Seattle Press on Line

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By Sara Longley

May 31, 2000 -- A man, tired of sitting in traffic on 15th Avenue NE, takes matters into his own hands. He merges into the curb lane, but encounters resistance when he attempts to cut back into the moving traffic lane. He tries to cut in front of a woman, forcing her to swerve. As he passes her he shouts profanities and, reaching out his window, he breaks the antenna on her car. He then speeds off northbound. The white pick-up truck he is driving is identified and police follow up...

* * *

Two men argue over a pool game in a U-District bar. They get so out of hand that they are asked to leave. One moves to do so, but the other takes that opportunity to hit him over the head with a pool cue. The man who is hit is so angered that he picks up a large rock and heaves it at the bar window. It bounces off the window frame, so he picks it up and tries again, this time breaking the 4x5 plate glass window. Two witnesses hold the man until police arrive. The pool-cue wielding man has since disappeared. The rock-thrower is treated for his head injury at the scene and then taken to jail for property destruction.

* * *

Police are flagged down by a person attending the University District Street Fair on a Saturday at 2 p.m. The fairgoer claims he has just witnessed a bicycle being stolen. The officers conduct a search of the area, and they soon see a man walking up a neighboring alley carrying a bicycle over his shoulder. He is apparently carrying it because it is chained through both wheels with a cable lock. When asked, the man cannot tell police when, where or for how much he purchased the bike, nor can he identify the brand. He says he lost the key for his lock. The officers confiscate the bicycle, telling the man that he can claim it at the North Precinct if he can prove he owns it. The man seems happy with this arrangement.

Half an hour later, police receive a call from a man who says his bicycle has been stolen. He identifies the bicycle, describing it in detail. He produces a key and unlocks the cable.

Meanwhile, the bicycle thief has been detained by UW police officers a few blocks away, so the Street Fair security detail is able to take him into custody. He is booked into jail for theft, and the happy bicycle owner goes on his way...

* * *

A woman returning to her parked car in North Seattle sees a man in her back seat, rifling through her belongings. When she yells at him he runs away, and she chases him, shouting, "Stop, thief!" A mail carrier sees the chase and comes to the woman's aid. Two mail carriers are able to detain the man until police arrive. The car owner is not sure if anything is missing, but she says that a pair of gloves and pressure gauge in the front seat are not hers. The suspect is transported to jail...

* * *

A woman's purse is stolen from an office in a Ballard school. The purse contained her wallet, keys and a cell phone. She calls the number of her cell phone, and a man answers. He tells the woman to "Fuck off" and turns off the phone...

* * *

A North Seattle man leaves his car unlocked in his carport on an early Sunday morning. He returns to find his possessions rifled through and 5 CDs missing. The thief was apparently scared off by something, because the man soon discovers a backpack behind his car. The backpack contains the CDs and various other items that do not belong to the man. Police place the backpack and its contents into evidence...

* * *

A woman drives past her husband's retail store on Aurora on a Sunday and sees the landlord loading the store's inventory into a van. As her husband is in jail, she pays the landlord $800 for rent to stop the eviction. When the husband is released from jail two weeks later, he immediately visits his store to check on his property and finds the place empty. The total worth of the store's goods is about $4,000. The victim tells officers that his wife saw most of the property at another store, and that she bought back four of the chairs. The manager of that store says he bought the items from the landlord...

* * *

A clerk in an Aurora Avenue N store observes a 13-year-old boy picking out CDs on a Sunday afternoon. The boy then goes to the clothing section of the store and grabs several items of clothing. Then, he gets a knife from the kitchen section of the store and enters a fitting room. He soon reappears to fetch another knife and returns to his fitting room with the superior tool. A short time later the boy exits the fitting room, hides the CD security husks in the sporting goods department and walks out of the store. He is stopped outside and brought into the store security office. Security staff recover the CDs and the two knives from him. Police arrive and read the boy his rights. He admits also stealing a portable CD player the day before, which he has on his person. He says a group of gang members told him to steal the CDs and that they would pay him $20. He says they told him if he did not they would get their gang after him. The boy is released into the custody of his step-father...

* * *

A car parked in a U-District lot is prowled between 1 and 9 a.m. on a Monday. The suspects take a wallet and a CD player. Adding insult to injury, they also leave the car door open, and the victim discovers that her battery is drained...

* * *

A Ballard man's SUV, parked in front of his house, is broken into and several items are taken. He is in the process of moving, and the vehicle was loaded with his possessions as well as some things belonging to his girlfriend. Total loss is around $625...

* * *

A Ballard man's car is robbed of its battery, value $60...

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A North Seattle man drives home on a Wednesday at 4 p.m. As he approaches his house he sees a woman walking on the sidewalk. He stops to allow her to cross his driveway, and while he waits he sees her pause in front of his mailbox. She turns back to the sidewalk and he sees that she now has some envelopes in her hands and that his mailbox is partly open. She continues casually across the driveway and he yells at her, "You stole my mail!" The woman begins to run toward the rear door of a nearby apartment building. The victim follows and sees her frantically using a key to enter the building. He is able to gain entrance but cannot tell which apartment she went into. The victim tells police one of the letters was probably his bank statement, as the bank informed him the next day that they had been sent out...

* * *

A frightened witness in North Seattle calls police to report three juveniles running in the street with guns. Officers arrive to find three young men shooting blue pellets at each other with toy guns made to imitate real weapons. Two of the guns have orange tips but the orange has been marked over with black ink. All four of the guns are confiscated and placed into evidence for safekeeping...

* * *

A North Seattle man's car is damaged as it is parked on the street in front of his house. Apparently the perpetrator walked along one side, around the back and up the other side, spraying the car with a chemical that ate into the paint...

* * *

A woman living in Wedgwood is disabled and susceptible to infection, so she contacts Animal Control for help keeping stray cats out of her apartment. Animal Control staff provide her with a cat trap, which is set up on the woman's west porch. On the morning of a recent Monday she discovers the trap missing and a note which reads, "You teach hate, dear old hag, not humanity. You are a mugworm gribblic! Because you set out cat traps and called the pound." Officers are unable to locate the missing trap...

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