Aurora Avenue North businesses fed up with shootings, sex trafficking

After a string of shootings on Aurora Avenue North, some customers at Tienda Latina El Amiguito grocery started calling ahead before coming in.

"They say, ‘Hey, I checked the news this morning and I'm scared to come down,'" said Herman Matute Jimenez, who manages the store near North 101st Street, across from Oak Tree Village.

"I tell them, ‘right now, it's OK.' But, he adds, at night ... everything changes."

It's an increasingly common refrain along Aurora, especially in the area around Oak Tree Village at North 100th Street, where hundreds of angry residents rallied Saturday to protest violence related to sex trafficking.

While low-level crime has long been a feature of the gritty commercial corridor, businesses say violence and other crime has become a full-blown crisis that the city has struggled to stop.

Seattle police say they have stepped up area patrols and have seen declines in some crime. And on Thursday, city officials said they would close five cross streets near Oak Tree and step up prosecutions in response to public outcry over shootings that left bullet holes in vehicles and homes, including an infant's bedroom.

A press conference was scheduled for noon Thursday to "discuss actions addressing Aurora Avenue violence."

But many businesses say those measures are only a stopgap. They say crime on Aurora, including violence and theft related to sex trafficking, has been exacerbated by years of police understaffing and a legal system that, in their view, rarely imposes meaningful sentences.

Even when suspects are arrested, "they get out the next day," said Adam Elhaj, owner of A Motors sales and repair near North 98th.

In April, an arsonist torched three cars at Elhaj's shop, but he's seen no arrests. After more than 20 years on Aurora, he's starting to look for an exit. "I'm so tired of the B.S."

'A blessing and a curse'

Police data paints a mixed picture on Aurora.

So far this year, Aurora Avenue and surrounding neighborhoods between North 85th and 145th streets saw declines in most reported property crimes, including burglary and theft, compared to the same period in 2025.

Police data also shows overall crime has fallen this year compared to the five-year average, which includes the citywide surge during the pandemic.

But rates of violent crime, such as robbery, aggravated assault and rape, in the corridor have held steady this year versus 2025. Reports of shots fired rose 8% in May, with much of the gunfire in Aurora's 9800 block and on Linden Avenue.

Community groups and residents blame that violence largely on gangs involved with prostitution, which they say has surged along Aurora Avenue North.

In May, frustrated residents blocked several side streets with bespoke barriers, which the city eventually replaced with "temporary traffic calming measures" while officials explored more permanent fixes.

But those short-term moves underscore the challenge of "fixing" Aurora, which is popular with businesses precisely because it is so wide-open and accessible.

Traffic barriers meant to keep out pimps also make it hard for customers.

"You can't drive in a straight line anywhere anymore," said Moe Pilgrim, owner of Rich's Custom Upholstery, of barriers near his shop at North 100th Street.

More broadly, much of what has drawn small business to Aurora over the decades has become a potential liability.

The ample surface parking and E-Line bus stop in front of Kat Andrews' small leisure-related retail shop near Oak Tree are a huge plus for her customers.

But these days, those amenities can also attract individuals struggling with homelessness, drug addiction and mental illness, said Andrews, who didn't want her shop's name used to avoid being targeted.

Andrews says she tolerates those individuals, in part because she knows many have nowhere else to go. But "for some of my customers with little kids (who) are not used to this, it will scare them off," she says.

And gunfire is a deal-breaker. Even with the relatively low rent she pays here, Andrews said, if customers are too scared to show up, she can't stay open.

For many small businesses, she said, Aurora has become "a blessing and a curse."

It's a common dilemma for Aurora's business community.

Because Aurora's gritty character has helped keep property prices low, the corridor has long been seen as a potential place for affordable housing. That was one reason the city rezoned some stretches for five- to seven-story apartments in 2019.

That hope hasn't quite materialized. At Cubix North Park, an apartment that opened a decade ago at North 109th Street, tenants' fears of "shootings, homelessness, and prostitution" on Aurora are causing higher-than-expected vacancies, owner Daniel Stoner said.

Stoner had originally planned a second apartment nearby, but shelved those plans in 2024 until security along Aurora improved. While high interest rates are also a drag, "poor neighborhood security is still the No. 1 factor in preventing us" from breaking ground, he said.

For some shop owners, Aurora's business climate now borders on the absurd.

At Greenwood Radiator Services, near Oak Tree Village, a customer recently called to ask, only half jokingly, "should I wear a bulletproof vest?" said owner Ron Linson.

Linson can't fault the customer. He himself arrived at work one recent morning to find a large caliber bullet on the ground outside his shop, which he reckons was a ricochet from a shooting the night before.

Linson says he and other business owners show up at work each day half expecting broken windows or smashed doors. As one of Linson's fellow shop owners quips, morning is when "we get to see what the night crew did for us."

'The hardest things in their life'

City officials say they're hearing business owners' concerns.

Seattle police have stepped up "emphasis patrols" at night on Aurora, and have deployed a gun violence reduction unit to the area, according to police and the office of Mayor Katie Wilson.

At a community meeting last week for the North Precinct Advisory Council, Capt. George Davisson said police are aware of a "concentration of shootings in the 9800 block of Aurora, and on Linden" Avenue, and "we've been putting more officers in that area."

Police point to successes. Reported burglaries, theft and auto theft are down 28%, 3% and 5%, respectively, since Jan. 1, versus the same period in 2025. Dispatch calls for narcotics incidents are down 3%.

More felony charges have been filed this year in cases originating on the Aurora corridor, including for assault, theft and organized retail theft, according to the King County prosecuting attorney's office.

And Thursday, Mayor Wilson ordered street closures while City Attorney Erika Evans said she would push for a prosecutor focused solely on Aurora. But law enforcement officials concede they face numerous obstacles.

Cases involving prostitution and sex trafficking are time consuming and labor intensive, and often hinge on victims' willingness to testify, said Alexandra Voorhees, senior deputy prosecutor with King County.

"Oftentimes it requires that we ask a survivor to come and do one of the hardest things in their life, to come into a courtroom and sit across the table on the witness stand from the person who caused them irreparable harm," Voorhees explained at last week's north precinct meeting.

As well, many of the crimes that bedevil Aurora businesses and their customers are classified as misdemeanors, which typically bring lesser penalties.

Prostitution illustrates that paradox.

Paying for sex with an underage sex trafficking victim is a felony, with potentially serious penalties, said Voorhees. But the day they turn 18, paying them for sex becomes a "simple misdemeanor," even if they were coerced into sex work years earlier, Voorhees said.

The average age of those entering "commercial sex work is between 12 and 15 years old," Voorhees added.

A more recent obstacle: after state lawmakers restricted the use of Automated License Plate Readers, or ALPRs, in March, over privacy concerns, Seattle paused the use of readers in police vehicles.

Voorhees called ALPRs "a really valuable tool to investigators in these cases."

On Sept. 5, Mayor Wilson said she would turn on security cameras in the Stadium District in advance of the World Cup matches. A spokesperson for the mayor said the city's pause on license plate readers in police cars is unchanged.

Last month, federal officials reiterated warnings that major sporting events like the World Cup can bring more sex trafficking as "traffickers exploit the influx of visitors and the increased anonymity provided by the bustling urban environments."

'Starting over'

For many business owners, Aurora Avenue feels stuck in law enforcement limbo, where every step forward is followed by a major step back.

At Handy Andy Rent-A-Tool, an equipment rental business just north of Oak Tree, owner Russ Saunders says he's seeing fewer of the fuel thefts from rental vehicles that used to cost him tens of thousands of dollars a year.

The main culprits were drivers of motor homes who "target my business for gas," but who haven't been coming around as much, he said.

But Saunders is bracing for a surge of summer crime, as warm weather brings more people onto the streets and increases police calls in other parts of the city.

Other businesses welcomed the city's recent focus on Aurora Avenue North, but worry it could fade if media attention moves elsewhere.

"I feel like the police response we got after the (recent) shooting was because all the news agencies came out and covered it," Andrews, the retailer, said.

None of this is boosting confidence for businesses along Aurora.

Stoner, the apartment developer, said he's increasingly dubious safety will improve fast enough to start construction before his building permits expire.

Elhaj, with A Motors, says he knows of at least two other auto businesses that left Aurora. Unless Seattle can turn things around, he says, he'll do the same in "another two years, maximum."

Others say Aurora Avenue offers no easy off-ramp.

They worry that leaving the corridor means higher rent and lost customers.

Andrews said she has "an established community of people who have been coming here for over a decade." If she moves to a new location, she worries many of them "just won't find me."

Linson, at Greenwood Radiator Services, says relocating at this point would essentially mean "starting over."

And as a matter of principle, it galls Linson that business owners like him are the ones having to consider leaving Aurora, and not the people causing the problems.

"I don't know why we have to look for another spot and they don't.

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 6:41 AM.