July Police Blotter

It didn't happen here

Earlier this summer, we were taken a little bit to task by a reader who with gentle good humor commented that this blog's neighborhood crime reports are becoming rather dull. She wondered, "Can't you do something to spice them up a bit?"  Well, maybe it's us; but it's just possible that Madison Park has not been subjected to the kinds of criminal activity that  make for interesting reading.

Crime does seem to be on the wane, with only four house break-ins reported in the neighborhood so far this summer and the same number of car prowls. There were almost twice as many house break-ins and car prowls for the same June/July period last year (seven incidents in each case).  And by this point last summer we had already reported an attempted car jacking plus that weird man-with-a-gun incident near Bush School.  This year, no crimes worthy of headline treatment.  But what makes for dull reading also makes for a relatively crime-free neighborhood in which to live.

In July there were only two reported home burglaries in Madison Park. The first occurred on July 1 on the1800 block of Broadmoor Drive. E. The investigating officer found no signs of a forced entry when called to the house by the victim, who had arrived home to discover that items had been removed from the residence, including a Tag Hauer watch and an iPad.  The burglar, it seems, did not need to force entry due to the fact that a window had been left open in the house "because of the heat."  There was a home-security system, but it had not been turned on at the time of the incident, according to the police report.

The second incident occurred on July 24 on the 3700 block of E. Prospect St.  The victim, who was at home at the time, reported that he had seen the crime in progress on his home-security video system. The suspects had exited a silver Subaru, had walked onto the property, and had taken two gas cans and a leaf blower from an unlocked exterior storage room of the residence.  The suspects then placed the items into their vehicle. The homeowner "exited his home and confronted the suspects," but they sped off "in an unknown direction of travel."  Unfortunately, the homeowner was unable to retrieve the surveillance footage showing the crime as it happened, though he did give the investigating officer the suspect's vehicle license number.

The July car break-ins occurred on July 8 on the 1100 block of 33rd Avenue E. and on July 31 on the 4200 block of E. Lynn Street.  There were also two vehicle thefts reported during the month: a truck was stolen on July 27 from the 2400 block of 42nd Avenue E. and a car was stolen three days later from the 2400 block of 43rd Avenue E.

Now for comparative purposes (and perhaps we'll make this a regular feature), here is a report of a recent crime occurring in a nearby neighborhood, Capitol Hill, as provided by the SPD Blotter:

Man arrested for biting off another man’s ear

by Detective Renee Witt 

Officers searched for a man’s missing ear with negative results. Last night just shortly before 10:00 p.m., officers responded to an assault call in the 100 block of 10 Av E.  According to the victim the suspect walked into his fenced yard and urinated. 

The victim asked the suspect to leave when the suspect’s girlfriend came over and also told the suspect that they should leave. The suspect then began assaulting his girlfriend.  The victim pushed the suspect and tried to stop him when the suspect attacked him. During the attack the suspect bit a large portion of the victim’s left ear off.

The suspect then left the area.  Officers arrived and conducted a search for the suspect. Officers found him near Cal Anderson Park. The man’s mouth was covered in blood. He was contacted and placed under arrest without incident.   The 21-year-old suspect was booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Assault. The 23 year-old male victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. 

Officers asked the suspect if he swallowed the victim’s ear. He would not answer but looked up and smiled.  An area check for the victim’s ear was negative.

[Thanks to the Capitol Hill Seattle blog for pointing out this incident.]