By reporter Steven Smalley
The owner and staff of WBL Services, an event technology company in Magnolia, are angry not only because an RV (sans a working engine) is permanently parked in front of their business, but because hard drugs are sold from it, they say. You don?t have to take their word for it, they have surveillance photography of users injecting in front of their business.
?People take their drugs right outside here,? says William Lipscomb, owner of the company. ?We have video of people getting their stuff and shooting up right in the street. Last night they came through and busted the gas caps right off our vehicles. They had hoses coming out of them.?
Call the city and complain, you say? They have, plenty of times.
?I notified the City of Seattle parking enforcement and currently have three ?tickets? open on their system. It?s been parked there for 11 days ? hasn?t moved,? reveals Daniela Eng, a WBL employee. ?We can see the cars that show up, go inside, buy drugs, come out, and do drugs-right in front of our cameras. And then just leave their needles outside. Being nine-months pregnant I?m extremely nervous. I?m scared.?
Magnolia Voice contacted officials with the Seattle Police Department who say this is a problem in Magnolia and Ballard. They say SPD is looking into solutions to the RV problem the North Precinct uses to good effect.
Still, trouble endures not only in front of WBL, but along 20th Avenue, Thorndyke, and Commodore Way. (See the Magnolia Voice story here about an RV that burned just south of the ARCO station.)
?It?s hard for us to conduct business,? says Lipscomb. ?A lot of the staff feels unsafe. We are almost reluctant to come to work.?
Watch WBL surveillance video here of alleged hard drug use outside the RV.