By Cassandra Baker, Intern
4:47 a.m. on May 7th. 15th block of NW 56th St
A Seattle Police officer stopped a burglary at a construction site early on the morning of May 7th. The officer was patrolling the Ballard area when he observed a blue van backing toward a gated construction site. As the officer drove by, the van pulled out of the driveway and sped away. The officer ran the license plate and went to check the gate. It was still locked, but it had been bent enough to allow a person to enter the construction area. The officer then received information on the van’s license plate; the van had been used in a commercial burglary in February. The officer did an area check but did not locate the vehicle.
Later that morning, the officer returned to the construction site to speak with the crews. The site manager found another break in the fence around the area. Four bundles of thick copper wire had been pushed through the gap in the fence. The officer believed that the burglars had been scared away when he was patrolling the area. The value of the recovered property was $1500. Nothing else appeared to have been disturbed.
10:00 p.m. on May 6th. 87th block of Holman Rd NW
A business owner called police on the morning of May 7th to report that his business had been burglarized overnight. He arrived at his business to find the front door unlocked and the cash drawer missing, along with additional cash. The complainant said that the employee who had closed up the business the previous night at 10:00 may have left the door unlocked and closed the cash drawer, which was supposed to be left open. The employee told police that she had locked the door and left the cash drawer open. The suspect also touched a DVD, and the responding officer lifted fingerprints from it. Fingerprints were also found on the inside of the front door. Nothing else appeared to be disturbed or missing.
12:28 p.m. on May 6th. 54th block of Ballard Ave NW
Police responded to reports of an attempted burglary at a Ballard bar on the morning of May 6th. The last employee had left at 3:00 that morning, and at around 9:00 that morning the complainant received a call from an employee, who said that the front door of the bar had been damaged. There were pry marks on the door and it had been splintered, but because the bar had recently installed a reinforced door, the suspects were unable to gain entry. The complainant believed the burglary attempt had occurred between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. There were no witnesses. This was the second attempted burglary at the bar in the past few months.
9:44 a.m. on May 6th. 14th block of NW 85th St
Police responded to reports of a smashed window at a restaurant on the morning of May 6th. The glass pane on the front door had a hole big enough to allow a person to enter the premises. The officer was unable to contact the owner or manager of the restaurant. The officer was later contacted by an unidentified individual who said that she had seen a cash register on the 80th block of 15th Ave NW. The officer located the cash register, which had receipts on top. No fingerprints were found on the cash register, and it was submitted into evidence.
9:00 a.m. on May 6th. 11th block of NW 53rd St
A building undergoing remodeling was burglarized between 3:30 p.m. on May 5th and 7:00 a.m. on May 6th. The suspect gained entry by breaking a basement window and exited though a door, leaving it unlocked. Nothing appeared to be missing, although the broken window was newly installed. No fingerprints were found at the scene.
