By Tim Clifford

Getting lifted
Officers were called to a store on the 2600 block of S.W. Barton St. for shoplifting and an assault just before 9 p.m. on May 2. When the officers arrived they were contacted by 2 loss prevention officers who told them that this suspect had been observed shoplifting in this store in the past. The suspect was described as a light skinned black male with a do-rag and green striped shirt and sporting a goatee with long side burns.
According to the loss prevention officers the suspect was monitored with the in store camera as he was handed merchandise by 3 other men, who would remove the scanner tags, and then put the items in his pants. The loss prevention officers decided to wait outside the store to confront the suspect once he was outside. When they confronted the suspect he denied stealing anything and then proceeded to throw a stolen pair of sweatpants on the ground in front of the officers. At this point the suspect threw an elbow at one of the officers while rushing past him and ran away.

A few hours after gathering the video surveillance and the accounts from the loss prevention a police patrol unit spotted the suspect leaning against a light pole a few blocks from the store. Tags from the stolen merchandise were showing from his waistband and over his shoes from the bottoms of his pants.

The suspect attempted to walk away from the patrol unit but they managed to arrest him in a nearby parking lot.

While the officers were frisking the suspect and putting all of his belongings on the hood of their patrol car one officer pulled out a plastic bag from his pants with an unknown substance in it. As soon as he set it on the hood of the car the suspect leaned forward and ate the bag before the officers could stop him. Since it was unknown what was in the bag or what amount of the unknown substance had been ingested the suspect was denied booking at the King County Jail and taken to Harbor View for monitoring. The suspect was released from the hospital a few hours later and advised by hospital staff that he should turn himself at a later time before he left.

Stealing cigarettes
On Apr.30 around 7:20 p.m. an employee at a store on the 2600 block of California Ave. S.W. was taking a smoke break when she was assaulted and robbed of her cigarettes. According to the victim a black male in a stocking cap who was clearly a young teenager approached her and asked her for one of her cigarettes. The victim told the teen “no” on the grounds that he was a minor, at which point the teen “cussed her out” and then walked across the street.

A few minutes later another black teenage male came up to her and asked for a cigarette as well. The victim again said “no” since she could clearly see that this was another minor. The teen began yelling profanities at the victim to which she responded by trying to ignore the irate teen and turned her back to him. The teen then gave the victim a hard shove to the back and grabbed her pack of cigarettes before running away.

When she recovered and turned around she could see that the suspect had run across the street to the first teen who had talked to her and they both took off through a nearby park. The victim told police that she saw these two run off with an Asian male and Hispanic male as well; all four of these teens are known to shoplift from the store where the victim works. The victim was advised to call Seattle police if she spots any of these suspects in the store where she works again.

Crimes reported between May 1 and May 8

Burglaries by block: 2300 block of 45 Ave. S.W., 1400 block of S.W. Roxbury St.

Car thefts by block: 1000 block of Harbor Ave. S.W., 5600 block of 40 Ave. S.W., 6000 block of 48 Ave. S.W., 800 block of S. Cloverdale St., 800 block of S. Donovan St., 9400 block of 17 Ave. S.W., 9400 block of 16 Ave. S.W.