News of Madison Valley

The number of police reports in Madison Valley fell from its high of nearly sixty in October back to a more normal figure in the low thirties during November. The reduction reflected substantial declines in the types of crime most prevalent in October, especially theft involving vehicles. On the other hand, burglaries and robberies were little changed from October. There were seven burglary reports during November.

1. On Nov. 3 at about 1:30 AM someone smashed two large display windows on the northwest side of a supermarket on 22nd and Madison and stole 20 bottles of liquor from the display. Surveillance cameras in the store did not cover the area. A resident of the building reported that a little earlier he had seen two men wearing dark clothing and face masks in the area.

2. On Nov. 9 at about 11 PM police were called to an address on Union between 24th and 25th to investigate a burglary. When they arrived, the owner of nearby business told them that a group of about 8 teenage boys had broken into a vacant house next door. When he heard the noise of doors being broken down, he went outside, and upon seeing the boys, yelled that he was calling the police, at which point they fled south on 24th. Police were unable to contact the owner of the vacant home and were therefore unable to determine if anything had been stolen. The person reporting the incident told the police that he did not know, nor would be able to identify the boys, and the police found no identifying information at the site.

3. On Nov. 12 police were called to a home on 30th Ave. E. between John and Denny to investigate a burglary which had occurred on Veterans Day. The resident reported that sometime during one of her two absences from home that day, someone had stolen her laptop. During her first absence, which only lasted ½ hour, her daughter had been at home. Before her second absence, which lasted a little over 5 hours, she had set the alarm and locked all doors. Upon returning from the second absence she found the alarm still set and the doors still locked, but noticed that her laptop was missing. Upon questioning by both the victim and police, the daughter denied any knowledge about how the laptop had been stolen.

4. Sometime during the early evening of Nov. 13 a burglar smashed open a window of a residence on 30th Ave. near Pine and stole credit cards, a checkbook and a valuable pocket watch. The police did not find fingerprints at the scene.

5. On Nov. 14 there was a forced entry burglary at a residence on Aloha St. between 20th and 21st, but the police have not given a description of the event.

6. On Nov. 24 at about 4:30 police responded to an alarm call from a specialty business near 28th and Madison. There they found that someone had broken through the back door of the business. When the business owner arrived it was found that the burglar(s) had stolen items worth about $2800, including a safe containing $250 and approximately 10 purses that had been on display. The police report notes that there are cameras covering the areas around the business, but does not state whether any images of the event were recorded.

7. On Nov. 30 there was a burglary at a residence on 22nd between Highland and Galer that did not involve forcible entry. The police have not issued a description of this burglary.

Finally, there were two robbery reports during November and the police apprehended the perpetrator of one of them.

1. On Nov. 19 at 9 PM a man who was walking north near 21st and Union was accosted by two young men who had left a group of about six men to cross to his side of the street. After asking for a cigarette, and then a dollar, the two men started punching him and knocked him to the ground. Then they took his wallet, which contained $13 and three credit cards. The victim suffered a swollen eye and a broken nose. The police were unable to find the assailants.

2. On Nov. 21 at around 4 PM police received a report of a cell phone robbery at Olive and 22nd Ave. Arriving at 19th and Pine, an officer noticed a person who matched the description of the robber and asked to speak to him. The officer noted that the suspect had an iPhone and when she asked if it was his, he responded that it was. When the officer asked him what the phone number was, the suspect told her that he had to leave. The officer then told him that she had to make sure that he had not been involved in a recent cell phone robbery before he could leave, and then escorted him to her patrol car. Upon arriving at the car the suspect broke away from the officer and fled south on 19th, east on Union, and then north on 20th, where other officers arriving on the scene took him into custody. The victim subsequently identified him as her assailant and he was later booked into the King County jail.

Lowell Hargens is a Madison Valley resident and former University of Washington professor of sociology specializing in the statistical analysis of data.