By LEAH WEATHERSBY

STEAKS ADD INCHES TO WAISTLINE:

On Monday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m., a plainclothes detective working at a Greenwood grocery store noticed a middle-aged man select eight t-bone steaks from the store's meat case and place them into his unbuttoned shirt, concealing them around his mid-section. The detective then saw the man walk over to the coffee dispensers and pour himself a large cup of hot coffee. The man then walked directly out the front doors without paying for either the coffee or the concealed meat.

The detective approached the suspect outside the store and identified himself as store security. The suspect immediately denied having been in the store but the detective pointed out that the suspect was drinking coffee from the establishment. The suspect then attempted to flee, running into a nearby alley. The detective caught up to the suspect and tried to detain him, but the suspect threw the hot coffee right into the detective's eyes. After briefly wrestling around on the ground, the suspect pulled out what appeared to be a folding knife and ran off again. While the detective did briefly continue the chase he stopped when he came around a corner to find the suspect, knife out, waiting for him. The detective was later able to retrieve six steaks that had fallen out of the suspect's shirt during the course of his escape.

IS THAT 'LOCAL' OR 'LOCO?'

On Sunday, Nov. 11, a police officer was working at a traffic post in Ravenna for the Seahawks game. He had placed cones and "street closed" signs at two intersections. At 10 p.m. he noticed a vehicle had driven on to closed street and approached to ask the driver, a woman in her 20s, to move. The woman said she lived nearby and was trying to get to her house. The police man told her she would have to go back and travel by way of another street, however the woman said she had seen the signs and one said "local access only." That was why she drove the way she did - she said she was local and wanted to go home.

The officer told the woman to turn her vehicle around and that if the signs did say "street closed" he was going to issue her a citation. The woman drove back and the officer pointed out the signs he was referring to. He then placed his hand on the woman's truck window and asked for her driver's license. The woman looked at the officer and said "no." She then accelerated her vehicle forward.

Unfortunately, when the officer tried to jerk his hand away he realized his glove had become caught on the woman's door lock. As the woman continued to drive forward, the officer, running, dressed in full uniform and rain gear, yelled for her to stop. Another officer on the scene also yelled at the woman to stop the vehicle.

Finally the woman did stop the truck at which point the officers removed her form the automobile and placed her under arrest. The woman, who was then taken into custody, apologized for taking her frustrations out on the officer and admitted she was in the wrong. The officer warned her that had she not stopped, he might have had to resort to using deadly force.

DOUBLETIME

On Friday, Nov. 9 at 4:30 p.m., an assistant manager at a Northwest Seattle temporary employment agency called the police to report a forgery. A man in his 30s had supposedly been working through the agency for a business in Lake City for over a month. Every day he was supposed to take one of the temp agency's work orders to the job with him and have his hours as well as his return to the post the following day approved by the Lake City manager.

As it turned out, the man had not been working nor was wanted at the Lake City business and had been forging the manager's signature for six weeks. Not only that, but in some cases the suspect had submitted the same work order twice to two different people - thereby getting paid twice for the same work not done.

The company estimated that the man collected about $3,500 in fraudulent claims.

THIS MAIL BOX WILL SELF-DESTRUCT...

On Monday, Nov. 12 at 2 a.m., a Northeast Seattle man was awakened by an explosion. He looked out his front window to see smoke rising outside but did not see any damage. Not until later, when the man did go leave the house, did he notice that his mail box had been destroyed. Only the post was undamaged. No remains of the device used to cause the explosion were found and the man had no idea who could have committed the crime.

On a serious note: ARMED ROBBERY IN LAKE CITY:

On Monday, Nov. 12 at 6:58 p.m., a middle-aged man entered a Lake City gas station. According to the clerk, the man selected a pack of gum and brought it up to counter, paying with a dollar bill. The clerk made change for the suspect, but when he turned around to hand it to him, he saw that the man was pointing a gun.

"Give me all the money out of till. Put it in a bag," the suspect said. The clerk complied, though in his nervousness he forgot to get the robber a sack. Meanwhile the suspect also demanded the money underneath the till - all together about $200.

The suspect stuffed the money in a front pocket and said "Get down on the ground. Get down fast or I'll shoot you ... And don't get up."

The suspect then left the store and started walking down the street. The police attempted to track the suspect with a canine. However, the trail was lost. (