The following was compiled from Renton Police Department case reports.
The “fellow” arrived at the elderly couple’s doorstep at about 8 p.m. July 28, offering to change their cable service for $1 the next day between 4 and 8 p.m.
First, he needed the couple’s credit card, which they gave him, and a name and birth date, which they also gave him. He had run out of business cards and his truck, nowhere in sight, was parked up the street.
Uncomfortable, the couple called their daughter, who told them to cancel the deal. They got ahold of the “fellow” by phone, who told them he could if they paid a $350 penalty.
Comcast suggested they file a police report. The couple canceled the credit card and called their bank. The daughter called the “fellow,” who finally said he would call his company and cancel the installation if they wouldn’t call police.
NO VALUE TO GIFT CARD: “Tee” wanted the cash, rather than the Nordstrom and Macy gift cards he received for his birthday, so he put them up for sale on offerup.com.
A Renton woman met him at a business on South Grady Way on July 27 and verified the cards and she withdrew $600 from her bank. Moments after the exchange, she got a call from Nordstrom, which indicated the gift card was being held because of a payment issue. She later found out the card wasn’t good at all.
She called the seller, who at first declined to take the calls, then eventually said she had the wrong person.
THIS TIME HE’S ARRESTED: Three times an officer was dispatched on July 28 to the Metro Transit Center in downtown Renton to deal with the same group of people.
The first two times, a 25-year-old Seattle man wasn’t doing anything illegal when the officer was there and was affectionate toward his girlfriend, 18, of Federal Way.
The third time, witnesses told officers he had hit his girlfriend, which he might have done by accident when he tried to get her to talk with him.
The girlfriend didn’t want him arrested; she just wanted him to leave her alone. He was booked into the SCORE regional jail for investigation of fourth-degree assault. He was very intoxicated. He specifically asked the officer to note in the report that he was cooperative and polite (most of the time).
A HARD KICK: Misdemeanor charges were put on hold July 23 after a 29-year-old Everett woman possibly driving drunk kicked the door of a police SUV so hard it wouldn’t close – a felony.
Officers had to forcibly remove her from a Metro bus where she had fled after leaving her car running on Logan Avenue and blocking traffic after an accident.
The bus driver and passengers pointed out the woman as an officer got on the bus. When she wouldn’t voluntarily get off the bus, officers struggled to get her into handcuffs. They suspected she was intoxicated or high on drugs.
A records checks showed she had eluded police before and her license was revoked or suspended. She also was required to have an interlock device on any vehicle she drove.
Inside the SUV, she hit her head against a metal partition and asked for a pregnancy test. She refused to take a breath test to determine her alcohol level. She was drinking because she’s only two months along. Officers got a search warrant to obtain her blood at Valley Medical Center, where she was also combative.
She was booked into the SCORE regional jail on numerous charges. On the way there, she pushed so hard against the passenger side door of the Tahoe SUV that it wouldn’t completely close; the SUV had to be taken out of service. She was transferred to the King County Jail for investigation of first-degree malicious mischief, a felony.
