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By Sara Longley

Aug 23, 2000 -- A woman takes a break in the "employees only" area of a retail store on Holman Road Northwest on a Monday at 2:45 p.m. She hears a noise in one of the offices, and when she investigates she sees a stranger standing behind the desk there. She asks him what he is doing there but the man pays no attention and walks out, brushing past her. She tells him to come with her but he walks downstairs to the main floor of the store. As he emerges from the "employees only" area, a second employee sees him and asks him what he was doing there. The suspect says he was looking for "Paulene" because she wouldn't give his ring back. He continues walking as he talks, saying further that Paulene told him that employees of the store told her not to give back the ring. The suspect walks out of the store and gets into a gold Mazda. The employee follows and again asks the man what he was doing in the back of the store. The man does not respond and attempts unsuccessfully to start his car. He eventually has to push the car out of the parking lot to start it, and leaves in an unknown direction.

The first employee is still upstairs trying to figure out what the suspect has taken from the office. The occupant of the office arrives and determines that checks are missing from his personal account and from the store's business account. The suspect car's license number is provided to police for follow-up...

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A Greenwood convenience store is robbed at gunpoint on a Monday at 5:40 p.m. by a man wearing a black ski mask The man points the gun at the clerks and orders them to put the store's cash into a black Nike bag. After the clerks empty the cash drawer, the thief goes behind the counter and tells them to put the store's reserve cash, which is kept on a shelf not visible from the rest of the premises, into the bag. The suspect then leaves the store. A witness sees the man enter the store and exit a short time later, after which he jogs north to a car parked on a side street. The witness records the license number of the suspect car and provides it to police. The amount of money taken is not known...

* * *

A drunken male stranger knocks on the door of a Ravenna house at 7:10 p.m. on a Monday night. When the resident answers, the man demands money. The homeowner declines to give the man money and shuts the door. Not so easily put off, the man continues to pound on the door, eventually breaking the screen door window pane. Police are called to the scene and contact the drunken stranger a block down the street. The victim identifies him and he is booked into jail...

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A man drives over a speed bump at a Northgate bank branch, knocking his exhaust pipe loose. He sets his wallet on the rear spoiler of his car while he checks the damage. He gets back in his car and drives away, only later discovering that his wallet is missing...

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A woman walks down 5th Avenue in Belltown on a Monday night at 9:15 p.m. A man comes up behind her and attempts to snatch her backpack-style purse. The woman resists and the man drags her down the street by her purse straps, pulling her 15 - 20 feet while she struggles and screams. A witness hears her screams and runs over to help. The suspect flees north on 5th. The witness gives chase but loses him in an alley. Neither the victim nor the witness got a good look at the suspect. The woman's purse strap is ripped and she suffers a small cut on one ankle but is otherwise unharmed...

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An elderly woman living in Lake City is the victim of a scam/burglary on a recent Monday afternoon. A young man in his 20s comes to her door and introduces himself as her paper delivery boy from 10 years ago. He is very polite and asks her about her current paper boy, who he identifies by name. Then he takes her hand and leads her outside, saying that he wants to be shown around her garden. After she shows him the garden, she sees a second young man emerge from her front door. Both men get into a car with the front license plate covered and drive away. The victim goes back inside and discovers her wallet lying open and empty of cash on her desk. Responding police officers are unable to locate the suspect vehicle or lift any fingerprints from the wallet...

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