By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog

From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:

*Monday afternoon, officers were alerted to an auto theft in progress on Pigeon Point. The thief managed to drive off at high speed northbound on 18th SW. Moments later, a citizen called 911 to report that a pickup truck had crashed through his fence in the 4800 block of 18th and that the driver had fled into a neighboring ravine. Officers were able to recover some items of clothing, as well as several tools typically used by car thieves, but they didn’t find the thief. (The K-9 trail went cold at the 4800 block of Puget Way SW.) The crashed pickup truck, registered in Wyoming, was a stolen vehicle that had been reported to Seattle Police.

*One effect of recent rains proved tempting to a man in his twenties in the area of Fauntleroy and SW Concord. He has been seen loitering, hiding in bushes, and rocking signposts in the rain-softened ground, causing them to break and tilt at angles. Description: He is white, and on Saturday, he was seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, had a bandana covering his lower face, and rode a razor-type scooter.

Five more summaries ahead:

*After transporting a Delridge woman to Harborview for a back problem, ambulance drivers requested that officers check the welfare of other residents of the home, where they had encountered feces on the floor, multitudes of cigarette butts, and general filth. A pregnant 15-year-old brought officers in through the garage. (The front door was impassable, having been blocked with furniture in order to keep it closed.) Extension cords snaked across dirty carpets and a mattress in the living room was next to an electric grill. Food-covered dishes crowded the counters and a microwave oven was covered in food refuse. The teen, who is due to give birth next month, said that the home had recently been bombed for fleas and assured officers that they planned to clean up soon. Child Protective Services has been notified.

*Officers thought it odd that the driver parked his car at Westwood Village and left the window open to the snowy night air. Then a customer came out from the QFC and asked the officers if they were looking for someone, because “a man inside appeared to be hiding.” When he climbed back into the car, officers conducted a suspicious vehicle stop. The man was shaking … maybe because of the snow, but more likely because he was wanted on a $10,000 misdemeanor warrant. He was booked into King County Jail.

*Monday evening in the Alki area, a 73-year-old man in a wheelchair got into an argument with his 60-year-old girlfriend. Both were intoxicated, and when she protested his “tone and language,” he hit her in the face, banged on a wall with his cane, and then used its hook end to pull the victim by her neck. When he realized she was calling police, he told her to hang up and not report the incident. Officers arrested the man and booked him into King County Jail for investigation of non-aggravated domestic violence assault and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence.

And two cases of police intervening to get potentially life-saving help for people threatening suicide:

*Sunday night, officers were called to the 9200 block of 2nd SW to deal with a man who had doused himself with gasoline. The 41-year-old said that he had planned to light himself on fire but that he had forgotten his matches (just as predicted by “the killer bees,” who believe he won’t be able to go through with hurting himself). The man was cooperative as ambulance workers transported him to Harborview for a mental evaluation.

*Told that the pharmacy could not refill her prescription, a woman warned the pharmacist over the phone Monday afternoon, “I have a gun to my head and I’m going to kill myself.” Officers arrived at her residence and ended up sending her to Harborview for an evaluation. (The report noted that she has a history of making threats to harm herself.)

==============
24-hour suicide-prevention hotline: Crisis Clinic, 206.461.3222

WSB Editor’s Note: The WSBeat has an archive category of its own, though we’re still linking 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. Thanks!