Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 4, April 2004

Copyright 2004 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

Wheelchair envy:

On Wednesday, March 10, police responded to an assault at a North Seattle rehabilitation center. The confrontation had occurred the previous day around 5 p.m. as two of the center's residents, both confined to scooter-style wheelchairs. One man was in his 70s, the other in his late 50s.

According to the older man, as the two were heading towards the center's cafeteria, the younger man attempted to pass him in the hallway.

The older man said that as the younger man's scooter passed his, it hit his scooter twice. The older man believed it was an intentional attack, motivated by jealousy.

"People have been complimenting me on how nice my scooter is," the older man told police. "My scooter is much nicer than his."

Despite the older man's advanced age and frailty, he retaliated reaching out from his scooter and striking the younger man twice in the shoulder.

The younger man wasn't injured, but the incident was documented.

Violin violation:

On Tuesday, March 9, around 7 p.m., a student was preparing for a musical performance at Eckstein Middle School when she left her violin unattended. When she returned, she found that someone had replaced her instrument, valued at $500, with a lesser model that was also in poor condition. No suspect was identified.

Home alone:

Just after 6 a.m. on Friday, March 12, several officers were dispatched to the Hearthstone retirement home in Green Lake to investigate an attempted burglary.

The victim awakened earlier that morning to find a man going through her dresser drawers. The man was wearing a leather jacket and appeared to be in his 20s.

Since the woman's husband was ill and was staying in another part of the building while receiving treatment, the woman at first thought the visitor was an employee sent by her husband to retrieve some of his belongings.

She asked the man what he was looking for and if she could help. The man replied that he was looking for "medical equipment" and would find it on his own. However, when he started looking through her closet, the woman became suspicious and said she was going to get up and see what he was doing.

The man then left the bedroom and exited the apartment, climbing over the side of the balcony.

Though some of the victim's belongings had been moved, it appeared nothing was stolen. One officer noted that he had handled a similar burglary in February at another North Seattle retirement home. In that case, the victim had also been a woman whose husband was away due to an illness.

Home unknown:

At 3:20 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10, some Crown Hill residents called the police to report a possible burglary at a nearby house. They heard glass breaking and saw a chair below a broken window. They also thought they could see a flashlight inside the home.

Eight police officers (including two K-9 units) were dispatched to investigate. The police noted that several screens had been removed from the home's windows and the rear door had been kicked in. After loudly announcing "Seattle Police," the officers went inside and began to check the premises. One of the officers opened a bedroom door and saw a man in his 20s lying in bed with no shirt on. The officer could tell that the man was watching him.

The officer entered the room and yelled, "Seattle Police let me see your hands!"

The suspect pretended he had been asleep. He told the police it was his house, but couldn't tell them the address when asked. Then he became hostile.

"What the (expletive deleted) do you have a warrant?" the suspect asked loudly.

The police found an Alaska state identification card for the suspect in a wallet in his pants pocket. They also found papers with the suspect's name on them seemed to indicate that the house was in fact the suspect's residence, even though he didn't know his own address.

Since the suspect's name came back clear from dispatch, the police prepared to leave the scene. However, while in the house they had noticed several knives lying about in both the kitchen and the bedroom.

Because the suspect still seemed hostile, the police ordered him to keep his distance from the officers and stay out of the kitchen. When the suspect refused to comply, he was arrested and taken to the North Precinct. En route, he repeatedly told the arresting officer, "I'm gonna get a 12-gauge (shotgun) and (expletive deleted) shoot you!"

During a search of the house, officers also found drug pipes and a canister of marijuana.

Broads + beer = brawl:

At 1:45 a.m. on Sunday, March 7, a man in his late 20s was having drinks at a Green Lake bar with another man (also in his 20s) and a couple of women whom he had just met. The first man told police that the second man grabbed a beer bottle and struck him twice on the head with it. Then the suspect got up and ran out of the bar. The victim pursued, but was unable to catch the suspect.

Determined to have justice, the victim went back the bar and got his assailant's first name from the employees (though he told police they were uncooperative because they all know the suspect).

The victim added that he didn't know why the suspect had assaulted him, although he thought it could have been because he was talking to the women at the table.

Car tab fairy?

On March 12 at 1:47 a.m., an officer was patrolling the Crown Hill neighborhood, on the lookout for a suspect in some recent car prowls.

The officer spotted a young man (in either his late teens or early 20s) who fit the suspect's description. The officer saw the man cross the street and get into a Jeep.

The officer approached the vehicle and had dispatch run the license plate number. The plate registered as both expired (even though it had 2004 tabs) and stolen.

(The plate had been reported missing in August 2003.)

The policeman confronted the suspect with this information. The suspect replied that he'd had the vehicle for "over a year" and that it had come with the license plate and tabs.

Not satisfied with this answer, the officer took the suspect into custody.

Back at the North Precinct police station, the officer questioned the suspect about the plates and tabs, even employing sarcasm in an attempt to get the answers.

"(The suspect) seemed to appreciate my 'benevolent stolen license tab fairy' hypothesis," the officer wrote in his report. "However, it is difficult to capture a mythical fairy, so that line of questioning was dismissed."

Since no information was forthcoming from the suspect, he was released.