Ballard police

Barbie doll weirdness

When an adult male showed up at an ice cream shop in north Seattle wearing a diaper and dressed like a woman, a call was made to 911. Officers found a six-foot, two hundred pound man with his hair in pigtails and a large amount of makeup on his face. "He had on a t-shirt, multi-colored mini-skirt, white socks and sandals. He had a baby bottle and he was playing with a Barbie doll. Security officers in the shopping mall had been alerted to the man earlier when he was seen hanging out near a children's play area. He told police he was waiting for some friends.

Burglars target Ballard

There was a rash of burglaries in Ballard recently. With the dogs barking loudly, a woman came back to her home on 18th Ave. Northwest on Sept. 22 and found the front door open around 10:20 p.m. Her husband was asleep and he left the front door open for her. Someone had stolen a red basket near the door that contained $30 in change and keys to the house and car.

On Sept. 23, a homeowner on Bayard Ave. Northwest heard some knocking sounds at 4:29 a.m. When she went downstairs, she saw her outside light, which was connected to a motion detector, turned on. A stocky male was seen climbing over her fence. The woman ran to her door and yelled. She then heard a second male's voice saying, "Let's get out of here."

Again, on Sept. 23, a man on Valmay Ave. Northwest heard his dog barking at 4:58 a.m. and he got up to take a look. The dog kept looking up and out the window toward the front porch. The man then saw a male suspect in black clothing trying the door handle. When he realized he had been spotted, the suspect ran off. The police report stated this was the second burglary report in the last 30 minutes.

A tenant on Northwest 61st St. told police his storage unit had been broken into on Sept. 23. He called police around 10:51 a.m. The storage units are in the basement of the building and the door of his area was pried open. The stolen items included several bicycles valued at $400 each.

"Dangerous" man gets checkup

Over on North 128th St., police were sent to investigate a call regarding a man with gas and explosives who was threatening to make a pipe bomb. Several days earlier, the same man called 911, saying he had knives and would hurt himself. He is reportedly schizophrenic and delusional and has been off of his medications. "He was worried that his room would blow up. He said he was carrying two guns on his person and had a gun inside his leg," the officer said. Next stop, Harborview Medical Center on involuntary commitment.

Share the road with bikes

A couple was riding their bikes on the new "sharrow" bike lanes on Stone Way last week when they got into a confrontation with a driver. "Get tabs for those things (bikes), you don't belong here on the road," the driver yelled. The husband told the driver to leave his wife alone. A passenger got out of the car and pushed the husband off his bike and onto the ground. The husband got up and placed the bike between himself and the angry passenger who had come closer and was in his face yelling. The husband told police he could smell alcohol on the suspect's breath. The perpetrators got away.

Fans vs. cab driver

A man and a woman were at a Seattle Seahawks game and left at halftime to catch a yellow cab. The driver was distraught because he had lost a Seahawk's ornament that was attached to his cab. When the male passenger said he had seen it, he got out of the cab and retrieved it. "He continued to joke with the driver and said he hoped for a free ride back to the hotel now that he had recovered his souvenir. The atmosphere in the cab changed. The driver appeared upset and became belligerent. He was 'violent and flailing his arms about'," the report said. The passengers decided to get out of the cab early. The male passenger pulled out a money clip to pay the fare, but the driver lunged at him grabbing the entire wad of bills. The driver then tried to flee with all the money.

"The man grabbed him around the ankles and tried to stop him from leaving," the report said. The driver hit the woman on the head while the man was on the driver's back, trying to get him off of his girlfriend. A transient then joined the fight, hitting the male. The couple managed to retrieve the money clip, but lost two cell phones in the struggle.

Dean Wong compiles this column from official police reports.