By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog

This edition of 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, and many are not crimes, but might at least answer a lingering question such as “what WERE all those police doing on my block?” Or on the bridge, or the beach, or …

*After hearing about a suspicious phone call that a senior-citizen customer received, a pharmacy employee took the initiative to call 911 to report a potential scam. The customer had been told to wire $850 in order to claim an $840,000 prize. Officers warned the would-be victim how to protect himself against such schemes. A records check showed that the man had been victimized this way in the past.

*Early on the morning of the 12th, a woman awoke to a crashing sound in her apartment in the 6000 block of California Ave. SW: A stranger was climbing in through the window and blinds. After stumbling around the room for a few moments, he took his leave by climbing back out thru the same window. As officers were taking the victim’s statement, the “incredibly intoxicated” suspect returned and explained that he thought this was his house in Tukwila. (He had spent the night drinking at an Alki Beach bar.) He was released pending possible charges and was transported to his home.

Ahead – nine more summaries, including the case of the naked man in the parking strip:

*Friday afternoon, in the 1300 block of SW Spokane, citizens reported that a woman was using a coat hanger to try to jimmy her way into parked cars. She explained that she was hot and looking for shade. An ID check showed that she was wanted on a $1500 criminal trespass warrant in Seattle. She was also carrying a meth pipe and meth. She was booked into King County Jail on the warrant and for investigation of drug charges.

*On Tuesday the 8th, in the 2200 block of SW Henderson, a Seattle Public Utilities employee went to enter his work truck but noticed a man sleeping inside. Officers arrested the man and took him to the precinct for questioning. There were no signs of forced entry to the truck and nothing had been stolen. The man apologized and said he had been looking for a place to sleep because he was feeling ill. After promising not to go back to the city-owned private property, the 56-year-old was released from the precinct.

*That naked man, lying in the parking strip in the 4400 block of 44th on a recent Monday morning? The 29-year-old was a visitor from Spokane and he remembered only that he had been drinking at a Junction restaurant the night before. Retracing his steps, officers were able to find his t-shirt, socks and underwear in the 4200 block of 44th. They transported him to a local bed and breakfast where he had been staying with his mother.

*In the continuing saga of 44th SW…Around 8 a.m. on the 12th, 911 received several calls about an intoxicated male wandering through yards — and defecating — in the 3600 block. The suspect, a 46-year-old downtown resident, was found sitting in an alley, shoeless, practically pantsless, and carrying a bottle of hot sauce. Claiming “diplomatic immunity” (and unable to stand), he was transported to Harborview for a mental evaluation.

*On the 3rd, a man ingested (in his own words) “a bunch of narcotics” — including meth, heroin and crack — painted his face with lipstick and wandered shirtless around his Delridge apartment’s parking lot claiming to be President of the United States. He was transported to Harborview for a mental-health evaluation.

*Around 6:45 on the evening of the 12th, a near-miss between a car and a motorcycle led to a chase and road-rage incident, with the driver of the car accelerating, and seeming to deliberately strike the motorcycle before speeding off. Witnesses near 39th and Willow provided the car’s license-plate number, and officers found the car near 29th and Henderson. The driver denied damaging the motorcycle, but the officers noted that as they approached he was covering some scratches on the vehicle with a paint pen. He was placed into custody, and was found to be carrying a loaded firearm. It was placed into custody for safekeeping.

*In North Delridge, on the 9th, a mother was warned after leaving her children (ages 7, 2 and 1) alone in a vehicle for half an hour — with the key in the ignition — while she ran an errand a half-block away. The officer noted that although the mother seemed overwhelmed,the children appeared to be in good health. She was contrite and realized she had made a bad decision–and that she should have brought the children along. (When the officer arrived at the scene, the citizen who had made the initial 911 call was at the vehicle, keeping the children company and providing them with something to drink.)

*On the 9th, in a Morgan Junction store, a woman described as having known mental-health issues began screaming and acting hostile. When she tried to grab a child from a customer, her mother and aunt, who had accompanied her to the store, called 911. As she was being transported to Harborview for evaluation, she explained that her own children had been taken from her care and that she had grabbed the child in order to get a hug.

*After being detained for shoplifting at Westwood Village on the evening of the 13th, a 13-year-old girl became erratic and violent, threatening to kill herself by bashing her head against a holding cell wall if she were taken to the precinct. While waiting for an ambulance to transport her to Children’s Hospital, she became even more violent, screaming and banging her head against a metal portion of the patrol car and later against the pavement. As several officers spoke with her calmly in an effort to calm her, four others held her down, “careful to not restrict her breathing, and positioned so that her head couldn’t strike the asphalt.” They held her for 20 minutes as she continued to scream, kick, spit, and bite. Even when finally placed into an ambulance, she repeatedly banged her head against the backboard, making medics concerned for her safety. They asked that officers ride alongside her during transport. The teen was involuntarily committed to Children’s for a mental-health evaluation.

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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.