The following are selected reports from the Seattle Police Department's West Precinct. They represent the officer's accounts of the events described.
Bike Theft
Just before 10:30 p.m. on June 4, officers responded to the report of a bike theft that occurred at an apartment building in the 1200 block of Dexter Avenue North. The victim said their bike had been taken from the building’s secured parking garage sometime between 8 p.m. on May 30, and 6:30 p.m. that evening. The burglar cut the cable lock off of the stolen bike, which the victim described as a 21-speed model with a seat cover and kickstand he’d purchased separately.
They said the bike and its accessories were worth about $600, and that they had found a bike that looks exactly like theirs listed for sale online. He told police he’d set up an appointment to meet up with the seller the next day, and they offered to assist the victim during the meet up.
Art Theft
Just before 11 a.m. on June 1, police responded to an apartment building in the 100 block of West Olympic Place to investigate the theft of a painting from the building’s lobby. A building maintenance worker reported a large painting of the Seattle city skyline, worth about $7,500, was taken sometime between 3:30 p.m. on May 31, and 7 a.m. the next day.
There were no signs of forced entry to the building, and it appeared the painting was just lifted off the brackets that had been holding it on the wall. The maintenance worker told police there are security cameras in the building, but they didn’t have access to the video.
Desperate Burglar
Police responded to a burglary at an apartment building in the 600 block of West Olympic Place just after 10:30 a.m. on June 3. The burglary occurred sometime between 7 p.m. on May 31 and 9 a.m. the following morning. The building manager said the burglar stole tools, packages from the mailroom and keys for the washers and dryers in the laundry room.
He then used the keys to open the washers and dryers, attempting to get the coins out, but the appliances are not coin operated. The burglar also went into the building’s parking garage and prowled a car, stealing the garage door opener from inside. A day after the burglary an employee of the building found a basket of stolen tools in the bushes outside.
Stabbing
At approximately 8:30 p.m. on June 3, police responded to a 911 call reporting a fight outside a club in the 500 block of Queen Anne Avenue North. When they got to the scene they found one victim lying on the sidewalk on Republican Street between Queen Anne Avenue North and First Avenue North.
At first, officers thought the victim was drunk, as he was laying and resting his head on the tire of a parked car. When they got closer, they saw blood on the victim’s shirt. Further examination revealed a two-inch stab wound on his chest, just above his heart. The victim was extremely uncooperative with police, refusing to be the victim of a crime and refusing to tell them what happened. When an officer tried to treat the victim’s wound, he told the officer to go away and quit disrespecting him.
Police spoke with a person sitting near the entrance of the club, who was also not very cooperative. That person stated that the victim deserved to get stabbed because he was being racist. The witness did give police a description of the suspect, and officers in the area later located and stopped them. The suspect admitted to stabbing the victim because he’d used the N word: “I stabbed him, he deserved what was coming to him, now you know the story.”
Because the victim didn’t want to be the victim of a crime, police let the suspect go with a warning. They did confiscate the knife from his pocket, which still had blood on it. The knife is not classified as a dangerous weapon under Seattle Municipal Code.
Occupied Burglary
Just after 11 p.m. on June 6, officers responded to a burglary at an occupied home in the1600 block of Seventh Avenue West. The married couple residing in the home said the burglary had just occurred, and the house alarm was tripped while they were sleeping. The couple said the front door and several drawers were all open.
The pair said they had been sleeping when they were awakened by the beeping of the alarm; This was the beeping that usually happens between a door being opened and the alarm being turned off. The actual alarm went off when the husband exited the bedroom to see what had tripped the alarm. As he was walking down the stairs he noticed a second floor window screen was pushed in and there were several drawers opened. When he got downstairs he saw the front door was open and more drawers throughout the first floor were open, so he went right back upstairs and called 911.
Responding officers determined the burglar entered the house through a second floor window. The burglar apparently climbed on top of a picnic table on the deck below this window and hoisted himself up to the roof and made his way inside. The victims said they’d left the window open, because they didn’t think anybody could access it. The window wasn’t attached to the alarm system, so by the time the victims were woken up it was from the suspect opening the front door to leave. They said the only thing taken during the burglary was $100 from a purse.