed up for urban living by living in a Seattle (as suburban as it can feel at times), but we don’t need to tolerate this crap right near our school. Or do we?

I’ve heard from several people that they have seen at least one of the ostensibly homeless panhandlers near I-5 trading something out of their backpacks for cash, and manipulating large wads of bills in the process.