Police Blotter 3/17/11

Well, it was inevitable that our local crime holiday would end. Unfortunately, criminal activity returned to normal levels in the neighborhood during the past month.  Where we had nothing to report in our last Police Blotter (2/16/11), we have plenty to report this time.

We’ll start with the five car prowls reported during the period: on 2/17 (the 2400 block of 42nd Ave. E.), on 2/22 (the 4000 block of E. Madison St.), on 2/24 (the 2000 block of 43rd Ave. E.), on 2/26, (the 1000 block of 34th Ave. E.), and on 3/5 (the 1100 block of 33rd). There was also a foiled attempt at a car prowl reported on the 800 block of McGilvra Blvd. E. on 2/23. In that case, the car owner heard the glass being smashed on the passenger window of his car, went out to investigate, and the perpetrator ran off.

There were also two thefts of “auto accessories” reported, one on the 1200 block of 41rd Ave. E on 3/10, and the other on the 3700 block of E. Blaine St. on 3/3.  In the latter incident, the BMW owner reported that just one tire had been removed from his vehicle sometime around 5:15 pm.  A bicycle, meanwhile, was reported stolen from the 4100 block of E. Blaine St. at about 9:00 am on 2/25.

There were a couple of misdemeanor arrests made in the neighborhood during the month.  One occurred on the 3200 block of E. Madison St. during the afternoon of 2/25.  The arrest followed an incident in which a homeowner discovered two men standing in his open garage on the alley behind his house.  Although they ran off, the suspects were later found by the police and questioned.  The one  with an outstanding warrant was arrested and the other suspect released.

The second arrest, on the 1800 block of McGilvra Blvd. E. on 2/28, was of a Madison Park resident who learned the hard way that losing her cool was not the best solution to the situation she (literally) ran into. The incident began when the woman tried to drive her car up an alley, discovering it was blocked by a truck that had deployed stabilizing jacks. According to the police report, the woman began honking her horn and screaming at the workers, who were installing an automated gate at a residence.  As the altercation escalated it caught the attention of a neighbor, who called the police. When the workers suggested that the woman back her car up and go around the other way, the driver reportedly accelerated her car in the direction of the workers before slamming on her breaks, causing some property damage.   She later drove off, but the workers wrote down her license plate number and the police confronted the driver at her residence. After she was interviewed she was arrested for harassment, reckless endangerment, property destruction, and reckless driving.   She was taken to the East Precinct Station, where she was booked and later released.  The police report has been forwarded to the City Attorney’s office for possible prosecution.   The incident occurred at about 5:08 in the evening, so it may well have been collateral fallout from a bad day at the office.

Several burglaries were also reported during the last month.  One occurred sometime during the night of 2/16 on the 2100 block of 38th Ave. E.  In that incident, forced entry occurred through the back door of the residence, the suspect(s) using a blunt object to shatter the door window and then reaching inside to unlock and open the door. While in the residence the perpetrator(s) stole a laptop from a kitchen counter and jewelry from the master bedroom closet, including a one carat diamond ring and platinum wedding band.  Latent finger prints were found, but the police report ends on this interesting note: “Due to the cost amount of the stolen items taken from the listed residence [estimated at $11,500], SPD detectives were contacted, but declined to respond.”

Another burglary occurred on 3/12 in an apartment building on the 1800 block of 43rd Ave. E.  In that incident a woman reported that she had been having dinner at a restaurant in Belltown when her purse was stolen containing the keys to her car and apartment.  She later discovered that her car had been stolen from the parking lot, so she decided to stay the night at her mother’s home.  Upon returning to her apartment the following day she noticed that her laptop was also missing.  She told police that the computer was not password protected an contained some important financial information that could be used fraudulently.

Finally, there was also a break-in at an unoccupied commercial building on the 3100 block of E. Madison St. on 3/7.  The police report states that the building owner noticed that the rear glass door had been shattered sometime during the night and entry may have been made, though nothing of value was in the store.

[Key to crime-map symbols: starbursts represent burglaries, solid cars represent car thefts, un-solid cars represent car prowls, spray-paint cans represent property damage, upraised hands represent shoplifting, dollar bills represent thefts, handcuffs represent arrests under warrants, guns represent weapons involved, red exclamation points represent cases of harassment, and gray cars represent traffic incidents. This map covers the period from February 16 through March 16.]