By Tim Clifford

Tug of War
At a store on the 5200 block of California Ave SW on Jan. 12 in the middle of the day a homeless man walked into the liquor aisle and stuffed a bottle of liquor into his duffle bag and then grabbed another bottle and went to exit the store. This homeless suspect, described as a white male about of medium build in his 40’s with a “red weathered facial skin” and red puffy hands, was stopped by a clerk before he could leave.

The clerk grabbed the bottle the suspect was holding and tried stopping the suspect from leaving the store with the concealed bottle. The suspect began dropping his duffle bag over and over again on the floor to try and convince the clerk that there was no bottle in the bag. The suspect finally grabbed his bag and while leaving the store set off the alarms at the door.

The clerk came outside and grabbed the duffle bag to stop the suspect and recover the bottle of liquor. At this point the clerk and the suspect were engaged in a tug-of-war over the duffle bag with the suspect shoving and pushing the clerk. During this struggle the second bottle fell out of the bag and broke inspiring the suspect to run off northbound on SW Dawson St.

Once police arrived the clerk reported that he had no injuries and offered to provide police with a video from the surveillance camera at a later date. The suspect remains at large.

Dispute at knife point
At a business on S Myrtle St. on Jan. 7 two co-workers were involved in a dispute that ended with one holding a knife to the neck of the other. The victim was getting off his shift and waiting to punch his time card when the suspect approached him and began arguing with him. The suspect, a heavy set black male in his 40’s, was yelling at the victim about problems with another co-worker. The victim claims that he remained quiet for fear of what the suspect might do.

After punching his time card and changing the victim was exiting the building to meet his wife in the parking lot when he saw the suspect waiting by a white Mitsubishi with the trunk open. Once the suspect saw the victim he walked over with a double bladed knife and grabbed the victim by the back of his head and put the knife to his throat while promising to kill him.

Other workers leaving the business saw the scene and ran over and separated the suspect and victim, convincing the suspect to leave. When police arrived the victim told officers he had contacted his employer and been told that they would not do anything about this incident since it happened in the parking lot and not in the business. The victim almost decided against contacting authorities because of his employer’s response but was convinced to by his wife once she arrived. The suspect remains at large.

Crimes reported between Jan.9 and Jan.16

Burglaries by block: 1600 block of 45 Ave SW, 2200 block of California Ave SW, 2600 block of California Ave SW, 4000 block of 47 Ave SW, 3600 block of 23 Ave SW, 6000 block of California Ave SW, 7200 block of 2 Ave S, 8600 block of 20 Ave S, 9200 block of 21 Ave SW, 700 block of S Kenyon St, 3600 block of SW 102 St

Car prowls by block: 1900 block of 46 Ave SW, 4000 block of 34 Ave SW, 6300 block of 18 Ave SW, 7100 block of 29 Ave SW, 9300 block of 46 Ave SW, 9100 block of 45 Ave SW, 8800 block of 36 Ave SW, 8700 block of 14 Ave SW, 9600 block of 28 Ave SW, 400 block of S Henderson St,