Famous Signs/Downtown/Sun Sept 9/3:45 pm: Today, Officer S.A. Farwell and his partner responded to an alleged assault at the Hotel Monaco. Upon arrival, the officers made contact with a 22-year-old man who, along with his mother and a friend, is a professional autograph seeker. He, his mother, and his friend spend their days collecting autographs from celebrities as they enter and exit posh downtown hotels.

The 22-year-old man gave them this story: At around two in the afternoon, things were a bit slow at the Hotel Monaco, so he and his dedicated crew decided to try their luck at another hotel across the street. But the other hotel proved to be even slower. Disappointed, the seekers returned to Hotel Monaco. While re-crossing the street, they ran into the irascible doorman of Hotel Monaco, who was off-duty and alone. The autograph seekers and doorman got into an argument. "He just went crazy," said the 22-year-old signature collector, "and started punching me, and [he] also shoved my mother."

The officers then approached the doorman and asked for his side of the story. The doorman explained that the hotel has had frequent problems with the autograph seekers. They hassle famous hotel patrons for their signatures, and are hostile to hotel employees. While walking home from work this afternoon, the off-duty doorman was approached in a threatening way, on the corner of Fourth and Seneca, by the 22-year-old man. It was now down to the raw--either attack or be attacked--so he lunged at the young autograph seeker and got the better of him and his mother.

Apparently the police favored the doorman's account, because the 22-year-old man had been involved in numerous altercations in front of the hotel, some requiring police intervention. To preserve their famous patrons' peace, Hotel Monaco requested that the signature seekers be officially excluded from their hotel premises forever.

Tracking Signs/Queen Anne/September 7/Friday 1:49 pm: Two men, one of whom was wearing a hood, were stopped by Officer Hunter and partner and asked to step out of the car. The suspects did as they were told. The officers then searched the car and found what they were looking for: spray cans and markers. This was the evidence the police needed to link the young men with a series of taggings that had disturbed the entire Seattle area. The two had tagged a Safeway on Aurora, Aecon Buildings Inc. in Lynnwood, Ozzie's on Queen Anne, and Burke Electric (which the SPD could not locate).

After handcuffing the young men, Officer Hunter contacted an employee at Ozzie's, who stated that the suspects had marked not only the walls of their bathroom, but many of their drink coasters as well. Officer Hunter, who recovered four of these despoiled coasters, transported the suspects to the precinct.

Acidic Signs/Capitol Hill/Wed Sept 5/7:30 am: Item #1: Front middle windowpane with an "18" symbol etched on it. Estimated cost to replace is $500. Item #2: The second windowpane, with an unknown symbol etched on it. Estimated cost to replace is $50. Item #3: Two Polaroid photographs of the damage. Estimated cost of the photographs is unknown--at least to Police Beat.

And now the whole sordid story: On the above-listed date, time, and location, Officer D. Patin was dispatched to investigate a report of property damage. Upon arrival, he contacted the complainant, who stated that unknown suspect(s) had etched symbols into his store windows. The complainant then stated that he normally doesn't report graffiti damage. But this particular case of graffiti deserved police attention because the damage was done by using a form of acid.

Officer Patin then took photographs of the incredible acid damage and gave the complainant a business card with an incident number.