From Seattle Police Department

A Ballard homeowner clubbed a burglar over the head with a piece of pottery and armed herself with a brass elephant early this morning after the burglar urinated in her basement, left beer in her washing machine and fought with her family inside their home.

Around 4 a.m., police received a call from the 59-year-old homeowner, who said the suspect had come through a back door or window of her home, and was in the midst of a struggle with a family friend inside the home, near 14th Avenue NW and NW 50th Street.

The family friend had confronted the suspect in the basement of the home, where he found him urinating in a corner. While in the basement, the suspect had also placed an open 18-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon inside a washing machine.

The family friend dragged the suspect up to the ground floor of the home, where the homeowner and her son pounced on the suspect.

As the suspect struggled with the family friend, the homeowner—who uses a walker—grabbed a piece of ceramic pottery off a table and clocked the burglar over the head. She then called police and told a 911 operator she had armed herself ”with a brass elephant,” and was holding the suspect at bay.

When officers arrived, they found the homeowner’s family standing over the bloodied suspect, who officers handcuffed and transported to the North Precinct.

Officers also pulled the suspect’s 18-pack of beer out of the family’s washing machine, and discovered only five unopened cans of beers remained inside the package. For those keeping score at home, those 13 missing cans equal about one-and-a-quarter gallons of beer.

At the precinct, the 21-year-old suspect told officers he mistakenly thought he’d walked into his own home. The suspect then complained that he’d injured his ankle during the incident, and was taken to Harborview for treatment.

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