News

Police Beat

by Charles Mudede

"I myself, at first, took it to be a gentleman. Luckily, though, I had my eyeglasses on me. Soon, therefore, I perceived the 'gentleman' to be no more than a nose...."--Nikolai Gogol

The Lemon Drop/Rainier Valley/Fri March 5/10:32 pm: Officer Barattieri writes: "I was working uniformed patrol unit 3S01 with my partner, Officer Solan. We were traveling southbound on Rainier Avenue when we observed three males and one female on a street corner of Rainier Avenue and Garden Street. We had seen the same group of people in the same location approximately 20 minutes earlier as we traveled northbound on Rainier Avenue. Officer Solan and I know the three males from previous contacts. The three males are known narcotic users and distributors. We observed them contacting people on the street and motioning to vehicles.

"As we attempted to contact them, the female, who was facing us, made eye contact with us and said, 'Fuck you, dirty white pigs,' and then turned her back to us and placed something small and white colored in her mouth. I stepped out of our patrol car, grabbed her right arm, and ordered her to spit out what was in her mouth and put her hands on the patrol car. She did not comply so I pulled her arm and guided her onto the hood of the patrol car and repeated my order to spit out what was in her mouth. The other men attempted to come toward us. Officer Solan watched them while I ordered the suspect to spit out what was in her mouth.... After repeated orders, she finally complied and spat out a lemon drop candy.

"DOL checks of the suspect returned clear. I then proceeded to explain to her why I ordered her to spit out what was in her mouth. She stated that she knew it was a bad drug corner and that the 'bitches is always carrying the shit and then trying to eat it,' and apologized for being extremely verbally abusive during our encounter. During the encounter, the three male suspects, who were told to back away, repeatedly attempted to approach us and called us 'racist,' 'rookies,' and called me 'Big Nose.'

"We released the suspect from the scene to handle a juvenile runaway who also approached us during the encounter."

Call Me Ishmael, for Now/Central District/Fri March 5/12:19 am: The crime in this report, which involves damaged property (a window and screen door), is, like so many crimes that are documented every damn week, insignificant (or at least dull). What's fascinating is the description of the suspect, which is written by Officer McRae: "The suspect recently resided in Atlanta, Georgia.... The suspect is black mixed with Hispanic, but he is Hispanic looking. The suspect is growing a thick beard and claiming to be a practicing Muslim. The suspect with the growing beard may look Middle Eastern and may go by the name Ishmael...."

What impresses me is that the suspect is first black, then he becomes Hispanic, and by the last sentence appears to be in the process of becoming an Arab. Who can tell what race will next claim the face of this suspect Atlien from Georgia?