By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog

From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:

*After several trips to the area of 30th and Andover, officers were finally able to speak with three men –- very intoxicated men — who were partying and disturbing the neighbors with fireworks. The yard smelled of recently exploded materiel and the nearby area was covered in spent bottle rockets, mortars and a roman candle. The house was littered with beer cans, 400 bottle rockets, and 12-gauge shotgun shells. (The group hadn’t been shooting the shotgun but had been racking and unloading it.) One of the men was very apologetic at having disturbed the neighbors (he had no idea it was 3 AM) and all received a stern warning about handling a firearm while intoxicated. The three were told to go to bed, clean up the neighborhood in the morning, and stop by the precinct when they were sober to pick up the shotgun, which was temporarily confiscated.

*Early Thursday, officers were called to Morgan Junction to investigate why a woman was sitting in her parked car, screaming. She refused to exit or unlock the vehicle, and according to the officer’s report, “her mood swings were near hysterical … calm, then crying, then laughing, then angry in a matter of seconds.” She finally rolled the the window down a crack, and as the smell of intoxicants wafted out, she rooted through an assortment of bags in the vehicle. When she still refused to come out, an officer managed to reach through the cracked window and unlock the door. But he wasn’t quick enough: The “completely irrational” woman bit the sergeant’s gloved hand, clear through to (and breaking) the skin. She was finally handcuffed and transported to Harborview for an evaluation.

Another human-bite case, same area, along with 12 other summaries, after the jump:

*Early Sunday, a Morgan Junction resident was transported to Harborview for treatment of severe lacerations after his partner first hit him repeatedly in the face and then bit the victim’s fingers during an argument. Medics said that though the wounds didn’t need stitches, they were concerned about the possibility of severe infection. The suspect remains at large.

*Overnight Friday to Saturday, unknown persons traveled northbound on California SW from the 7400 block, smashing car windshields and breaking side mirrors as they went. The damage spread for at least six blocks, and one resident reports losses exceeding $3,000.

*Sneak attack at the Alaska Junction: A photographer for a local TV station was near his van, with his back to the sidewalk, when a man came up from behind and reached between his legs. The victim swung around. The attacker tried to back away but was so intoxicated that he fell on the sidewalk, got up, fell again, and hit his head. When officers arrived, the suspect was lying in the doorway of a business, being treated by medics for a broken ankle. He was unable to answer questions, was unaware that his ankle was broken, and laughed when told that a police report would be filed. He was transported to Harborview for further medical treatment.

*Just after midnight on Saturday in North Admiral, a woman was awakened by the sound of a window breaking. She didn’t hear a vehicle drive off or people run away. But she did find a piece of metal that had shattered a window before landing on the kitchen table.

*He insisted to police that he gets along great with his neighbors, so an Admiral-area resident is befuddled as to why someone would leave a threatening note on his car, deflate the tires, and place a light bulb in the driveway where he was likely to drive over it.

*On Saturday afternoon, a newspaper vendor (who did not have a legitimate salesperson’s badge) was trespassed from a Junction grocery store after customer complaints. He was then arrested for harassment of the store manager after threatening him — in front of officers — with physical harm.

*Late Saturday, near California and Hinds, an officer pulled over a car for having a heavily damaged windshield. The driver’s license was suspended and he didn’t have the required car interlock device on his ignition (which prevents an intoxicated driver from starting the car). Plus, in plain sight on the front seat was a bag of meth. The car was impounded and the 46-year-old West Seattle man was booked into King County Jail.

*Officers suspect that two men planned to rob a Delridge tavern early Sunday by using a ruse to get inside after closing time. The ruse involved a man banging at the back window, claiming he was hungry and that a man was trying to rape him. One employee went out to see what the man wanted, but a second employee shut and locked the tavern door. Not only that, but the employee who went outside called 911 in order to assist the supposed “victim” — which really put the kibosh on the plan. A second suspect came along and actually poked the helpful employee with a large knife before the two suspects ran off down 16th and west on Cambridge.

*An argument over baptizing the children turned physical in Admiral on Saturday evening, with the husband allegedly punching his wife multiple times in the head and throwing her into a wall in front of the children. The suspect told officers, “I snapped,” and “I grabbed her.” He was booked into King County Jail for investigation of domestic-violence assault. (No information on the victim’s condition.)

*“Bup! Bup! Bup! Bup!” These sounds, simulating gunshots, were made by a Kent resident who was unhappy with an officer who had impounded his car. The car, which had been abandoned, was blocking a High Point-area intersection on Friday afternoon. After first harassing the tow-truck driver, the 22-year-old yelled threats to the officer and refused to keep his hands visible. He was handcuffed and transported to the precinct. Later released, he made the gunshot sounds after telling the officer, “Don’t worry. God will take care of this.” Records showed the man was arrested in Minnesota in 2009 for 1st-degree assault/great bodily harm – one of four states in which he has lived in the past three years.

*Late Wednesday, a woman collapsed in front of a patrol car in South Park, claiming she had been raped. A clerk from a nearby grocery followed her, saying she had just run out of his store making the same claim and asking to use the phone. She wore only a sweatshirt and boxer shorts (no shoes, coat or pants) in the 30-degree weather. The officer noticed no visible injuries. The victim grabbed, twisted, and broke the eyeglasses of one officer who was trying to assist and repeatedly kicked a patrol car window until it shattered. “She paused to remove her sweatshirt and bra before continuing her efforts to escape the car,” the report states. The woman ultimately reached through the broken window to try to use the door handle from the outside. She was handcuffed and transported to Harborview for treatment of scratches to her feet obtained during the car melee. The full story is unclear, but at one point she did explain that the store clerk only agreed to help her after she claimed she’d been raped. A social worker was scheduled to talk with her to ascertain exactly what had happened.

*Investigating a report of ten people fighting in the street near 60th and Admiral early Sunday, officers found a victim sitting in a minivan, bleeding from the head and mouth. He refused to cooperate, but concerned about the injuries, officers called medics. A woman inside a nearby house had been punched several times in the stomach but refused to cooperate. The report states, “Even the person in charge did not want anything documented with her name on it.”

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Now that this roundup has a name, it has an archive category of its own, though we’ll still link the weekly reports on the WSB Crime Watch page, so you can catch it there if you miss it in the main news stream. We also continue to publish crime reports the rest of the week, when we get tips or hear noteworthy incidents via the scanner, so don’t be shy about letting us know when you see/hear news.