Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 1, January 2004

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

Cops 'N Robbers

By LEAH WEATHERSBY

The spirit of getting:

Just after 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3, a woman in her 40s was in her Green Lake area home when she heard what sounded like two men trying the handle on her front door and then trying to kick it in. She screamed and they left.

About a minute later, a woman across the street saw two men, both in their 20s, trying the doors to several different vehicles as well as a closed business. The two finally settled for removing a chair from the woman's porch. Then they walked off to the east.

Police responded to the scene and tracked the suspects to a nearby convenience store.

When one suspect saw officers approaching, he reached into his waistband and "furtively" set down a 40-ounce bottle of Old English 800 beer.

Once he was in custody, police also recovered a package of sour candy from the suspect's pants.

The second suspect's trousers contained an even bigger treat: 3.3 grams of marijuana.

Both men were arrested and booked for attempted burglary with additional charges pending for possession.

Grinch hits Greenwood:

Sometime between 4:15 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1, an unknown suspect or suspects entered a home near Third Avenue NW and NW 79th Street and began searching the house for loot. They opened some of the family's Christmas presents, stole a glass decanter full of change from the living room, and eventually made off with $1,000-$2,000 worth of necklaces, bracelets and rings.

Police noted that several similar burglaries took place that same evening within a few blocks of the Greenwood home.

Depressed, but not dirty:

At 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, a security guard at a Roosevelt neighborhood drug store saw a woman in her 40s place several items in her bag. She then left the store without paying.

The security guard followed the woman outside and confronted her about the shoplifting. Then they both went back to the store's security office where an employee totaled up the cost of the items the woman had taken.

All told, they found a whopping $307.99 worth of stolen cleansers, shampoos, conditioners, eye gel, lip balm and other hygiene-oriented products in the woman's possession.

When the police arrived, she told them she wasn't sure why she'd taken the items, except that she was going through a rough time in her life and was feeling depressed.

Rascally roommate:

Just after 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3, police responded to a theft call in the University District. The victim, a woman in her 20s, had been out of town since late November, participating in a peacekeeping mission in Cuba.

When she returned, she found another kind of conflict at home.

Her new roommate, a man also in his 20s, had stolen two checks from her checkbook and made them out to himself in amounts totaling $600. He'd also used her cash card. The roommate was soon removed to alternate housing King County Jail.

Strong-arm or strong drink?

At 8 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, an officer responded to a gas station on Sand Point Way to investigate a reported strong-arm robbery. When he arrived, he found the victim, a man in his 40s, sitting in the convenience store drinking coffee. He was shaking and had a large scrape on his face.

The man told the officer he'd been at the home of a friend's ex-wife until about 9 p.m. the previous evening helping her get ready for an estate sale. Having missed his ride home, the man headed over to Sand Point Way to find a bus stop. There, he said, two suspects beat him unconscious and stole his wallet.

After several false starts, the victim was able to show the officer the home he'd been visiting the night before, but the officer was suspicious of the man's story.

The victim smelled strongly of alcohol and urine (he claimed the suspects peed on him), and he had no explanation for how he could have been lying unconscious at a bus stop since 9 p.m. the previous night without being discovered.

Also, a store employee said that when he'd asked the victim if he wanted an aspirin or an ambulance, the victim had replied, "I could use a drink."

Another officer found a bicycle behind the gas station that he believed the victim might have fallen from.

Then the story took a sad turn. As part of an effort to corroborate the victim's story about being in the neighborhood to help a friend, the responding officer contacted the victim's former employer.

From that employer, the officer learned that the victim began drinking heavily after his wife and children were killed in car accident. Apparently the victim had just gotten out of medical detox a week earlier, only to begin drinking again.

The officer warned the victim of the consequences of false reporting, and the victim assured the officer that he was telling the truth.

I'll get horns for Christmas:

Just after 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, an officer responded to the Trading Musician used musical instrument store in the University District to investigate a report of some stolen property recovered.

When he arrived, he spoke to a musician whose car had been stolen in October. The vehicle was eventually found but the man's French horn, which had been in the car, had vanished.

The musician didn't give up hope. He searched local pawnshops, and when that proved fruitless, started surfing eBay where he finally discovered his instrument for sale. The seller told the man that they'd purchased the instrument at the Trading Musician. After several e-mails back and forth, the seller agreed to return the horn to the store.

When the officer arrived, a store employee gave him the information on file for the person who'd originally brought the horn in. When the officer left, the musician and store manager were still negotiating the return of the instrument.

In the pink:

On Dec. 4, just after 9 p.m., a man in his 20s was leaving work in Greenwood when he discovered that someone had poured pink house paint all over his black Dodge truck. He grabbed a hose immediately and was able to wash most of the paint off, although it did leave a hazy residue behind.

The police were called but they were unable to locate a suspect or witnesses. The man told the police that his ex-girlfriend might have been involved in the incident. He said he'd recently thrown away some pictures that his ex had wanted, and she'd warned him that he would "pay the consequences."