Seattle Press on Line

Hash

By Sara Longley

Jun 13, 2001 -- A woman tries to catch a taxicab home from a popular downtown night spot on a Sunday morning at 3:15 a.m. A stranger, not a taxi, pulls over and offers her a ride. He identifies himself as a Seattle firefighter, and she decides on this basis to trust him. He drives her to her home in a North Seattle neighborhood, and they sit in the living room talking for a while. She begins to feel tired and tells him it is time for him to leave. He refuses and becomes angry. He says, "What are you going to pay me to leave?" and "What are you going to pay me for taking you home?" The woman is fearful of him and is afraid he may rape her, so she takes some money, about $20, out of her pocket and gives it to him. He still does not leave. She attempts to go out the front door, but he follows her and slams it shut before she can escape. She then runs to her downstairs telephone to call 911, but he hangs up the receiver. She again runs to the door but he is too fast and again prevents her leaving. Finally she runs upstairs to her bedroom and locks her door. She hears the front door slam behind him, comes out and locks the front door, opening it only when police arrive. She is very emotional and afraid for her life. A K-9 unit is called and checks around her house, but the suspect is gone. She can provide only a very general description of a handsome, muscular man in a black car, perhaps a BMW. He drank a soda while they visited, however, and police take the can to be fingerprinted...

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A music store on University Way is victim to an attempted shoplifting on a Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The store's security officer watches the whole thing on he security camera: a young man selects a CD and carries it around the store for a while. He eventually takes it to the listening area and slips it into his jacket pocket, then leaves the store without paying. He is apprehended outside and turns out to be only 16 years old. His mother is called to come get him...

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Police respond to a call of "shots fired" at a Crown Hill elementary school on a Saturday at 9 p.m. Upon arrival there, they find not a gun-toting criminal marksman but a car containing five young, drunk people. Officers are very cautious, having the youths exit the car one at a time and patting them down carefully. A marijuana pipe is recovered, as are two empty fifth bottles of liquor and half a fifth of Bacardi Rum. The group ranges in age from 15 to 17 except one man who is 21. All the suspects admit to drinking. The adult suspect says that the liquor is his and asks if he can have it back. The officers charge him with contributing to the delinquency of the minors instead. The other suspects are charged with being minors in possession of alcohol. The car turns out to be the property of the very drunk 16-year-old's parents. All the parents of the youths are contacted to come and pick up their children. When asked about the shots that were reported, the drinkers say they heard no shots, but that someone threw a rock which hit their car...

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An employee of a fast-food restaurant on Aurora Avenue N calls police to report a man trying to pass counterfeit bills at 1 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The man came through the drive-through and ordered a milk shake. While it was being prepared, he asked for change for a $20 bill, which was given to him. He then attempted to pay with a second $20 bill, but the clerk looked more closely and discovered the fraud. While the employee called police the suspect fled, leaving his milk shake. The employee tells police that the surveillance camera will show the car's license plate number, but that the night crew cannot access the tape. A follow-up will be performed after the day manager turns the tape in to police for evidence...

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An all-night restaurant on University Way is robbed on a Saturday at 3:04 a.m. The suspect, a heavy-set man in his 20s accompanied by several friends, opens the dessert display case and removes an apple pie, priced at $8. He and his friends depart the restaurant without paying for the pie...

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A man arrives at an Aurora Avenue N auto service business to pick up his car at 4 p.m. on a Tuesday. The charge for the service is several hundred dollars, and he presents a credit card for payment. The card is declined, so the clerk asks him to pay with another form of currency. The man produces several hundred dollars in cash. The clerk leaves the counter to fetch change for the man, leaving the car keys and the cash on the counter. When he returns, the money is gone and the suspect is driving away northbound on Aurora. The clerk calls the phone number the suspect provided for contact, but the man's roommate tells the clerk that the man has just robbed him also, stealing "all his stuff" and disappearing...

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A woman shops in the bulk food section of a University District grocery store on a Friday at 4:20 p.m. She uses the store's coffee grinder to grind her coffee, and while her back is turned someone takes her purse from on top of a nearby food bin...

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