Community Post

Crime Report Roundup

I finally found some time to crawl through our latest batch of police reports.  Here’s the most interesting tidbits:

Shots Fired: Anne emailed us about hearing gunshots on Monday night at 7:30pm, in the area around 22nd and Union. I went back to the scanner recordings and found that multiple people called 911 and reported hearing at least 3 shots fired between 21st & 22nd on Union.  One caller also reported hearing yelling from some males on the street.   Police responded but there were no further reports of victims, damage, or additional evidence of the event. 

Not a burglary: Back on 11/25 we had a scanner entry of a possible bicycle-riding burglar on Capitol Hill.  The last we heard on the radio was that he was being held at gunpoint by police.  We found the report from the incident and it turns out that he wasn’t a burglar at all.  Multiple neighbors vouched for him as a hardworking gardener who arrived at the house to do his work.

Domestic Violence:  On 11/27 at 5:23am, police responded to a report of screams and the sound of breaking glass at an apartment in the 400 block of 21st. As they arrived they found a female sitting on the steps outside, bleeding from the mouth and “sobbing uncontrollably.”   She told officers her that her boyfriend was “in the apartment destroying shit!” He was found laying on the couch inside with belted rounds of machine-gun ammunition on the floor beside him. The boyfriend was arrested for D/V Assault and Property Damage.  The victim refused to cooperate further with police.

Transients Doing Burglaries in Leschi: A construction crew working on a remodel in the 1300 block of 35th S arrived at the property on the morning of 11/25 to find evidence of a burglary.  The basement was described as having been “ransacked”, and the suspects had helped themselves to a drink and a shower.  They also made off with a large amount of “top-shelf liquor” and some of the homeowner’s clothing. The construction workers suspected transients might have been involved, and located an orange tent in a transient camp in the wooded area west of Day St. Park. A duffle bag with the victim’s name tag and full of the victim’s clothing was recovered from the area outside the tent.  Officers initially found the tent to be occupied only by a large pit bull.  However, they returned the next day and found one male and one female sleeping inside the tent. Although the suspects denied involvement in the burglary, officers did a name search and found that there was a no-contact between them, and the 43 year old male was taken into custody for violation of that order.

Night Prowler: Residents of an apartment in the 900 block of 14th awoke on 11/26 to find their bags were missing. It appears a burglar had used a recycling cart to gain entry via the home’s kitchen window. He then grabbed the bags and left via the front door.  The bags contained a work laptop and two “Dr Beat” music machines.

Untrustworthy Craigslist Prostitutes:  A Leschi man in his 50s had a bad experience with his Craigslist hookup. It’s worth reprinting in its entirety as written by Officer J.R.S.:

On 11-22-08 at approximately 1924 hours, [the victim] called police to report two unknown females he met on the internet had stole [sic] his wallet and were calling asking for money or they would use his credit card.  I arrived on scene and contacted [the victim].  [The victim] said early today he found a listing on Craigslist for a female selling herself.  [The victim] said he contacted the female and she agreed to come over to his house.  The female arrived over an hour late with another female and by that time, [the victim] had lost his interest in the female.  [The victim] said he did give the females $20 for there [sic] time and let them use his bathroom.

Several minutes after the females left, they called [the victim and] said they had stolen his wallet, and threatened to sell his credit cards if he did not give them money.  [The victim] canceled his credit cards and called police.

While [the victim] was being questioned about this incident, he asked officers what the chance was of locating the females from their cell phone number because that would decided [sic] whether or not he wanted to file a report. I told [the victim] I was unsure and told him if he did file a report, he could face charges for soliciting a prostitute.  [The victim] said he did not care.  The only description [the victim] could give about the two females was:

1) W/F/23-25 5’06” Blonde Heavy

2) B/F/23-25 5’05”

They called him from the number (253)[redacted]. [The victim] said the female he made the initial deal with, female #1, did not look like her picture on her ad.

0 thoughts on “Crime Report Roundup

  1. I heard those too….. sounded like 3 shots to me a little south of where I live. My husband came home just a bit later (he bicycle commutes up from that direction), but he said he didn’t hear or see anything unusual.

  2. I was at the bus stop at 23rd & Union waiting for the #2 when the shots were fired and saw the shooter running. It was too dark to get much of a description, though. I usually walk home on Union and for some reason decided to stop and take the bus the rest of the way, thank god.