The following are selected reports from the Seattle Police Department’s West Precinct. They represent the officers’ accounts of the events described.
Poor Service
Just after 4:30 p.m. on June 4, patrons of a restaurant in the 100 block of First Avenue North called 911 to report a man had just brandished a handgun inside the restaurant.
When police arrived, witnesses pointed them in the direction they believed the suspect went. Police stopped a couple of possible suspects, but witnesses stated both men were not the man they sought.
The victim told police he’d been sitting at the bar when the suspect approached and began complaining to the bartender he hadn’t been served because he wasn’t white. The victim told the suspect to leave the bartender alone, and he responded by pulling a handgun out of his sweatshirt pocket stating, “What are you going to do?”
Multiple witnesses corroborated the victim’s story, including the bartender. She said she’d been making drinks when the suspect walked up to the bar. She asked if he wanted anything and he said, “Give me a minute.” He left the bar and went to sit in the back of the restaurant with a female.
A while later the bartender asked the waitress if the suspect had been served, and she said yes. A short time after that the suspect came to the bar and was angry, stating he hadn’t been served because he wasn’t white.
Eventually the victim told the suspect to leave, and he pulled the handgun out. Shortly after the handgun incident the suspect left the restaurant.
Moving Wars
At 12:45 p.m. on June 2 police responded to an assault in the 1300 block of West Nickerson Street.
The victim told police he was a professional mover who’d been hired to move some property that day. He said he parked blocking the driveway and could not pull any further forward due to a semi truck and other cars narrowing the driveway.
While he was loading some items a couple other drivers parked behind his truck, further blocking the driveway. A second mover, who had been hired by the victim’s company as a day laborer, showed up and was upset that the victim was blocking the driveway.
An argument ensued and the suspect pushed the victim, causing him to hit his face on the garage door. He had a one-inch gash on his cheek from the incident.
The suspect fled the scene immediately after.
Sloppy Thief
Just before 10 a.m. on June 6, police responded to a business in the 700 block of Taylor Avenue North to investigate a burglary that occurred sometime overnight between 10 p.m. the previous night and 5:30 a.m. that morning.
The business’s front window was pried open and one safe was stolen and a second was broken into. More than $6,000 in cash was taken between the two safes.
The suspect left a pair of bent scissors in the bathroom along with a half-consumed bottle of root beer. The scissors had a visible fingerprint on the blade.
The business manager reported two employees had been fired recently. These potential suspects both refused to return the keys to the business for a few days, and one of them likes root beer.
Tripped Alarm
Just after 11:30 p.m. on June 3, police responded to a burglary at a home in the 3400 block of 37th Avenue West.
The homeowner’s neighbor was on scene when officers arrived. She said the homeowner is out of town, and he’d called her to tell her a motion alarm had tripped at his house. When she went over to the house she found the back door standing open.
She knew it had been closed and locked by the homeowner when he left. Responding police checked the house and found it empty with no signs of a burglary.
They did find that a screen on a window to the right of the back door was removed, and there were smudges on the window, but it was now closed.