It’s been a tough week for local merchants. Here are the latest reports from the mean streets of Capitol Hill.

• Broadway mugging: We’re still waiting on details of the incident but SPD records indicate officers responded to the 1800 block of Broadway just after midnight Monday to a report of a mugging. An ambulance was also called to the scene but we don’t yet have details of the crime or the victim’s injuries. UPDATE: SPD says the details on this one were murky but that an officer driving on Broadway found a man lying on the sidewalk who had fallen and hit his head. The man said he had been jumped but could offer no details of the incident or suspect descriptions. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.
• Bellevue Ave flamethrower-point robbery: Police were called to Bellevue Ave’s J’s Quick Stop late Tuesday night to a report of a rather amazing sounding armed robbery. According to the mini-mart’s cashier, a male entered the store Tuesday night around 11:30 and asked for a pack of cigarettes while attempting to partially cover up his face with a glove.

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The clerk told police he then asked the male for identification to make sure he was old enough to make the purchase. “I’m robbing you,” was the gloved male’s reply.

The cashier, apparently incredulous, told police he asked for the ID again. The cashier said the male then pulled out a black gun with an orange top and some sort of mesh at the end of the barrel. The cashier said the robber told him it was a flamethrower. The cashier then opened the till and handed over the cash as the suspect fled the store on foot. No physical description of the flamethrower-toting robber was provided in the report but an SPD search of the area did not turn up the suspect.

• Tip jar ripoff warning: Meanwhile, the crew at Menchie’s says to be on the lookout for this fellow. We’ve obscured his face but the management tells us this guy made short work of ripping off the store’s tip jar earlier this week:

I might have a story for you that I’d like to warn other businesses on Capitol Hill.  The short of it is we had a guy steal tips out of our hard working team members’ tip jar and we are afraid it might happen to others.  

I have pictures of the suspect (which unfortunately didn’t turn out so clear and are attached). Beyond the blurry pictures, suspect is 6 ft tall, black, doesn’t appear to be homeless, weighs approximately 200 lbs, facial hair, carries a laptop bag, wears a puffy jacket and baggy clothing, acts very kind, calls women ‘sweety’.

Story goes at approximately 2:50pm on Veterans Day, ‘friendly’ black male suspect entered Menchie’s Broadway E for approximately 2 minutes to get samples.  After assisting guest with one of the samples, suspect went to get a spoon next to the tip jar and quickly swiped money out of the tip jar while grabbing a spoon when one of our team member’s back was turned for a second to clean something.  

While petty and sad, our team member’s are mostly concerned that this may happen to other hardworking businesses in the area and would like to warn others.

• Tip jar burglary: A restaurant in the 200 block of Broadway E was broken into sometime in the night of Sunday, November 4th and all the thief came away with was the tip jar — and, apparently, a nasty cut:

Police are also investigating a similar break-in nearby in the 1800 block of E Olive Way that occurred early November 7th.