Negative Balance/Northgate/Wed Aug 16/11:55 am: Officer DiTuse reports: "Victim, an account executive at the Bank of America, observed suspect sitting in the waiting area in the bank lobby and asked if she could help him. (Victim is Asian American/female; suspect is black African/male.) Suspect said yes, he needed assistance, and the victim brought him to the cubicle she works from which is in the bank lobby. Suspect didn't know his account number but was able to supply his SSN to access his account. Victim checked the account and observed that it was in a deficit and explained that to the suspect. While attempting to retrieve a printout of the account, the suspect stood up and punched her in the face. A witness, also a bank employee, observed and heard the assault and came to aid his coworker and asked suspect to leave the bank. The suspect then grabbed victim by the arm. Victim pushed the suspect's hands from her. Suspect said he would remain at the bank until the police arrived. Northgate security was called to the scene and suspect told the security guard that in his country in Africa, if people take your money... [For reasons that are a mystery to me, the SPD's media office blocked this part of the report]. He was later taken into custody by the police and advised by the bank manager that his account was closed and he was trespassed from all Bank of Americas for 15 years." Exactly what do Africans do when people take their money? Do they punch them in the face? If that is the case, why did he punch the account executive? She didn't take his money. She simply reported that it was missing. But it's also possible that the black African suspect saw the theft as institutional—banks, or the banking system, being in essence a sanctioned form of theft. The bank stole from him by imposing high interest rates on his debt, high fees for using ATMs that are not part of the bank's network, and high fines for going below zero balance. In the face of this institutionalized theft, he did the African thing and punched the face of the account executive.

The Lawns/Green Lake/Wed Aug 9/3:04 pm: Officer Boyland reports: "I arrived and contacted victim who stated she hired suspect to cut some lawns on her rental property in the summer of 2005. The victim says that she owed and paid the suspect $1,346.44. Victim stated that the suspect claims he's owed $299.70 more. Victim says she has offered to settle the dispute in small-claims court, and believes the $299.70 is from accounting error. Victim stated that the suspect has come to her residence banging on her door and yelling at her from the street. The suspect has now contacted the victim's clients through e-mail and notified them of their accounting dispute. Victim was provided a case number." On the one hand, you'd expect the landlord to pay that small amount just to get the madman out of her hair; and on the other hand, you would expect the gardener to give up the cause, finding the sum too small to expend all of that anger and energy. Clearly both want this dispute; both are in love with it.