The following are selected reports from the Seattle Police Department’s West Precinct. They represent the officers’ accounts of the events described.
Cigarettes and Scratch Tickets
At 7:45 a.m. on Nov. 6, police responded to a burglary that occurred overnight at a store in the 3300 block of West McGraw Street.
The store’s owner said there was surveillance video that showed a black car pull up to the store’s front door at about 2:20 a.m. that morning. Two suspects got out of the car and used a rock to break the glass out of the front door.
The suspects grabbed cigarettes, scratch tickets and the front counter cash register. The owner reported about $120 was inside the register. He said he’d have to take inventory before he could say how many cigarettes and scratch tickets were taken.
The surveillance video showed the suspects were wearing gloves, so police didn’t bother to look for fingerprints.
Lucky Numbers
A little before 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 7 the building manager of an apartment in the 900 block of Dexter Avenue North called 911 to report a burglary that occurred overnight.
She told police security cameras at the building’s front lobby caught the suspect entering through the front door just after 1 a.m. that morning, after punching a bunch of numbers into the key pad.
He entered the building’s parking garage and about 10 minutes later the building’s cameras picked him up again with a now-full backpack. He picked up a large package from the mailroom before exiting the building through the front door.
Cigarette Theft
Just after 6 a.m. on Nov. 7, police responded to a store in the 300 block of West McGraw Street after a passerby called 911 to report the front door glass was broken and there was nobody around.
Responding officers found a large rock had been thrown through the window, no suspects were on scene.
They looked inside and it appeared cigarettes were taken from a display case. The store’s owner responded, and confirmed cigarettes had been stolen.
Stranger in My Home
Shortly after 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 8, a woman living in the 2600 block of 21st Avenue West called 911 to report she’d just encountered a burglar in her apartment.
She said when she came out of her bedroom at 5:30 a.m., she noticed her balcony door was open, so she closed it. Then she noticed her front door was also open.
When she walked towards the front door, she saw a stranger wearing a black hoodie and a black backpack walking around her apartment. When the suspect saw her he ran out of the front door.
The victim told police she’d put some money on her counter the night before when she got home from work, and it wasn’t there after the burglary.
Police searched the neighborhood for the suspect but didn’t find him. They searched the apartment for evidence, including fingerprints, but found none.
More Stolen Cigarettes
Just before 4 a.m. on Nov. 10, police responded to an alarm break at a store in the 4200 block of Gilman Avenue West.
They found the lower half of the store’s front door broken in and items strewn around the floor and behind the counter areas. Nobody was on scene.
The store’s manager responded and stated a spare cash register, an unknown amount of cigarettes and cash was stolen. The manager estimated the loss was about $300.
Police searched for evidence, no fingerprints were located and the store manager stated he’d get any security footage to police.
Wire Loot
At approximately 5:15 a.m. on Nov. 13, police responded to a construction site in the 700 block of Roy Street.
The construction crew’s general superintendent told police the burglary occurred sometime between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. that morning.
The burglar cut the chain locking the gate that surrounds the site. Once inside the suspect cut a padlock off a storage container. About 2,000 feet of cooper wire was cut off of two large wood spools. The superintendent said the copper wire was worth about $7 per foot, so the total loss was about $14,000. A pair of wire cutters worth about $100 was also taken.
The burglar attempted to cut a heavy-duty padlock on another trailer, but he was unsuccessful.
Sidewalk Threats
Just before 10 a.m. on Nov. 11, police responded to a 911 call from First Avenue West and Roy Street reporting a transient male threatening the victim with an unknown weapon.
The victim said he was familiar with the suspect and police recognized the suspect’s name from previous arrests.
The victim said he’d been standing on the corner making a phone call when the suspect approached him with an unknown tool in his hand, he said it looked like either scissors or a screwdriver. The suspect began making threats, so the victim called 911.
The suspect was no longer on scene when police arrived. Officers did an area search for the suspect but didn’t find him.