By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers, incidents of note that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block (whenever)?”:
*Beware of scammers and the “Pigeon Drop” scheme. If someone approaches you, claims to have inherited money in a foreign country, but needs your help in donating it to a good cause, just say no. On the 7th, a woman was approached at a Westwood Village coffee shop and before the day was done she had driven (with the suspects) to her bank and handed them $20,000 worth of cash and jewelry. Both suspects were described as black females, one with her hair in a “greasy” curly perm who carried a green satchel with three zippers. The other wore purple-framed glasses, a gray leather coat, lots of silver-colored rings and carried a black purse with a circle design.
*In the evening on Saturday the 9th, an alcohol and marijuana-impaired Montana resident was booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault after he yelled profanities at children in a High Point park. When an older child told him to leave them alone, he began yelling at her, screaming nonsense, claiming she was his girlfriend. As the children left the area, the suspect followed them until he was confronted by a parent. He punched the parent in the shoulder. In return, the parent punched him in the face, knocked him down, and called 911.
Six more summaries ahead:
*On Sunday afternoon, an officer performed a routine records check of a vehicle in the 9600 block of 16th Ave. SW. The owner’s driver’s license had been canceled due to fraud. He was also using an known alias and was a registered sex offender/kidnapper who lied about his current address and had not reported it as required by law. His passenger provided officers with a false name, likely because he was wanted on two felony warrants (escape and dangerous drugs) and one misdemeanor warrant for obstruction. The passenger was booked into King County Jail. The driver was released from the precinct.
*Late Thursday, the 7th, an impaired bus rider hit one passenger at least eight times and the driver three times. The suspect was booked into King County Jail for assault. No one else on the bus was willing to provide information to officers. It happened at Andover and Delridge.
*Around 1:30 on Tuesday the 12th, a man yelled “Police,” as he kicked in a lower door of a home in the 9200 block of Olson Pl. SW. Once inside he was confronted by a woman screaming in Spanish. He panicked and ran out the way he had come in. Another suspect was seen standing in the driveway. The first was described as a tall and slender East African man in his late twenties. He wore a black and white polka dot hoody and black pants. The second was described as an East African man in his late twenties, short, wearing a green and black checkered sweater.
*Early Wednesday, a Snoqualmie resident threatened a bartender, exited the Alaska Junction establishment, and laid himself down in the middle of California Avenue at SW Oregon. Both he and the bartender called 911, with the suspect telling operators that he wanted to be shot. Officers arrived, and instead of shooting, they walked the victim to the sidewalk. Admitting his paranoia, the 35-year-old also explained that he had recently smoked some meth, which, as the officer’s report stated, “undoubtedly made things worse.” He was taken to Harborview for a mental health exam.
*Officers were asked to check the welfare of a local gentleman — a self-proclaimed inventor — who feels he is regularly “ripped off” by other people stealing his ideas. He reassured officers that he wasn’t suicidal on this day, but also mentioned that his neighbors were sending microwave frequencies into his house and that an electrical chip was implanted in him during a recent out-of-state surgery. He was not considered to be a danger to himself or others, so officers let him be, reassured that he sees a doctor on a “regular basis.” Several hours later, the man called 911 to say that President Bush was using a satellite to shoot him with microwaves and that if he didn’t stop he was going to kill the former president. After checking with the Secret Service, officers had the victim transported to Harborview for a mental health exam.
*The Report of the Year award goes to a SW Precinct officer who documented last week’s “crow into a power transformer” incident. The writeup features both in-depth description of the tactical approach to the scene (“Officers used an SPD-approved ‘foot roll’ technique to gently inspect the victim”) and the cordoning off of the area “for evidence preservation and to prevent tampering by associates of the victim.” It also noted that the victim had an alias: “Corvus Brachyrhynchos.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Remember, the CRISIS LINE is a resource for those in crisis, including thoughts or acts of self-harm: 206.461.3222 … WSBeat roundups are archived here. 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 something happening = calling or texting 206-293-6302 is the best way.
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