American flag angers man raging against Iraq and Bush

When a North Seattle man saw black Range Rover with a "giant American Flag" on it he was offended. He went up to the driver and advised him why he should not have a flag on his car. "Those damn flag waving baby killers, they think they have the right to display their flags, well I have the right to tell them not to. It's offensive. I am not proud to be an American right now. Bush is a murderer he has killed 600,000 people and if you don't believe me they have death certificates to prove it," the officer reported the man saying. The man told police the Land Rover was a government vehicle. He said the driver must have called a second man in a Nissan who drove up. The man claimed the Land Rover driver said "what did you say about America?" The guy in the Nissan spit then at him. He told police at one point he saw a the Land Rover driver cocking a gun. He did not want to file a report or have a follow-up investigation done.

Boozed teens create scene

Police were called after a report of several gunshots being fired and people screaming on the street in Ballard. Officers arrived with lights flashing and the crowd began dispersing. People denied there were shots fired. Two main groups of people were exchanging words. "Several of the crowd appeared to obviously be teenagers and many had the strong odor of alcohol on their persons," the officer said. A homeowner admitted there had been a party in her basement that go t out of control. The officer went inside and found teenagers scattering. A female suspect then started yelling threats of a racial nature outside. "I warned her that she would be arrested if she continued and refused to leave. She replied 'go ahead and arrest me,' then continued yelling threats past me at the other car," the officer said. The woman was placed into a patrol car and handcuffed. It turned out she had an outstanding warrant for her arrest in Federal Way.

Thieves make off with gifts

Two women went into a drug store, picked out two $100 Visa gift cards and pulled out a check to pay for their transaction. The check had been originally made out to a home improvement store. The store name was scratched out and the drug store's name was added in its place. After one suspect handed over some identification, the clerk placed the check under the Fraud Finder machine and it did not illuminate correctly to be a valid check. After being told the store could not accept the check, the suspects left. The clerk then realized they had taken to two gift cards with them, but they were worthless with their activation codes. The crooks were caught on candid camera.

Ouch! $2,200 gone

Taking a break for lunch, a 36-year-old man was eating at the food court of a shopping mall when $2,200 fell out of his pocket. A suspect walked by and picked up the money, fleeing out the south mall doors. The victim chased him down, but the suspect go away.

Dumb and dumber pot head

An officer was on patrol during a snowy night on Aurora Avenue when officers spotted a car moving erratically, often exceeding the speed limit. When stopped, the drivers stumbled out of the car. Several passengers were identified and released. "I noted as I questioned the suspect driver about his insurance and driver's license that he had watery eyes, the immediate and obvious odor of alcohol coming from his person, that he would not look up at me, that his movements were slow and deliberate, at times clumsy and that his speech was very slow and slurred," the officer reported. Baggies of marijuana were found in the car, along with a black handled stiletto knife with a 4 inch blade that exceeded the 3.5 inch legal limit. The suspect spent the night in King County Jail.

Thief steals purse from car

A car prowler stole a woman's purse from her car overnight. The thief managed to charge over $300 from a department store online and tried or $750 in women's lingerie, before the card's credit limit ran out. The purse was an expensive Coach brand with six credit cards.

Fighting over footprints

In a case of footprints left behind, a construction worker got into an argument with a pedestrian who walked onto freshly poured cement. The worked demanded to know the man's name after pushing him off the wet concrete. The suspect got away.

Restaurant's security foiled

The door was pried open, the alarm's siren ripped off the wall, as well as the wall-mounted flood emergency lights at a Stone Way North restaurant last week. Thieves pried open the office door then cut the bolts to a floor mounted safe and removed it. The suspects cut the telephone lines to prevent the alarm system from dialing a security company.

Crime wave targets one homeowner

A Ballard woman woke up to find her two cars broken into. They were parked in the driveway and the glove boxes were rifled through with the contents on the floorboards. Later that day when she came home from work, someone had tried to get into her house through the backdoor without success.

Dean Wong may be contacted at dino@robinsonnews.com