Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 6, June 2003

Copyright 2003 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article and photos below in your research. Be sure to quote the Seattle Sun as your source.

COPS N' ROBBERS

By LEAH WEATHERSBY

Sharp-eyed son:

Just after 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, a man was passing through Greenwood when he noticed two male suspects (both in their 30s or 40s) who appeared to be leaving the scene of a burglary.

The men were pushing a wheelbarrow through an alley, and seemed to be hiding something inside, under their coats. The man called the police and reported the incident.

Two hours later, the men were spotted again at Larry's Market on Aurora. A teenage boy was shopping at the store when he saw the suspects with what looked like his father's string trimmer and air compressor. He hadn't heard about the burglary, but called his dad to find out what was going on.

The boy's father checked his shop and found that his tools were indeed missing. He advised his son to keep an eye on the suspects, called police, and then went to check out the scene himself.

When a police officer arrived, the father pointed out one of the suspects, who was sitting on the sidewalk with his arm draped over the compressor.

The son tried tailing the second suspect, but when the man realized he was being followed he dropped the trimmer and fled.

When the officer approached the first suspect, he stood up and tried to leave, but the officer took him into custody.

The first suspect initially denied knowing that the compressor was stolen, saying a friend had given it to him and he was going to sell it for heroin. However, he later admitted that he waited in the alley while the second suspect went into the victim's garage.

Sewing circle (of thieves?):

On Wednesday, May 14, the manager of a North Seattle fabric store noticed two men who seemed to be in their 40s acting suspiciously. At one point, they had two sewing machines in their shopping cart. One of the men left empty handed, while the other man slipped out undetected.

Both sewing machines were still missing from the display, and none of the clerks reported selling a machine that day.

After searching the store, one machine was found sitting on the floor, wrapped in a plastic bag. The other was gone. A short time later, one of the men returned to the store and was seen looking down the aisle where the first machine had been located. Then he left.

The man was back the next day with a woman in her 30s. The manager heard the two suspects whispering near her office door. One said something like, "not now, she's in her office." The manager called 911.

Police responded to the scene, but the male suspect had already left. An officer approached the female suspect to question her.

When asked about her companion, the woman said she was alone in the store and became belligerent. She said she had no identification with her and, when asked to spell her name, she said it so fast the officer couldn't understand her.

Because she seemed hostile, and because she kept looking in her purse, the officer decided to pat her down for weapons and asked her to put her hands on the counter. The woman did not comply.

The officer then put her in handcuffs, but the woman continued to resist.

Finally, more officers arrived and she was arrested for obstructing.

Extra bad karma:

On Monday, May 19, an elderly Broadview couple left their home at about 12:10 p.m. When they returned a half-hour later, they found that a thief, or thieves, had forced open their side door, causing around $400 in damage.

Once inside, the suspect(s) took several pieces of jewelry, each worth hundreds of dollars, and about $100 in cash. Worst of all, the cash had been raised via the collection basket at the couple's church. It was going to be donated to a battered women's charity.

Reckless burning:

Around midnight on Saturday, May 17, several witnesses in different locations spotted groups of teenage boys fleeing a thrift store parking lot in Northwest Seattle. It seemed the boys had set fire to some furniture that had been donated to the store but left in the parking lot over night. A couch was burned down to its wooden frame and dresser was also singed.

Police officers (including a K-9 unit) responded to the scene and found several empty gas cans nearby.

One suspect was detained and he admitted that he had helped start the blaze. After giving a statement at the North Precinct Police Station, the boy was released into the custody of an adult cousin.

Phone book scam:

On the afternoon of Saturday, May 17, a Broadview woman in her early 80s heard a knock at her patio door. The man standing there asked if he could borrow her phone book because he needed to look up his mother's address.

The woman agreed, but asked him to wait outside while she went to get it.

To her surprise, the man followed her inside, and asked for a glass of water.

The man looked at the phone book, drank the water, and left. However, a short while later, the woman noticed that several items were missing from her purse, including her wallet.

Bathroom intruder:

At 9:15 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, a woman in her 20s had just returned to her University District home when she found a strange man standing in her upstairs bathroom.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man said, before fleeing downstairs and out the basement door.

The woman, and her two friends who had been waiting downstairs, ran to a neighbor's house and called 911.

Police responded but couldn't locate the suspect. It appeared that nothing had been disturbed in the house.

Exposed:

At 2:15 a.m. on Sunday, May 18, a Northeast Seattle woman in her 20s looked out her upstairs window and saw a man standing in her fenced backyard, exposing himself. The man, who seemed to be about 50, was sporting sweatpants, a baseball cap, and had a mullet haircut.

When the suspect realized he'd been spotted, he fled through the garden gate.

The woman saw the man again, doing the same thing, 15 minutes later and called the police. She said he'd exposed himself to her several times before, both at her home and at a park, but that she hadn't reported those incidents.