News of Madison Valley

February 2015 Police Reports

MARCH 16, 2015 | LOWELL HARGENS

There were 60 Madison Valley incidents reported to the police during February, almost the same as the number for January (58 incidents). As usual, car-prowl theft and vehicular theft (26 incidents) constituted the largest category of the reports, but property damage/graffiti reports (9 incidents) maintained their spot in second place. There were also 6 burglaries reported during February.

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1. On Monday, Feb. 9, sometime between 8 AM and 7:45 PM a burglar entered a home on 26th Ave. E. between Madison and Mercer by smashing a patio door at the back of the house. The burglar then ransacked the house, taking a laptop, change from a change container, a black hoodie and, presumably, other items that are not listed in the police report. Although the residents were away, a large and protective dog was in a kennel in the home at the time, but its presence apparently did not hinder the burglar. The police found fingerprints at the scene.

2. On Wednesday, Feb. 11, there was a non-forcible entry burglary at a residence on 19th near Denny, but the police have not filed a detailed description of the incident.

3. On Friday, Feb. 13 at around 3 AM police were called to a residence on 25th between Olive and Howell to investigate a burglary that had occurred sometime after noon on Feb. 12. After searching to make sure that no one was present in the residence, the police and the victim found that a burglar had gained entry by smashing open a sliding glass door at the back of the building. The police report states that approximately $2600 worth of property was stolen, and that the police found fingerprints.

4. On Saturday, Feb. 14 a resident of an apartment building on 21st near Madison called police to report an attempted burglary of his unit. At around 9:00 AM that day a resident of a neighboring apartment observed a white male and white female attempting to force open a door connecting the the victim’s apartment to the apartment building’s laundry room. The witness recognized the woman as another resident in the building and asked them what they were doing. After the male told her that they were not trying to break into the victim’s apartment, the witness told them that they had better leave and informed the owner of the apartment they were trying to break into, who then called the police. The witness told police that the woman involved in the burglary and her associates were known drug users and “tweakers,” and that there was a lot of traffic in and out of the woman’s apartment. No one answered when the police went to the woman’s apartment to see if she was present.

5. On Saturday, Feb. 14, at approximately 2 PM a resident of a home on Pine near MLK heard a loud noise while showering in an upstairs bathroom. He quickly ran downstairs, found that a dining room window had been smashed, observed a white male dressed in a black hoodie and wearing a black knit cap and a backpack running out of his yard, and then called the police. Shortly after they arrived, the police noticed a person fitting the description on the corner of Union and MLK and detained him. After he was positively identified by the resident as the person whom he had seen running from his yard, the police booked the suspect into the King County Jail.

6. Sometime during the night of Feb. 17–18 someone broke into an apartment building on 23rd near Howell and then stole a bicycle from the building’s bike room. The apartment building is a new one and has video cameras, but whether the cameras were functional at the time of the burglary is unknown.

There were also a completed and an attempted robbery during February.

1. On Tuesday, February 10 at around 9:45 PM a robber with a semiautomatic handgun passed a note to an employee of a specialty store on Madison near 23rd threatening to shoot her in the face if she did not let him into the store. After she let him in, he stole approximately $11,000 worth of merchandise and cash and fled east on Madison. The robber, who apparently lives in Auburn, is known to employees at the store and the robbery was captured on video surveillance cameras. Although the police were unable to locate the robber at the time, it seems likely that he will be apprehended.

2. On Saturday, Feb. 28 at around 9:30 PM a man entered a fast food establishment on Madison near 22nd and told the worker on duty that he was homeless. Apparently homeless people frequently come to the restaurant in the hope of earning money doing odd jobs. In this case, however, the man tried to take the restaurant’s tip jar, but was prevented from doing so by the worker, who told him that she had a knife behind the counter. The man then told her that he could still harm her and that he knew that she was alone in the restaurant. The worker then picked up a phone and told the man that she was calling 911, at which point the man left the restaurant and fled west on Madison. Although the police were unable to locate the would be robber after they arrived, good quality pictures of the robber were recorded by the restaurant’s video cameras.

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

 

Topics: Climate March at The Valley School