Police Beat

International District/Mon Jan 18/10 pm:

Officer Hoang reports: “I contacted the victim, and she told me the following: At 2000 hours, the suspect, a very light skin BM in his 30s, about six feet tall and thin build, walked into the store. This suspect was wearing a beanie hat and glasses with a black band down around his neck. He was also wearing a black jacket with a large white picture of a circle with two wings on each side (similar to flight attendant’s badge), a blue jacket under the black jacket, dark jeans, and black shoes. The suspect walked toward the beer cooler and grabbed a six-pack of Keystone. He went to the front and pulled out his wallet—but before paying for the beer, he asked to get three packs of Marl­boro cigarettes. Victim turned around and had her back facing the suspect. The suspect quickly ran around and grabbed her with his left hand. A silver-looking knife was in his right hand.

“The suspect then pushed the victim over to the cash register and forced her to open the register. The suspect had his knife in front of victim’s face, swinging it around. She was very afraid for her life. Victim had difficulty opening the register, so the suspect tried to open it with his knife. As a result, the tip of his knife (about two inches long) broke and fell to the ground.

“The suspect then picked up the cash register and threw it to the ground. The cash register opened, he took the money and approximately 10 Washington State scratch tickets (Yearly Holiday Moolah—purple in color).

“Witness then walked into the store unaware of the crime. The suspect casually exited the store. Witness suddenly realized what just happened and called 911. The suspect left the pack of Keystone behind. The entire incident took less than six minutes.”

All of this madness—the poor woman fearing for her life, the broken knife, the destroyed cash register—for what? “Less than $200 in cash and about 10 scratch tickets ($1 each).” Some criminals were born even earlier than yesterday.

Pike Place Market/Tues Jan 19/locker area/4:30 am:

Officer Simeon reports: “I contacted the complainant who manages a vendor stall at the north end of Pike Place Market. She stated that [the day before] she concluded business by placing the day’s cash in a pouch inside an unsealed/unsecured box. She placed the box on the handcart used to move all of the boxed merchandise from the vending stall back to the storage locker area.

“When she returned to work this morning, she removed the cart and merchandise from the storage locker but found the money pouch missing—all but $55 of the previously counted cash receipts. She showed me the storage locker [and] how anyone with general access to the lockers could have reached through a small rear opening and into the open box.”

This is hardly a safe place to hide your money: a place “anyone with general access to the lockers could have reached through.” Some victims were born even earlier than yesterday.