News of Madison Valley

There were 46 incidents reported to the police in October, down a bit from September’s total of 50. As usual the single largest category was car prowl theft, with 14 reports, and there were three cases of vehicle theft and one license plate theft.

There were two robberies during October.

1. On Oct. 22 at around 1 PM, there was an armed robbery in the 1800 block of 23rd Ave. The police have not posted a detailed description of this incident.

2. On Oct. 27 shortly after 3 PM, a resident of an apartment building at 22nd and Madison was approached by a robber while in the secured parking area of the building. The robber demanded that she give him her money and grabbed her wallet from her hands. Finding that there was little money in the wallet, he then grabbed her iPhone and told her to give him its PIN number. The robber also grabbed at a package that the victim was carrying and then fled to an elevator at the NW corner of the garage. The victim ran to an elevator at the other side of the parking area and, upon reaching her apartment, called a friend who reported the incident to the police. While waiting for the police to arrive, the victim was able to trace the location of her iPhone first to the 400 block of 23rd Ave., and then to the corner of 14th and Yesler. The phone was later found at 14th and Yesler, but with a broken screen. Although there are several surveillance cameras in the parking area, they had been disabled because the building was being renovated.

Four burglaries were reported in October.

1. Police received a report of a non-forced entry burglary at a residence on Ward St. near 26th at 9 PM on Oct. 4. A detailed description of this incident is not available on the Police Reports website.

2. On Oct. 16 police were notified of a burglary at a residence on 19th near Harrison that occurred sometime between 7 AM and 4 PM that day. The burglar(s) rummaged through cabinets and drawers and stole jewelry, clothing and accessories, a laptop, and $400 in cash. The resident and the police were unable to determine how the burglar gained entry, but security cameras monitor the complex in which the residence is located.

3. On Oct. 22 sometime between 1 AM and 5 AM, a burglar broke into a restaurant near 24th and Union by smashing several windows. The burglar stole between $300 and $400 from a cash register in the restaurant, but the police were unable to find any fingerprints.

4. A resident of a ground-floor apartment on 23rd near Pine called the police on Oct. 12 to report that someone had stolen his TV and gaming equipment during the previous night. The burglar entered through an unlocked bedroom window. The police found no fingerprints at the scene.

Additional information can be found at the SPD’s police reports website.

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