The following information was compiled from Renton Police Department case reports.
Renton officers finally figured out the shoplifters’ convoluted stories – including helping out an “auntie” – but in the end they didn’t get the goods back.
Two Seattle men, ages 39 and 23, were stopped outside Walmart on Rainier Avenue Aug. 5 after they fraudulently returned some merchandise and also managed to get past the door monitor using an old receipt for the merchandise they were actually stealing.
The total value of the merchandise was about $570.
But the suspects could not get their stories completely straight.
The 23-year-old told officers he was merely picking out a refrigerator, toaster oven and cooking ware his “auntie” had pre-purchased at a Walmart in Tacoma. He even had a receipt, but video showed another man actually buying those goods in Renton the day before. Somehow, the suspect got a hold of that receipt.
Besides that, Walmart doesn’t allow such “pre-purchases,” security officers told police.
The two were arrested and booked into the SCORE regional jail. The 23-year-old had a $1,700 warrant for trafficking in stolen property and the 39-year-old had a $2,600 warrant for driving with a suspended license.
The officer was given permission to search the Expedition. It was empty. Surveillance video showed someone removing the merchandise from the SUV.
The 23-year-old had done a lot of texting waiting for officers to arrive. The assumption is he was telling someone to remove the stolen items before it was too late.
CELL PHONE STOLEN: A cell phone worth $450 was stolen from inside a Honda Civic late on Aug. 6 while the owner, a 25-year-old Renton man, was at a downtown Renton pub.
He found the drivers-side window smashed. The Bluetooth headset was left behind. Three cigarette butts littered the ground next to broken glass.
The company phone was deactivated.
DOGS KEEP BARKING: A 57-year-old Renton woman who has called 911 five times since June about barking dogs called again on Aug. 7.
The dogs were barking when an officer arrived at the residence on 129th Place Southeast. The barking has worsened over the last two years.
The dogs’ owner was warned in June because of the barking and fact the dogs weren’t licensed. This time he was cited for the two infractions.
OFFICER HIT: After staring with a stone-cold face for several seconds, a 29-year-old Tacoma woman took a swing at the Renton Police officer outside the
Valley Medical Center ER. She missed when the officer stepped back.
Officers were called to the hospital Aug. 4 because the woman was refusing to leave after she was discharged for an involuntary commitment. She was lying on the ground, against a large concrete planter box.
Out of nowhere, with her fist closed she swung her arm at the officer, who grabbed her arm before she could hit his face. She hit another officer in the chest, breaking his glasses. She was handcuffed on the ground.
She was arrested for investigation of assault and booked into the SCORE regional jail. She eventually was cited but not charged with a felony.
MAN STABBED IN ARGUMENT: An argument between two men in the Highlands on July 29 led to the stabbing of a 48-year-old Renton man.
The victim knows the suspect, who police learned has a criminal record.
The victim was walking his dog near a restaurant on Northeast Sunset Boulevard, when the suspect asked him to come inside. He then threatened the victim. They fought and the victim was stabbed multiple times, including in the stomach, with what he described as a four-inch knife.
A K-9 unit search failed to turn up the suspect.
The victim was treated at Valley Medical Center.
BOYFRIEND ARRESTED: Three times on July 28 an officer was dispatched 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).
WATCH THE CABLE GUY: 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 a satellite service and cancel the installation if they wouldn’t call police.
