In court today, a judge set bail of $1 million for arson suspect Kevin Todd Swalwell, who is accused of setting numerous fires in Greenwood, including one that seriously burned a man.
According to the statement of probable cause (.pdf), Swalwell “was captured on surveillance video at 8516 Greenwood Ave. N at the time of a fire being set to the rear of the restaurant there that was determined to be arson. Suspect admitted to detectives, after Miranda waiver, that he was solely responsible for setting the fire, along with several other arson fires in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle.” Investigators also say Swalwell’s palm prints were found on a container of lighter fluid left behind at the scene of the August 13th fire at a home on NW 84th St. that seriously injured a man.
Swalwell has two prior felony convictions for arson — the first back in 1983. He’ll be formally charged next week.
(Photo: Washington Department of Corrections)
22 responses so far ↓
1 Christophe // Nov 14, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Maybe they can do a whip-around at the food bank.
2 gw // Nov 14, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Curious as to why they waited so long to arrest him. Don’t get me wrong, its GREAT that an arrest was made, but it seems strange if they had him on video from the Olive You fire, as well as prints from him at the 84th st house fire (in August!) that they waited so long to actually arrest him. They said that he spoke to his parole officer on Thursday, and then went and set the Shoreline fire on Friday. Seems a little unfortunate that if they knew it was him, and knew where he was, that he couldn’t have been arrested before more fires were set. But either way, its great he’s off the streets of greenwood - at least for the time being…
3 etta // Nov 14, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I trust that they were carefully gathering all the evidence necessary for an airtight case and, hopefully, a long prison sentence.
4 biophile // Nov 14, 2009 at 7:31 pm
You know what’s been bugging me? The environmental impact of these fires on our natural environment. The water needed to put out the fires must drain down our storm drains right into Piper’s Creek, as that’s our watershed. Our salmon are potentially swimming in carcinogenic toxins that are residues from the burnt out buildings. Not to mention that it winds up in Puget Sound. Environmental damage should be added to the list of charges against this guy. If I’m wrong, please enlighten me!
5 iheartgreenwood // Nov 14, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Burn him.
6 GwoodLove // Nov 15, 2009 at 2:25 am
@biophile: That’s a very good point actually. Although I wouldn’t say the biggest priority in dealing with the fall out from the fires, it definitely it further unfortunate collateral damage that comes from arson. Although, I’m not sure if they really can charge him for anything in regards to it. I’m not lawyer or anything, but it would be interesting to explore.
Either way, it’s unfortunate that any of this happened. This man must have some serious problems, and to the disagreement of others, I do hope he gets the help he obviously needs. He’s still a human being. While many people may want revenge for the terror the fires has caused in Greenwood, revenge is for madmen and fools. Instead, why not walk away with this with the glass half-full, and look at it as something that has further brought our community together.
7 mc7 // Nov 15, 2009 at 8:04 am
And all those toxins biophile mentioned? It’s not just the environment exposed to them. Firefighters have alarming rates (and varieties of) cancer later in their lives. Just one more thing about arsonists that makes me sick and angry.
8 nwcitizen // Nov 15, 2009 at 11:27 am
This has been an awful experience for everyone involved. I am grateful that this man has been apprehended and, if he is tried and found guilty, that he will be incarcerated and prevented from doing any further harm to others.
That being said, I can’t help but think that if there had been the necessary mental health treatment available to him, this might not have happened at all. The last thing I would want to happen would be for him to be released back to the streets without the care he so clearly needs.
9 Christophe // Nov 15, 2009 at 12:08 pm
“The last thing I would want to happen would be for him to be released back to the streets without the care he so clearly needs.”
Yeah, boo hoo. Luckily we have 3 strikes laws in this state so hopefully his release won’t ever happen.
Unless we can widen involuntary lockup of the mentally ill and force them to take their meds,no amount of bleeding hearts will spare us from the criminally minded.
10 Doug // Nov 15, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I’m curious. Does anyone know if this guy had the audacity to show up to the arson meeting that took place at the church? There was plenty of filming and photographs being taken that night.
Also, if they had his fingerprints from the August fire that burned Carlos S., which would have been in the DOC system, wouldn’t our tax money have been well spent to follow him 24/7 for a few weeks? I’m guessing a not-all-there homeless arsonist would have been easy to trail and catch in the act.
11 jlw // Nov 15, 2009 at 2:08 pm
until he gets jail time and admits to all the fires i will still sleep with one eye open, there are man people lurking the streets of greenwood at night and the night he was at the shoreline fire my car was broken into.
12 BallardGirl // Nov 15, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Gwoodlove wrote, above”While many people may want revenge for the terror the fires has caused in Greenwood, revenge is for madmen and fools. Instead, why not walk away with this with the glass half-full, and look at it as something that has further brought our community together.”
What color is the atmosphere on your home planet?
A block party brings the community together. If anything, it has brought the community together to say ” enough with the vagrants in our community!”
I’m sure that the business owners/homeowners who have been the VICTIMS of these crimes (and their employees, who may be out of work because of them) don’t share your rosy-tinted view of these crimes.
Want to bring the community together? Have a street dance. Hey, I will bet that we can bring the community even MORE together by trying to get rid of the bums, vagrants, drug addicts and criminals that have set up shop lately in North Seattle.
13 GwoodLove // Nov 15, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Can you deny that the fires have brought the community together? Look at the meeting, over 700 people attended, foot patrols were formed, and people in the neighbor interacted more with each other. At this point in time, there is nothing that we can do about the fires, or undo the damage they have done.
While I’m sure that the victims of these fires you mentioned are still incredibly upset because of the damage and money/jobs lost, what good does it do for them to just continue to be angry? Isn’t it more constructive to look at the future and focus on rebuilding rather than dwelling on the past? I’ve been the victim of crimes in the past and got angry. It didn’t do anything for me except cause many sleepless nights and raise my BP.
In regards to the “bums, vagrants, drug addicts and criminals” you mention, it seems that people are forgetting that they’re human beings. You don’t know anything about them or what may have happened in their lives. Judging them doesn’t do anything to solve the problem, and trying to move them out to another neighborhood doesn’t do anything either.
14 allison // Nov 15, 2009 at 4:34 pm
The arsons suck. The fear sucked. Ditto on the sirens. Seeing 700 people come together on very short notice, really cool. I feel a lot more connected to my neighbors and the community as a whole than I did before. That is a very good thing. I didn’t realize we had such a significant transient community here. Being more aware of this problem is also a good thing. Now we need some guidance on how to make our community safer.
15 Whopper // Nov 15, 2009 at 4:44 pm
” “bums, vagrants, drug addicts and criminals” you mention, …..trying to move them out to another neighborhood doesn’t do anything either.”
I agree, keep them in Greenwood.
16 andia // Nov 15, 2009 at 5:59 pm
What does McGruff have to say?
http://www.ncpc.org/topics/home-and-neighborhood-safety/strategies
Many things we are already doing here in Greenwood.
17 jm // Nov 15, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Kevin Todd Swalwell must enjoy living in prison and we wish him a speedy return to jail. There are a few more mental cases wandering the area and we need to watch out for them.
18 Jon // Nov 15, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Sorry, GwoodLove, but you void your “But I’m a human being! You know what I’ve been through!” card when you choose the path of hurting others.
19 82nd // Nov 16, 2009 at 6:10 am
BallardGirl, GREAT comment!! Seriously.
GwoodLove, how clueless can you be? I suggest that maybe you could have some of these poor homeless people move into your house so you can counsel them on how to become more sensitive.
Sheesh.
20 andia // Nov 16, 2009 at 8:31 pm
I think the point is to move forward, not create more drama and work against each other. Is the reason for this blog to vent about how we don’t like each others approach? Or to come together to make this neighborhood look more like we want it to look collectively? So, I propose moving forward. Anyone want to take some new action on the crime issue here?
21 Susanne // Nov 17, 2009 at 8:47 am
I think everyone would like to “take some new action on the crime issue,” but everyone has a different opinion on what to do. How do you reconcile the views of people who think that we should give them more help vs people who think that the free handouts are attracting the vagrant population? What action do you propose when you say “I propose moving forward”?
22 andia // Nov 17, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Hi Susanne,
Good question! Since I’m new to the neighborhood, I’m not 100% sure what we have done to prevent crime. The link below that has a lot of ideas on actions a neighborhood can take - none of them are particular to an ideology about handouts vs. displacement, but all have been proven to work.
http://www.ncpc.org/topics/home-and-neighborhood-safety/strategies
Do we have a formalized neighborhood watch? Can we rethink the design of our alleyways to keep the drug dealers out?
Can we create a planning committee to look at strategies we have not yet implemented and invite our public officials to join?
Maybe I’m being naive in hoping that people with different opinions can work together on concrete issues, but that’s what I meant.
I suppose the problem is that some people may want to focus our efforts on closing food banks and homeless supports in our neighborhood, while others disagree. I do not see anywhere in the evidence that closing food banks reduces crime in neighborhoods. Police, on the other hand, do. So, I am saying let’s pick an evidence-based practice that we can all agree on and begin there. We can work out the ideological stuff along the way.
What do you think? Would people be interested in a meeting? Of course this is at the bottom of an old news article now so maybe no one will read it, but if you think it makes any sense, I can post on a forum instead. Disclaimer: I’m not an expert in crime prevention, just a fan of evidence-based practices in general and willing to do some more research for Greenwood.
Leave a Comment