Ballard police

Ballard High gets tagged

It was 1:45 a.m., when police officers spotted two young men in the 6700 block of 15th Avenue Northwest. Officers turned on their spot light, ordered them to stop on the PA system and the teens complied. As the officers approached the teens tried to change their clothing. Both said they were doing nothing wrong. "I then noticed that they had small spots of what appeared to be black paint on their hands. I asked them if that was spray paint and (the suspect) said, 'no, it's a marker.'" Both teens had baggy clothing and backpacks. They were evasive about what they were up to. Both were searched. "When the backpacks were removed, I could hear what sounded like the ball in a spray can shaking," one officer said in the report. The two young suspects then said they found the backpack in an alley. Officers found a knife and a sketchbook commonly used to practice their graffiti "monikers." There was graffiti on a business nearby, but offers were unsure if the tagging was fresh. The teens admitted to being with another group of kids earlier by the Ballard High School. "SKA" was written a wall of the school and a bus stop. It matched a style of writing found in the sketchbook.

Both kids were taken home. Officers had an interesting discussion with the surprised parents.

Salmon Bay lockers looted

A thief broke into boys and girls locker rooms at Salmon Bay School with numerous items stolen from student backpacks. The lockers were not secured with any type of lock, according to the police report. Nine students said their iPods and cellphones were gone. A witness told officers a former student and some unknown juveniles were seen on the school grounds at the time of the theft.

Medications stolen

Moving can be a hassle and a Ballard woman found that out the hard way. She hired a moving company to pack her belongings. Three employees sent by the moving company went to work boxing things up. One employee, now believed to be a suspect in the case, was packing by himself upstairs in the bathroom. The victim realized the next day that her medications were missing. She looked in all the boxes without success. The victim told police she would recognize the suspect if she saw him again.

Woman backhands fianc/e

Officers were sent to a motor home parked in along 9th Avenue Northwest on a Sunday evening. A 37-year-old man told police he had gotten into an argument with his fianc/e. "While they were inside the motor home, she had backhanded him with her fist, hitting him in the mouth. She later backhanded him again with a cigarette lighter in her hand, hitting him near the right eye," the officer reported. As the police officers interviewed the couple, the woman still had the lighter in her hand. She admitted they were fighting over money but said it was only verbal. Because she resisted arrest, it took two officers to get her into handcuffs. The man refused to provide a written statement and was upset his fianc/e was being taken to jail.

Side mirror ripped off

A trip to Ballard turned sour for a Bellevue woman when she was driving southbound on Leary Way. A 40-foot container was positioned in the street against the curb and the interior of it was being painted. The painter said he had secured the door but it flew open as the woman was driving by, striking her vehicle. The woman's side view mirror was torn off. She insisted on having a police report written.

This column comes entirely from Seattle Police Department records.