June Police Blotter

Before we get into an overview of June's criminal activity, here's something we think readers may be interested in.  It comes from Madison Park resident Beth Gold:

"On July 1, my Toyota land cruiser was hit by a White Jetta on the corner of 41st and E. Mcgilvra Blvd. and it was a hit and run.  Amazingly, despite the significant damage to my land cruiser, the Jetta was able to drive away. According to several witnesses, they saw a young blonde female driver drive onto the roundabout on 41st, then on the sidewalk, endangering pedestrians for a ways, and then left.  Unfortunately, none of the witnesses managed to get any part of a license plate.  The police were called and came to my house and they said that a few cars were sent out to look for her, to no avail.

My neighbor has a video camera and I have the video of the accident but it is impossible to see the tag. I called the police and told them there is a clear shot of the tag on the car, but the photo needs to be enlarged and cleared up to be able to see it.  The police told me that if I could do that, it would be great and I should feel free to send that information to them to add to the file!!  I told him that I thought the police were supposed to do that and he chuckled and said 'no.'  Oops, my mistake, I thought the police cared about solving crimes….."

Beth asked us to talk to the police about this, which we did.  According to the SPD information officer, a no-injury hit and run without a substantial amount of property damage would probably not warrant a major investigation by the department since there are insufficient personnel resources.  Not knowing the details of the case, he suggested that Beth again raise the video issue with the original investigating officer just to be sure about what was communicated.  He also suggested that Beth contact her insurance company and have it take over investigating the case since it would have a financial incentive to do so. We hope Beth will let us know if any of this works!

Here's the rundown of what happened in Madison Park in June on the crime front:

There were a couple of house break-ins, one occurring in the early morning of June 4 on the 1500 block of Shenandoah Drive E. in Broadmoor. In that incident someone entered a home through an open garage door and lifted a laptop and some camera equipment from an office. The suspect, however, made enough noise to awake the homeowner, who saw the intruder run down the hallway and escape through the front door.  She called the police, who set up a containment perimeter and put a K-9 on the trail of the suspect, unfortunately without result.  No prints were found at the scene.

In the second break-in incident, which happened June 22,  a victim reported to police that his wallet and checkbook had been stolen from his office on the 4200 block of E. Madison St. A later call to his bank elicited the information that his credit card had been used for multiple purchases. He was unsure of whether the back door to the business had been left open or not, though customers, he told police, are not allowed in that area.

There were several acts of theft that occurred during the month.  Narcotics were taken from the Madison Park Veterinary Hospital sometime around June 15 in what was apparently an inside job.  A former employee may have been responsible and a detective has been assigned to this case, formally classified as "embezzlement."  On June 15 a baby stroller was stolen from the carport of a house on the 1800 block of Broadmoor Drive E., and on June 4 there was a rather strange report of a cell phone theft, which is indicated on the map above as occurring on the 2400 block of 41st Avenue E.  However, the actual theft (if there was one) happened in the Arboretum.  A police officer on regular patrol noticed a man sitting and crying on a speed bump in the Edgewater Apartment complex.  The officer immediately recognized the man as someone that had been released earlier in the day from the precinct station after his earlier arrest in the Arboretum for an unspecified offense.  The officer asked the man why he was sitting on the speed bump crying and learned that when the victim had been taken into custody he was so upset that he had left his cellphone behind.  When he went to look for it after he was released, the phone was gone.  The officer wrote up a report and provided a case number to the victim.

There was one vehicle theft during the month, which occurred on the 600 block of 32nd Avenue E. on June 4, and two vehicle break-ins, one on the 2300 block of 43rd Avenue E. on June 18 and one near the Shell station on June 22.  The yellow icon with the "x" marked bottle on the map above shows the location (the 900 block of McGilvra Boulevard E.) of a "liquor law violation" occurring on June 21.