Crab Crime/Pike Place Market/Sat Oct 4/4:30 pm: This is the customer's account of the incident: "I had originally told the employees of City Fish Company that I wanted to purchase two crabs, but changed my mind when I discovered I could not afford to pay for them. The employees had already started to clean the crabs, by removing their innards, before I refused to pay. I understood that they would not be able to sell the crabs after they were cleaned, but reiterated that I could not afford to pay for them. While walking away from the embarrassing situation, some of the store employees threw ice at me. The ice hit me on the head."

Officer Etoh writes: "She showed me her head and I could not see any signs of being hit, and she refused medical attention."

This is the business' account of the incident: "The customer, who comes from Des Moines, entered the store and said she wanted to purchase two crabs. While an employee was busy cleaning the first crab, the woman, who had another crab in her hand, attempted to leave without paying. Some of the employees were able to stop her and get the crab back. The employee said that since he had already started to clean the crab, therefore making it worthless, he needed payment for at least one of them. She refused. The customer was carrying two full paper bags. The employee asked her to show him the contents of the bags, but she refused. She then started running away from the scene, and the employees repeatedly yelled at her to return. One employee threw some flakes of ice in her direction, but it didn't hit anyone."

Clearly siding with the business' version of the incident, Officer Etoh concluded the matter with this: "I asked the employer if he was interested in having the Des Moines woman prosecuted. The employer said he just wanted her to stay away from his store."

Coffee Crime/West Seattle/Mon Sept 22/4:22 pm: Primary Officer Shayne St. John writes: "I was dispatched to the Starbucks at Westwood Village to investigate the shoplift of [a whole] Espresso Machine. Upon arrival, the complainant/witness informed me that she was making light talk with the customers/suspects about the Espresso Machine originally. Explaining how it worked, where it was made, and so on. After the chat, she left the counter for a moment to do a chore in the back of the store. When she returned, she spotted the suspects running out of the east door with the [whole] Espresso Machine. The suspects then got into a green 1994 Ford Escort, which was parked in front of the store (allowing the employee to obtain its license plate), and drove northbound in the parking lot.

"An area check of the vehicle had negative results. The complainant/witness was going to notify other Starbucks in the immediate area of the stolen Espresso Machine. I provided her with a case number."