SEATAC – The cause of a four-alarm blaze that destroyed the vacant Angle Lake School on Saturday won’t be known for two or three more days, said Terri-Ann Betancourt, a spokeswoman for the Port of Seattle, which owns the property.

A crane will be brought to the site early in the week to aid in the investigation.

The building, in the 19200 block of 28th Avenue South, erupted in flames shortly before 6 pm Saturday, requiring a massive response by local firefighters.

Crews from Tukwila, Burien, Kent, the Port of Seattle and King County Fire District 20 joined firefighters in SeaTac to battle the blaze.

The roof of the builiding collapsed about 30 minutes after the first units arrived.

The Port of Seattle bought the property a few years ago with plans to demolish the building and use the land for airport operations,” said Betancourt.

Neighbors say the building has been boarded up for several years.

SOURCE:

• Seattle P-I

SEATAC – A shooting outside a sports bar in SeaTac early Saturday left two people injured, including a woman with a gunshot wound and a man with stab wounds, police said.

According to the King County Sheriff’s Department, the fight happened outside The Best Damn Sports Bar II, located at 16234 Pacific Highway South.

Reports of the assault came in at approximately 2:30 a.m.

No description of the suspect was given, and police say he is still on the loose.

SOURCE:

• KING-TV

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SEATAC – A Pierce County boy who got in trouble last year when he stole a car, got caught, then snuck onto a flight from SeaTac to Phoenix to San Antonio is back in the news again after being arrested after trying to board another flight Tuesday.

The Transportation Security Administration claims that Semaj Booker was captured at a gate at SeaTac Airport after he failed to show a boarding pass.

Surveillance video shows Booker passed through the central checkpoint security area without any problems, but it’s still not clear how he managed to get through without a boarding pass. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, it became a requirement to have a ticket when passing through security.

A TSA spokesperson says Booker was trying to board a Southwest Airlines flight, but it’s not immediately clear where he was trying to go or where in the airport he was finally caught.

The boy is back in his mother’s custody. A Tacoma Police spokesperson says his mother reported him missing at 3 a.m.

The TSA says it believes checks and balances are place to make the airport secure, but it will be reviewing security protocol.

In January 2007, then 9-year-old Semaj Booker got through airport security, boarded another Southwest Airlines flight by passing himself off as a 12-year-old whose mother was waiting for him in the boarding area. His information matched a paid ticketless reservation for the flight so agents gave him a boarding pass.

The boy’s mother said then he disliked the Lakewood neighborhood where the family lived and wanted to be with his grandfather in Dallas.

Before his odyssey last year, Booker was arrested after leading police on chase on Highway 512 at speeds up to 90 mph, finally ending in a crash. Once he was released back to his family, he ran away for his cross-country trip until his capture in Texas.

He was charged with car theft, attempting to elude a pursing police vehicle and driving without a license.

SOURCE:

• KING-TV

UPDATE: Yesterday we received an email from Perry Cooper, the Media Officer for SeaTac Airport.

In it he offers the following corrections on the story:

The errors in the current story refer to the first paragraph which states a van was able to get on the runway, that is far from correct.  The area in question is the general aviation area on the far west side of the airport directly opposite the main terminal. For most people this is considered the private/charter area.

The situation was the gentleman was allowed inside the security gate in order to pick up a VIP, in this case a military General. As mentioned, all procedures were followed and he was allowed inside the gate to await the arrival of the VIP. His concern was, from where he was, he could step on the gas and get to the runway, which is about 3/4’s of a mile away.

Finally, this is an addition to federal regulations which apply to all general aviation airports in the country. Sea-Tac has now added an additional procedure in addition to the federal regulations.  

===================================

AS PREVIOUSLY (and apparently erroneously) REPORTED:

SEATAC – After an incident we reported on earlier where a man was able to drive his van onto the tarmac without being searched or checked, security procedures at SeaTac Airport have been tightened.

The incident happened several days ago in an area reserved for corporate jets. At that time, there were no local or federal requirements to check IDs or screen vehicles at the entrance to the corporate terminal.

Chris Clodfelter said he was waved onto a runway on the terminal’s south side without question, and said he could’ve gotten away with anything.

“There was no security,” he said. “And we’re in a running vehicle on an apron at Seattle International Airport and could be out on the active runway in less than 60 seconds.”

After the incident, security officials took a look at their procedures, said Sea-Tac spokeswoman Terri Anne Betancourt.

On Monday officials changed policies, and they no longer allow any vehicles on the tarmac, Betancourt said. Passengers now have their ID checked at the corporate gate and have to park their vehicle outside, then walk in.

Even before the procedures were tightened, airport officials said Clodfelter was watched the entire time he was on the runway.

There also said there has never been a security lapse in this part of the terminal, officials said.

SOURCE:

• KOMO News

SEATAC – Autopsy results indicate that the imprisoned director of a Thai museum in Bangkok died of natural causes at the SeaTac Detention Center (first reported here).

According to a spokeswoman for the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, Roxanna Brown passed away from “peritonitis,” an infection caused by a perforated gastric ulcer.

The 62-year-old Brown, a U.S. citizen, died around 2:30am Wednesday while being held for further investigation.

Brown was the director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand. Investigators accused her of allowing collectors to overstate the value of art donated to several Southern California museums and claim tax deductions.

Authorities arrested Brown last week while she was in Seattle visiting relatives. She was charged with one count of wire fraud.

Maggie Ogden, a spokeswoman for the Federal Detention Center, said Brown was booked May 9.

She said all inmates coming into the facility are screened by medical staff, but she declined to speak specifically about Brown’s case.

Brown’s death is under investigation, she said.

SOURCE:

• Seattle P-I