Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 7, July 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

Car collector strikes back:

Just after 8:30 a.m. on June 11, a parking enforcement officer was ticketing cars in the Fremont neighborhood when a black Chevrolet Blazer drove up and parked behind the officer's vehicle. The man who got out was in his 30s, about six feet tall, had tattoos on both arms, scars on his cheek, and a scruffy face. His apparent residence sat on the back of a lot where numerous broken down vehicles were parked.

Enraged that his cars were again being ticketed, the man confronted the officer and complained that the citations were costing him a lot of money.

The officer responded by telling the man he needed to move his cars and that he had been given prior warnings.

Unmoved, the man told the officer he was going to (expletive deleted) him up. The officer asked if that was a threat and the man assured him that it was.

Fearing for his safety, the officer radioed for a police unit to respond and waited in his vehicle for them to arrive.

While the officer waited, the man opened the passenger side door and shouted at the officer about the tickets some more. He also taunted the officer as if trying to start a fight. However, after a few minutes the man apparently gave up and went into his residence, a pit bull dog in tow.

Police officers arrived and checked the home and surrounding area, but the suspect had already left. The victim went back to citing cars and the police officers left to respond to other calls including a nearby Metro bus accident.

While dealing with the accident, one of the policemen spotted a man standing nearby who matched the suspect's description. The policeman asked the man if he'd had an incident with a parking enforcement officer earlier and the man said answered that he had.

The parking enforcement officer responded to the scene and positively identified the suspect, who was then placed under arrest.

While searching the suspect, the police found $625.12 and a sticky black substance wrapped in the clear plastic that was later identified as heroin.

Crime of dry skin:

At 12:45 p.m. on June 11, a security guard at a Roosevelt neighborhood grocery store saw a middle-aged woman shopping with both a store basket and a black canvas grocery bag.

She placed several food items into the basket, but was also observed putting other products into her grocery bag.

As she approached the checkout counters, she set down the basket and left the store without attempting to pay for anything in the sack.

The guard stopped the woman and escorted her back into the store. Inside the canvas bag, he found various types of skin care products mostly lotions valued at $134.20. The suspect was taken into custody and booked into King County Jail.

Entertaining the flock?

At 3:45 a.m. on June 11, a Haller Lake man was awoken by a page from his car alarm. When he went out to investigate, he saw two males who appeared to be about 18 years old standing next to his Honda, holding the vehicle's $1,500 TV/DVD player system.

When the two suspects saw the man, they got into a vehicle that the man described as a "church van" a two-tone vehicle with plenty of windows and room for 15 passengers and drove off. Nothing else was taken from the Honda and an area check for the suspects was negative.

Aggressive driver:

Just before 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 10, a man in his 40s was driving to his workplace in Ballard when he got into a confrontation with another vehicle headed in the same direction.

The driver of the other vehicle was a man who appeared to be in his 30s.

Though the first driver yielded to the other car, the second driver still became angry, cutting in front of the first driver and then yelling at him and giving him the finger. The first driver returned the gesture.

The first driver passed the second driver several blocks later but the second driver followed him all the way to work.

When the first driver got out of his car, the second driver was waiting for him in the lot, and yelled, "I oughta kick your rich ass."

Fortunately, some nearby security officers heard the confrontation and responded to the scene. They told the second driver they were going to call the police and he left.The first driver told police he still wanted the incident written up as he was afraid the suspect might return and damage his vehicle.

Don't drink and detonate:

Just before 9 p.m. on Friday, June 11, a man was in his Greenwood apartment when he heard an explosion so loud and violent that it shook the windows on one side of the building.

He looked out to see a large amount of smoke billowing from a nearby vacant lot/construction site. He also saw a man in the area who was bending down to pick up some kind of metal object. The apartment dweller called 911.

Upon their arrival, police officers spoke to another witness who had also heard the blast and had seen a man walking away from the scene wearing a faded "Seattle Sonics" shirt and carrying some sort of metal cylinder in the pocket of his denim shorts.

The witnesses pointed police to the apartment that they believed the suspect had gone to after the explosion.

Inside, they found a man in his 30s who matched the suspect's description. He immediately become belligerent with the police. He smelled of alcohol and was slurring his words.

Officers arrested the suspect for reckless endangerment and for detonating an explosive device within city limits. Eventually, the suspect handed over an 8-inch stainless steel powder cannon, a length of hobby fuse cord and some Clean Shot gun powder. He was booked into King County Jail.