Sudden Outburst
Just after 8:30 a.m. on May 9, police responded to a 911 call reporting an assault at a store in the 500 block of First Avenue West. Employees and customers of the store told officers that about 90 minutes earlier, a woman wearing tattered shorts and no shoes came into the store and immediately began knocking things off the shelves and causing a scene. Employees attempted to get her out of the store, but she continued swinging her arms, throwing merchandise and hitting people in the process. While an employee was able to get the woman out of the store, she returned every few minutes, wearing less clothing every time. One employee reported being injured during the event. Officers searched the neighborhood for the suspect, and even waited at the scene for her to return, but could not locate her. Employees said they weren’t sure what had caused the woman to cause such a scene, and said they didn’t recognize her as a regular who hangs out around the neighborhood. She was last seen walking southbound on First Avenue West.
Cigarette Thief
At approximately 2 p.m. on May 15th, employees of a store in the 1600 block of West Dravus Street called 911 after a shoplifter assaulted workers, and broke a $40 bottle of bourbon he’d been attempting to steal. Employees told officers the suspect had become angry after they had prevented him from stealing the bourbon along with a bag of beef jerky and a bottle of soda. They’d become suspicious of the suspect when he asked an employee in the liquor section what kind of alcohol would get him ‘wasted’ the fastest. Their suspicious were confirmed when he concealed the bottle of bourbon inside the armpit of his sweatshirt. When he was stopped, he took the bottle out of his sweatshirt and dropped it on the ground, causing it to shatter. He then went back into the store and went behind the customer service counter and pushed an employee away from the cigarette shelves. He took two packs of cigarettes and left the store. He was observed getting on a northbound bus, which then got stuck in traffic on the Ballard Bridge. Police boarded the bus and arrested the suspect after he tried to elude officers by changing his clothes. Police learned that the suspect was responsible for another similar incident where he jumped the customer service counter and pushed an employee while stealing four cartons of cigarettes. They decided to charge the suspect with two counts of strong-armed robbery as well as possession of burglary tools, as they found bolt cutters and a knife in his backpack. He was booked into King County Jail.
Stolen Bikes
At 5:30 p.m. on May 6, police responded to an apartment building in the 2500 block of
Dexter Avenue North. The victim reported that when she and her roommate came home from work today they found their storage unit propped open, and both of their bikes missing. The door to the storage unit had been pried open; there were pry marks on the frame. The stolen bikes were valued at $900 and $1,300, respectively.
Scared Burglar
Just before 11 p.m. on May 5, police responded to a possible burglary in process at a house in the 500 block of West Comstock Street. The homeowner told police his house alarm was going off and he’d locked himself in his bedroom. When police arrived, he told officers he had been asleep when he heard the alarm go off, followed by the sound of his front door slamming. He said it didn’t look like the burglar had gotten anything during the incident, because they’d been scared off by the alarm. The front door had been forced in, and there was damage to the deadbolt area as well as the top and bottom of the door and its frame. A canine unit was brought to the house in attempts to track down the burglar, but they were not successful.
Midday Burglary
A woman living in the 2700 block of Nob Hill Avenue North called 911 at 2:45 p.m. on May 11 to report her house had been broken into sometime between then and noon that day. Police believe the burglar entered the house by climbing onto the basement doorframe and opening a kitchen window that was left slightly ajar. When the victim came home she found the vitamins she’d left on the windowsill were scattered, and the window wide open. A bucket and a baseball bag were missing, indicating the burglar had used them to carry the stolen items. Among the stolen items were two laptops, a TV, a portable music player, a tablet computer, and jewelry. The victim’s dog was in the house during the burglary, but was unharmed.