The Good Christian, Downtown, Sat June 30,
10 pm: Officer Roberts reports: “Officers were contacted on the
corner of Fifth Avenue and Pine Street by a complainant who is an
off-duty King Country Sheriff (from the Shoreline precinct). The
complainant stated that he had just observed a marijuana transaction
occur around the corner in front of the Nordstrom store between a
b/male wearing a black leather jacket and a w/male who appeared to be a
construction worker. The complainant pointed out the black male and
stated the marijuana was in his right pocket. Complainant looked around
for the white buyer but could not locate him on the sidewalk.
“Officers contacted the [black dealer] and advised him that they
were investigating a complaint that he was selling marijuana. He denied
any involvement with marijuana and stated that he was walking to make
his cell-phone payment. He reached into his right jacket pocket to pull
out a cell phone to somehow verify this claim (to be going to pay his
cell-phone bill) and accidentally pulled out a baggie of marijuana
along with the phone.
“Officer Suddeth recovered the now visible sandwich baggie of
marijuana. The suspect claimed the marijuana was for personal use
because of his genetic arthritis medical condition and that it was
medical marijuana that he got from a Georgetown location. “Officer
Suddeth asked to see some proof that it was ‘medical marijuana.’ The
suspect stated that he was in the process of getting that proof.
“Officer Larrabee read him his Miranda rights from the SPD Resource
Book. Suspect stated that he knew his rights, and then went on to swear
on the Bible that he was not selling marijuana and that he was a good
Christian… He then asked if [the officers] were good Christians? We
told him he was a liar, searched him, and found seven small baggies of
individually packed marijuana… Officers advised suspect that he was
being officially trespassed from the Nordstrom store for one year,
since he was selling in front of their store.”
We must not suppose that the lies told by the dealer have no
relationship whatsoever with reality. Where there is smoke, there is a
fire. If we look into the lie about the cell phone, we will certainly
find some truth in it. At the time of his encounter with the officers,
the dealer might have planned to walk and pay his cell-phone bill after
the transaction, or known someone who at that very moment was walking
to pay their cell-phone bill, or known another person who walked and
paid their cell-phone bill the day before. As for the lie about
suffering from arthritis, this too must have some truth in it. The
dealer or someone he knows (like his mother) might actually have this
aliment. As for being a good Christian, we can be certain that this
claim is not entirely false. On his better days, the days when he is
not selling pot in front of Nordstrom, the dealer might believe that he
is on excellent terms with the Lord. 
