By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog

This edition of our periodic feature The WSBeat contains summaries written from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers – generally cases 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?” Or on the bridge, or the beach, or …

*Citizens reported finding four old laptop computers hidden in some bushes at Alki Beach Park.

*Around noon on the 15th, someone called 911 to report a “man down” at 29th and Trenton. The man was able to mumble his name to officers, which allowed them to run a records check. He was wanted on a no-bail escape warrant from the Department of Corrections and was booked into King County Jail.

*On the evening of the 12th, while walking her dog in Hiawatha Playfield, a woman saw a large group of teenagers, with one making a small fire in the grass with some papers. She yelled, and they all ran. The Fire Department doused the area with water. The teens might like to know that one of the papers that didn’t burn — which appeared to be a report card — clearly displayed someone’s name.

Three more summaries ahead:

*Early on the 17th, three men approached a fourth in the 2100 block of Harbor Ave. SW and asked if he had any marijuana. When the victim reached into his car to get some, the men began punching him–until they saw that he had reached for a baseball bat. The suspects were described only as “Hispanic or Native American,” aged 18 to 21, two wearing all dark clothing, one in a white T-shirt and dark pants.

About ten minutes later, three men (matching the above description) approached a fourth near the Alki Bathhouse and asked if he had marijuana. This man said, “no,” but was attacked just the same. (His wallet is also missing.) He was transported to Harborview for treatment of facial, knee, and elbow injuries.

A report in precinct files has more details on what preceded and followed an incident we covered as breaking news on June 12th:

*“Mmmm. It smells good in here.” So said two youngsters whose mom was loading them into the car on the morning of the 12th. Mom then caught a whiff of unfamiliar cologne and realized the car (parked in the 1600 block of SW Sunset) had been ransacked.. Two women jogging by pointed to a young man on the street and said he had been in the car. Mom called 911 and began following and yelling at the suspect (until she was told to stop by a dispatcher). Two men working nearby took up the pursuit and brought the suspect to the ground. (One of the samaritans ended up with a severe bite mark on his face, courtesy of the suspect.) When officers arrived, they searched the suspect and found three watches, a wallet with credit cards, $632, and a burlap sack and pockets full of coins. The 16-year-old West Seattle resident (who was also wanted on two warrants) was booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of assault.

*On the evening of the 16th, callers reported a man “in crisis” walking in the roadway at SW Spokane and Chelan Ave. SW. Officers found the man sitting on a nearby bench, talking to himself and holding a basket of flowers. He explained that he was “following the lines in the crosswalk to get to Angelina Jolie.” When he refused any help (and accused them of harassment), the officers made sure he was safe before continuing on patrol.

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EDITOR’S NOTES: Remember, the CRISIS CLINIC hotline is a resource for those in crisis, including thoughts or acts of self-harm, or trying to find help for someone in crisis: 206.461.3222 … Previous WSBeat roundups are archived here. We also publish crime reports when we get tips or otherwise hear about noteworthy incidents – they don’t all turn up on the scanner, so please don’t be shy about letting us know when you see/hear something happening = call or text 206-293-6302.