The following are selected reports from the Seattle Police Department’s West Precinct. They represent the officers’ accounts of the events described.
Tampered Mailbox
Shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 18, police responded to a building in the 500 block of Fourth Avenue West to investigate a damaged mailbox.
The building manager reported that sometime between 6:45 and 7:30 a.m. that morning someone had tried to pry open one of the building’s mailboxes. Both sides of the mailbox had been pried, but the lock remained intact.
The building manager said nothing was taken and there were no signs of forced entry to the building.
Empty House
Just before 9 a.m. on Dec. 24, police responded to a burglary at a house in the 200 block of McGraw Street.
The complainant told officers he is a contractor working on the house, and sometime between 4 p.m. on Dec. 20 and 9 p.m. on the 23rd, someone broke into the house through the garage door.
He wasn’t sure if anything was taken.
Stolen Saw
Just before 3 p.m. on Dec. 22, the contractor for a new house in the 3800 block of 30th Avenue West called 911 to report a burglary.
He said the burglary took place sometime between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. the previous day.
It appeared the burglar came into the backyard of the house and peeked in through a back window; there were footprints in the mud underneath the window. The suspect then forced open the back door, damaging it and its frame, and stole a chop saw, which was visible from the window.
Nothing else was taken during the burglary.
Stolen Coat
A little after 9 p.m. on Dec. 22, an employee of a business in the 3600 block of Thorndyke Avenue West called 911 to report someone had stolen his coat from the business’s front office.
He said he’d noticed his coat was missing and looked at the security camera footage.
It showed a female suspect enter the front door at about 5 p.m. She was carrying a purse with the American Flag on it and a white trash bag. She grabbed the victim’s coat, stuffed it in the trash bag and walked out the door.
The victim said the keys to his car, house and the business were in his coat. He also said there has been an insurgence of trespasses, thefts and burglaries in the neighborhood lately.
Dumpster Diver
At approximately 11:45 a.m. on Dec. 23, police responded to a 911 call reporting a disturbance at an apartment building in the 100 block of West Olympic Place.
The caller stated that a suspect was waving a butcher knife around and stabbing garbage cans. The victim told police he is the weekend and night manager of the apartment building, and that the building has had a problem with homeless people going through the dumpster behind the building and making a mess.
He said he saw the suspect digging through the dumpster this morning, and that he recognized him from two previous occasions that he’s been caught digging through the dumpster.
This morning the victim asked the suspect to stop and to leave. In response the suspect pulled a large kitchen knife out and pointed it at the victim yelling, “I own these garbage cans! I will mess you up!” The suspect then kicked the dumpster and left with the knife.
The suspect was located by responding police on Queen Anne Avenue North. They found six kitchen knives on the suspect’s person, including a large butcher knife that matched the description of the knife given by the victim.
The suspect was booked into King County Jail for harassment.
Aggressive Pedestrian
At approximately 6:15 p.m. on Dec. 23, police responded to the corner of Queen Anne Avenue North and Valley Street for an assault.
The victim said he’d been driving on Queen Anne Avenue towards Valley Street when he stopped for the suspect in a crosswalk. The suspect yelled at the victim that he’d stopped too close to him. The victim said he apologized but said he didn’t think he was too close.
So the suspect pulled out an expandable baton and smashed the victim’s windshield, then spat in the victim’s face before walking away.
Holiday Break In
At 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 28, police responded to a burglary at an apartment in the 600 block of West Emerson Street.
The victim told police he and his roommates had been gone since 1 p.m. on Dec. 10. When he arrived home that day, he noticed the front window was ajar. His bedroom window was also found open. His dresser drawers had been pulled open and rummaged through. His desk drawers were also opened and some of his stuff was missing including two pairs of headphones, a gaming system, a laptop charger, a pair of glasses and a jacket.
He wasn’t sure if any of his roommates’ belongings had been taken, but he said he noticed some of their dresser drawers were opened and rummaged through as well.
Mail Thieves
Just before 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 28, the manager of an apartment building in the 500 block of West Roy Street called 911 to report a mail theft.
The manager said some residents had reported their packages were stolen from the mail room, so he looked at the building’s security video and saw that three suspects broke in on Dec. 20.
The suspects broke an exterior key box, then came inside and stole eight or nine packages from the mail room. The suspects then went into the parking garage, but the manager didn’t believe they’d prowled any cars.
Unlocked Door
Just after noon on Dec. 28, the owners of a house in the 300 block of West Kinnear Place called 911 to report a burglary that occurred while they were away for the holidays.
They said they’d been gone since 7 p.m. on Dec. 20 and were alerted to the burglary on Dec. 24, when they got a call from their bank reporting suspicious activity on one of their accounts.
The victims’ neighbor checked on their house and confirmed a basement door was unlocked. The victims came home on Dec. 28, and took inventory of their house, confirming about $10,000 worth of items were taken, mostly items from an upstairs bedroom.
Stolen Safe
Just before 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 27, police responded to a burglary at a business in the 3500 block of Sixth Avenue West.
The manager said sometime over the holiday weekend — 2 p.m. on Dec. 24 and 8 a.m. on Dec. 27 — someone broke into the building and took the file cabinet keys and a small safe holding $1,000 worth of stamps and two credit cards.
The safe was later found in a planter across the street, its door had been broken off and its contents were missing.
Garage Dump
At approximately 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 28, police responded to a 911 call from a home in the 4400 block of 24th Avenue West.
The victim said a man was pounding on his garage door and refusing to leave. When officers arrived the suspect was gone, but not before he’d entered the victim’s garage and defecated on the floor.
The victim said he’d heard the suspect banging on his garage door and he’d yelled down to him from an upper floor. He went downstairs when the smell of feces began wafting upstairs. He found the suspect inside the garage digging through boxes of the victim’s belongings. There was a pile of feces on the floor.
The victim said he walked the suspect down to West Government Way and last saw him walking westbound. Responding officers didn’t locate him.