First, for those who wondered about the activity at Westwood Village tonight: One witness tells us it appeared someone had been hit and badly hurt, but we don’t have any official info so far. (SUNDAY UPDATE: We do have info now; see the comments.) Now, before we get to some additional Southwest Precinct reports from the past few days, a little more about the two arrest situations very early this morning in east Admiral. First, the catalytic-converter theft: One of the victims who spotted the suspect cutting a converter out from under their truck e-mailed WSB to say:

What they are after are catalytic converters, which for our truck costs $700. If you have trucks that are high enough off the ground for easy access, these guys are cutting and grabbing.

Further, we have learned through speaking to the police and our auto repair shop that this is a widespread problem across Seattle and it’s typically Meth drug addicts trying to making quick money. Based on the cuts they made under (our) truck these guys were amateurs but they are BRAZEN and their lack of experience did not stop them from obtaining a pickup load of catalytic converters that (we) and one of the policemen found. Please alert your neighbors and be aware of suspicious behavior!

Police tell WSB the converters are sold as parts, not for scrap metal as you might suspect. The other case in the area, involving a woman arrested for allegedly stealing a newspaper carrier’s car and crashing it into parked cars nearby, has one side note: According to the report, the 24-year-old woman caught in the stolen car told officers “she only took the car because she was afraid of going back to jail and she wanted to get away from all the cops in the area. (She) stated, ‘I just got out of jail for a VUCSA and I don’t want to go back’.” (VUCSA means drug crime.) She then admitted she had three rocks of cocaine on her. (Jail records indeed show she was in jail Tuesday night through Wednesday night; following this morning’s arrest, she’s still there now.” More police reports ahead:

MORE DRIVING WITH DRUGS: In the 6400 block of California, just before 1:30 am Thursday, police pulled over a car with three people inside. The 35-year-old man who was driving turned out to have two warrants out for his arrest; officers also found rock cocaine, marijuana, and paraphernalia in the car.

BB THROUGH WINDOW: Just after 9 pm Thursday, a man sitting in his apartment in the 6900 block of Delridge saw something come through the window. Turned out to be a BB pellet. Nobody was hit or hurt.

BRIDGE RAGE? A white Mustang came up behind a man driving off the West Seattle Bridge toward 35th, then cut in front of him. He flashed his brights. The car suddenly slowed till it could get behind his car, then followed him as he turned from Fauntleroy onto Genesee. He pulled over to let it pass; the Mustang rear-ended his car, and a woman got out of the passenger side, coming up to the victim’s car and reaching through a window to punch him in the face. As a man started to get out of the driver’s side of the Mustang, the victim fled. Police caught up with the two suspects in The Junction; they claimed the victim had cut them off and they had only been following him to try to get his license-plate number.

PEDESTRIAN RAGE? A 16-year-old boy was crossing Erskine Way in the 4800 block with a friend at 6:10 pm Wednesday when someone yelled at them from a passing car, telling them to get out of the road, and using profanities to insult them. The teenagers yelled back; then, they say, the driver tried to run them down. After that, they say he got out of his car and punched the 16-year-old in the nose; the boy said, “You can’t do that, I’m 16.” The suspect got back in the car and took off. The car is described only as bluish-gray; the suspect is described as a white man, about 35, 5-10, 170 pounds, blondish-brown hair, wearing a white/yellow/brown zip-up jacket.

MYSTERIOUS DISCOVERY: Police were called on Thursday morning around 8 am to check out a safe door, combination lock and all, found at Bar-S Playfield on Alki Point. Officers are trying to see if it matches to any recent burglaries.

As we always remind you – don’t hesitate to call police when you see or hear something suspicious, and of course when you believe a crime has been (or is being) committed. In addition to 911, there’s a non-emergency line at 206/625-5011. A big collection of Seattle Police crime-prevention resources is linked from the Southwest Precinct’s Crime Prevention page. And previous WSB police-report coverage is archived on our Crime Watch page.