An Inn-side job?
0An out-of-towner called 911 after returning to his hotel room on Taylor Avenue North at about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30th and finding it had been broken into. The man had been out to dinner with some friends, and said when he’d left his room at about 6:30 p.m. everything had been in order. When he came back he found that the front door to the room was ajar, and there were fresh pry marks on the security bar — this bar is in place, ironically, to prevent people from prying the door open.
The victim told police that when he entered the room and checked his belongings he instantly noticed that his laptop had been stolen; when he left it had been sitting on the table in the room. The victim also said that his backpack had been rifled through and his digital camera and iPad 2 were missing. He also noted to police that his Verizon Hotspot, a portable secure WiFi device that had been sitting next to the computer, was still there. This could be because the burglar didn’t know what it was.
When responding police officers asked the victim if he had any idea of who might have robbed his hotel room, he mentioned an incident that had happened the day before. A “seedy looking character” identifying himself as a member of the hotel’s maintenance staff came to his door a few hours after he had checked in. The victim said he could tell he was a maintenance worker due to his apparel. The maintenance worker said he needed to fix something in the room; however the victim did not let the man into the room. The stranger said that he would come back later date to fix the issue. The victim gave police a detailed description of the man, and when officers told the hotel staff about him they confirmed he was indeed a maintenance worker. They also confirmed the maintenance man’s story about something that needed to be fixed in the victim’s room.
Leaving no rock unturned, the police officers continued to look for clues. They found a stair well next to the victim’s room, and determined it had an alarmed fire escape door that would allow people to exit to the outside world. The hotel staff informed the officers, however, that the alarm had not been tripped all day: Whoever broke into the room hadn’t gone out through the fire exit. Police dusted the hotel room door for fingerprints; however they found none.
The victim was provided with a business card and a case number.
Powerless
Upon arriving to work and finding the building’s generator missing, an employee of a restaurant located on Thorndyke Avenue West called 911 at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 30th. The caller said the restaurant had been closed the previous evening at 9:30 p.m. like normal. When employees arrived for work this morning they found the generator missing and a padlock securing the storage area in the rear of the restaurant cut. There is no access to the restaurant from the storage area. Also missing was a large toolbox. Responding Seattle police officers dusted for fingerprints, but were unsuccessful.
New liquor law in effect
On Sunday, July 1st security officers at a Queen Anne grocery store experienced the joy of the new liquor law. While attempting to stop a man who shoplifted a 40-dollar bottle of Hennessey, one of the officers was bashed over the head with the heavy bottle.
At 3:15 p.m. Seattle police officers responded to 911 calls reporting a fight in the alley near First Avenue North and Mercer Street. When officers arrived they learned a shoplifter had been fighting with security from a nearby grocery store. Officers found the suspect in the store’s security office.
Because the suspect had some cuts and scrapes Seattle Fire was called to come treat his injuries. Security staff told the police they’d watched the man come into the store and take a bottle of Hennessy Cognac from the liquor department and conceal it inside his backpack. He ran out the south doors where security attempted to stop him. They followed the shoplifter to an alley where he swung the backpack at one of the security officers, striking him in the head with enough force to shatter the glass bottle inside the bag. The victim had a lump on the left side of his head. He was also treated by medics at the scene. Another security officer said the suspect pulled his hair and while resisting injured his hand and knee.
The suspect, after being placed under arrest by police, said he stole the bottle and ran to an alley to hide. While there, three security staff members approached him and he complied with what they told him to do. He denied resisting and he denied striking the security officer in the head with the bottle of liquor.
Police observed the shattered bottle inside the suspect’s backpack. It was a 750-milliliter bottle of Hennessy Black Cognac, valued at $39.95. The suspect was booked into King County Jail for theft and assault.
Hit and run
While confronting a car prowler caught in the act, a victim was hit by the suspect’s car and then drug about 30 feet until rolling off the hood. Seattle police responded to the parking lot in the 900 block of Fairview Avenue North after the incident, which occurred at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 23rd.
The victims said they parked their rental car and went to have lunch, and when they returned they found the suspect standing at the rear of the car with the trunk open and trying to remove their suitcases. The victims ran towards the car to stop the suspect who slammed the trunk shut and ran to his own vehicle — a green 1990s Chrysler minivan — parked in the adjacent space. The victim said he tried to open the driver’s and side doors of the suspect’s van but they were locked. He said he was not exactly sure how it occurred, but the suspect pulled out of the parking space and struck him, causing the victim to roll onto the suspect’s hood.
The suspect told police he hung onto the edge of the van’s hood and finally rolled off the hood after the vehicle traveled about 30 feet. Miraculously, the victim said he was not injured. The suspect drove away south on Fairview.
From the victim’s car the suspect took a GPS from the console and an iPad from the rear floor. The victim was able to provide police with a detailed description of the suspect and his van, as well as a partial plate. Police ran the partial plate, but were unable to trace it.