Prolific shoplifter escapes, but doesn't get his prize
July 12, 4:32 p.m., 1400 Block of NW Market St -- A prolific shoplifter, who steals hundreds of dollars of liquor at a time, struck again at the Ballard Safeway.
After employees were told to be on the lookout for the suspect, the man himself made an appearance, loading numerous bottles of liquor adding up to $800 to his personal stroller. Then, without any intention of paying whatsoever, the suspect strolled past the cashiers.
Security stopped the suspect at the door and advised the suspect that he was being detained for shoplifting. When a security officer attempted to handcuff the suspect, he struggled to break free. He grabbed a knife from his pants pocket and tried to slash the face and throat of a security officer.
Concerned for their safety, they let the suspect go, but were able to recover all of the liquor. When the suspect ran off, he left his stroller at the scene. Police placed the stroller in evidence and did an area check for the suspect, but it came up negative.
Metro said they just dropped of a male matching the description of the suspect at NE 45th St and University Ave NE, but officers could not find the suspect there.
It only takes two hours to burglarize a house
July 12, 8:44 p.m., 100 Block of NW 56 St -- In a matter of two hours, a woman became victim to a burglary. When she returned home at around 8:40 p.m., she found that her front door was unlocked and that the cupboards were open in her kitchen. Walking through the rest of the house, she noticed that every room had been rummaged through, but she could not state what was missing. Officers could not locate fingerprints, but found that there were fresh pry marks on the front door from a crowbar.
"Get the f--- out of my house!"
July 13, 5:28 a.m., 7000 Block of Earl Ave NW -- While sleeping in his bedroom on the second floor, a man became the victim of a burglary.
He said that he heard footsteps on the main floor, around 11 p.m. at night. When he heard the footsteps climbing up the stairs, the victim made his best King Kong impression: He went to the top of the stairs, stomping his feet loudly, and shouted, "Get the fuck out of my house!"
Appropriately, the man then heard the footsteps gather away. He went downstairs to investigate and found nothing suspicious and decided he dreamed the event.
When he woke up the next morning, however, he found the window to the television room left standing open with obvious damage to the locking mechanism. Officers were only able to get very smudged fingerprints.
It wasn't until the victim was unable to produce an ID that he realized his wallet had been stolen.
Not my ceramic bowl!
8:31 a.m., 800 Block of NW 53rd St -- During an attempted burglary, a woman's ceramic bowl was broken, but other items -- including jewelry, antiques and money -- remained undisturbed in a woman's unsecured storage space. There is no suspect information at this time and officers were unable to find suitable undisturbed surfaces to print.
Police let possible burglars go
July 13, 1:21 p.m., 800 Block of Elford Dr -- A bumbling trio of people were unable to provide much information on what, exactly, they were doing when they were caught outside a house on Elford Dr, possibly attempting a burglary according to a neighbor.
A person at the scene kept asking what was going on. When the police officer activated his in-car camera and advised him he was being recorded, the man kept looking around, fidgeting and would not look at the officer when certain questions were asked. Safe to say, he was nervous.
He stated he was in the neighborhood and noticed the garage door on the house was open. So, he closed it.
His reasoning as to why he was at the house varied. Either it was because it was for sale, or because it was open, or because he was picking up a tool for his "kind of boss," who he would not identify. In any case, he said he decided to wait for police since he did nothing wrong.
While talking to the man, the police officer saw a woman that was with the man earlier. When asked, she said they were just going to "hang out" at the house. When she realized what they were doing, she walked away, she said. When asked what that meant, she replied, "going into the house."
The witness who called in the report said he noticed talking coming from his neighbor's house and a teal Honda parked in the driveway. He saw the two subjects, the man and the woman, come out of the open garage and close the garage door. The third, an unidentified man, went around the house and got into the car. The first man got into the car and they tried to pull out of the driveway, but the witness blocked them off with his truck and asked them what they were doing. The first man said he was looking for his "boss's" tool. The unidentified man fled while they were talking.
The house indeed had a for sale sign, officers found out. A screen was taken off one of the windows, but the window was closed and locked. The door was unlocked and open.
Officers said the subjects were free to go.
Elford Dr burglars strip house of valuables
July 13, 4:24 p.m., 800 Block of NW Elford Dr -- Right next door to the previous suspected burglary, where the suspects were let go, a man said that someone had gone through his house and stole a bountiful amount.
Stolen items included $40,000 worth of jewelry, $3,000 in U.S. currency, $2,000 worth of designer purses, an iPad, and a loaded .40 caliber Sig Sauer handgun, which he bought from a third party without registry or serial number.
The victim said he was unsure how the suspects gained access, but that one of the doors has a problem with the lock. Police were unable to find fingerprints.
The same officers had responded to the prior incident, where they let the suspects go. They say the two incidents are possibly related.
Who's that in my bathroom?
July 13, 1:57 p.m., 1500 Block of NW 64th St -- A woman was disturbed to find out someone else was in her house after her daughter and son-in-law left.
A few minutes after she saw them off, she heard someone flush the toilet on the main level of the house, while she was downstairs.
She called out, thinking it was somehow just her son-in-law. But when she heard someone running, she realized it might be someone else. She went upstairs, saw the kitchen door was open, and when she looked in the backyard, a black man wearing an orange t-shirt was jumping her fence and running westbound through the yards.
There was no further suspect description and nothing had been damaged or missing. The woman said she left the kitchen door unlocked because she was home.
Burglar steals Macbook Pro
July 14, 2:32 p.m., 7000 Block of Earl Ave NW -- A man said someone had climbed into an unsecured window on the east side of his house, went through the house and took his Macbook Pro laptop. Officers were unable to locate any fingerprints.
Burglar steals child's coins
July 14, 4:33 p.m., 7000 Block of Earl Ave NW -- Someone had entered an unsecured window on the south side of a woman's house and took her son's coins. Nothing else was stolen and nothing else suspicious was seen or heard. Officers were unable to locate any fingerprints.
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