Beacon Hill/Wed Aug 4/6:19 pm Officer Marc Powell reports: "I was flagged down in the 33 block of South Myrtle Place by a victim who stated he had been approached by a 25â26 yo black male wearing a white T-shirt and shorts. The male asked him what time it was and then where the library was located. The suspect then reached out and grabbed an 18k gold necklace, pulling it from around his neck before running eastbound, away from the scene."
Holly Park/Sat July 31/6:39 pm Officer Christopher Caron reports: "As the victim was about to enter her apartment building, two unknown teenage black males grabbed a necklace from around her neck. Victim was not injured."
South Seattle/Sat July 31/12:55 pm Officer Eric Beseler reports: "While on uniformed patrol in a marked police vehicle, I was dispatched to Rainier Avenue South and South Cloverdale Street. I arrived and met victim, who said that he was waiting for the #7 bus at the bus stop when he was approached by two unknown black males in their late teens to early 20s, wearing red T-shirts. The victim said that one of the males snatched a gold chain from around his neck and ran off northbound from that location on Rainier Avenue South, while the other male ran off northeasterly on South Cloverdale Street."
South Seattle/Wed Aug 4/11:30 am Officer Thaimin Saewong reports: "Victim spoke only Vietnamese, and I had her son translate for her. Around 1130 hours, victim... had a seat in the bus shelter with a man who also came from the bank. A few minutes later, the unknown suspect came up and stood against the wall of the shelter. After a few minutes, the suspect punched the man next to her, causing him to fall off the bench, then reached over and grabbed her necklace, in the process ripping off the collar of her shirt."
Why is this kind of crime so rude, so unpleasant, so mean-spirited? Because the neck is used to break something that has no other function in the entire universe than to ornament it. The necklace brings beauty to the neckâit hangs from it, it shines around it, and it enhances the slope and line between shoulder and head. The thief turns the victim's neck into a kind of tool for the crime. Some thieves use a rock to break into a house. Others use a coat hanger to steal a car. This type of thief uses the victim's neck to steal her own necklace. And so the neck is not only deprived of its ornament but forced to rip it apart.
