Post navigation

Prev: (07/29/09) | Next: (07/30/09)

Blotter: foiled purse snatch, sandwich + sushi thief and case of the disappearing roomie

The following are based on incident reports from the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct. They represent the officers accounts of the events described. As David Letterman says, no wagering.

On the morning of July 26, officers responded to an apartment along the 100 block  of Harvard Avenue East after a man reported that his car was being stolen at that very moment. He described a male suspect in his 40s; when officers arrived they had little problem locating him. Officers asked the man if the car in question was his and he said it was not; they asked him if he knew the owner and he said he did not. The man was arrested without incident. But prior to his being booked at King County Jail the suspect developed a medical problem. An ambulance was called and the suspect taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. Officers requested that car prowl charges be filed upon his release.

July 25, 10 p.m., corner of Broadway and East Denny Way: A man in his 20s grabbed a woman’s purse as she was walking on the street and immediately fled. The man didn’t touch the woman during the purse snatching. He was pursued by two witnesses south on Nagle Place and then north on Broadway. As the suspect scaled a fence he dropped the purse. The woman was able to recover it, and no items were missing. The man was last seen running through the Bonnie Watson parking lot and into Cal Anderson Park.


At 4:06 a.m. on July 25, officers on patrol were flagged down by the QFC store at the 400 block of Broadway East. They heard two men screaming in front of the store, turned and saw a store employee grab a bag from a male suspect, observed beer and several other items, later determined to be a sandwich and sushi, fall to the ground. They were told that the suspect, a man in his late teens, had taken the items from the store without paying for them. The man told officers he took the items because he was hungry and hadn’t eaten in one-and-a-half days. He saw a delicious sandwich in the deli section and took it. The suspect told officers that he hadn’t taken the sushi – an unknown girl put the sushi in his bag. The man was arrested and booked into King County Jail. The items were returned to the store unharmed.

On July 24, a woman who lives in an apartment at the 600 block of East Mercer Street reported that a shoebox where she kept money was missing. She told officers that a week before a pipe in the building had burst, and since then the apartment manager has had workers on the site performing repairs. She wondered if there might be a connection. There are no suspects.

At 6:30 p.m. on July 24, a man called 911 from his Boylston Avenue East residence to report that he had arrived home two days previously and discovered that almost all of his roommates belongings were gone. The man went into his home office and discovered that all of his papers had been gone through. He next discovered that bank and IRS statements were missing. There was no damage to the house, and his roommate was the only other person who would have had access to the statements. The man called his roommate’s mother to ask what should be done with the few items the roommate left behind. She said do with them what you will and apologized. Officers left the man with a case number and a victim follow-up form.

Also on July 24: Just before 9 p.m. officers responded to Broadway’s Everyday Music after being informed that a man inside refused to leave the store. Upon arrival they approached a man in his 40s who was arguing loudly with a store employee. He appeared to be greatly intoxicated and mumbled a few vague expletives at the officers as he leaned on the counter. Officers told him he’d be arrested for trespassing if he didn’t leave. He didn’t, and they did. He was charged with trespassing as well as obstructing an officer and was later booked into King County Jail.

Subscribe and support CHS Contributors -- $1/$5/$10 per month

Comments are closed.