Kids targeted in string of south Seattle muggings

Seattle Police are investigating a string of recent muggings in South Seattle, including some that targeted kids. It’s similar to a slew of after-school robberies last school year around the city.

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n the afternoon of the second day of the school year, Sara Bracken’s 14-year-old son was walking south of the Rainier Valley Square shopping plaza when a group of four young people wearing face masks zoomed up in a light-colored car, she said, dragged him into an alley, beat him up, and snatched his phone — then tossed it, because it was locked.

“He was definitely prey, a young boy by himself with earbuds in. I mean, they think they were out searching for a kid just like him,” Bracken said. A passerby called 9-1-1 and told Bracken what she witnessed.

Seattle police say detectives are looking for between one and three groups of people who’ve committed at least 10 similar robberies in South Seattle since late August, targeting both kids and adults. Police declined to give descriptions of the suspects.

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In another incident in the first week of September, a 12-year-old was robbed for his phone and sneakers while walking home from Aki Kurose Middle School by six teenagers in ski masks who piled out of a car and told him they had a gun.

His mother, Laura, said her son, too, was wearing earbuds. She wants other caregivers to warn their kids to stay alert when walking.

“When we drive around the neighborhood, we now see how many kids are by themselves, often in really great shoes, with their headphones in, and they're face-down in their phones,” she said.

The recent incidents mirror a spate of muggings of kids walking to and from school in the last year across the city, including at least 14 in the Ballard, Greenlake and Roosevelt neighborhoods last fall.

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The suspects in those incidents also appeared to be teenagers, and surprised victims by jumping out of Kia and Hyundai cars that police suspected were stolen. They stole students’ AirPods and phones, sometimes after flashing a gun, and in several cases forced victims into the car to unlock their phones before releasing them.

Police offer these safety tips:

• Try to walk in pairs or groups.
• Don’t use earbuds or headphones.
• Keep your phone tucked away and pay attention to your surroundings.
• Walk on lit sidewalks against the flow of traffic.
• Stay on heavily-used streets. Avoid shortcuts on less-traveled roads.
• If you are robbed, give the attacker what they ask for, especially if they have a weapon.
• Yell for help if you are in danger.

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