By Jack Mayne Arrest of a Tacoma man suspected of murder in Redondo Square shopping area was possible quickly because of a citizen’s response to police request for information, the police chief told Councilmembers at their regular Thursday (Nov. 8) meeting. Council also approved a $120,000 flashing lighted pedestrian crossing that will allow workers and residents to get across a long block on 24th Ave South. The session also heard preliminary figures for its new biennial budget that must be approved by year’s end. Citizen again aids police Police Chief Ken Thomas told of a “tragic event” at 272nd and Pacific Highway South, where a man from Tacoma got into “an altercation” with a person from Renton. As reported earlier by The Waterland Blog, on Nov. 6, Des Moines Police announced that they had arrested a 22-year old Renton man in connection with the fatal shooting of a 31-year old man at the Redondo Square shopping complex on Sunday evening when they responded to a 911 call of shots fired at 27005 Pacific Highway South. The 911 call concerned a 31-year old male who was the victim of a gunshot injury, and had been found lying in the parking lot. Responding EMS personnel arrived at the scene, but their efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. The victim, who last lived in Tacoma, was pronounced dead at the scene. Chief Thomas said at Thursday night’s Council session that “as soon as we got some information that we thought the community may be able to help us with, we put that information out.” Police got several tips but “ultimately we received the tip that led us to the actual suspect” who was “taken safely into custody” and ultimately confessed to the shooting. “I am very pleased that we were able to quickly solve this crime and I want to acknowledge the great work by our police department and our community in our ability to share that information in the community policing efforts to bring that to a successful resolution.” Flashing light crossing Civil engineer Khai Le sought Council approval of a $120,000 contract with West Coast Signal for the 24th Ave South “rectangular rapid flashing beacon” for mid-block crossing improvements, and to authorize a construction project contingency of $5,000. The contract was approved by the Council as part of its consent agenda. The cost of the project will be shared with King County Metro, he said, with $70,000 from the county and the remaining $50,000 from Des Moines. Improvements for FAA building “In the past several years, we have seen many improvements on 24th Avenue,” Le said. “We have the completion of 24th Ave South and South 216th Street,” he said along with the completion of the Federal Aviation Administration building project along with much of the adjacent business park. Le added that the city of SeaTac has completed its “24th/28th Connection” project, which “ties our city transportation system and the business park area to the Angle Lake light rail station and also to Sea-Tac Airport.” The city has planned for workers in the area to eventually be able to easily move to downtown Des Moines and to the Marina area, City Manager Michael Matthias has said in earlier briefings with The Waterland Blog. He told the Council that later the city will “provide a certain amount for us to provide midday service and Saturday service for the shuttle to help bring people down to the downtown and increase the efficiencies for our residents to get around.” He suggested Metro would be asked to contribute to that cost as well. The county and Des Moines saw the need for a mid-block crossing between South 208 and South 216th Streets, Le said, and after that is done, Metro will put in a new northbound bus stop for the Des Moines Creek area’s new workers. Solar powered The crossing will have three solar powered flashing beacons to warn drivers of the crossing, which Le said he believed would be “the first five lane crossing with a median in our city.” There are six other smaller such flashing light crossings in the city, he said. The evolution has increased pedestrian use on 24th Ave, which provides “an opportunity” to work with King County Metro to provide commuter shuttle service from the Des Moines FAA and business park to the Angle Lake light rail station for commuters to get to other parts of the South King County region, or to Seattle downtown. World War I The Council for the first time approved a proclamation remembering Bells of Peace, a national World War I remembrance of the war that took place in Europe 100 years ago. Bells are “tolled in honor of the fallen” as Nov. 11, 2018 is the 100th anniversary “of the signing of he armistice that ended hostilities” of what was called “the great war.”]]>

Founder/Publisher/Editor. Three-time National Emmy Award winning Writer (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”), Director, Producer, Journalist and more...

One reply on “Council told of citizen’s help solving murder; OKs flashing light crossing”

  1. The Des Moines City Council approved the 2019 budget at last night’s Council meeting (11/8/2018) with a 7-0 vote.
    Thank you!
    Bonnie Wilkins
    City Clerk/Communications Director
    City of Des Moines

Comments are closed.