The following was compiled from Renton Police Department incident reports.
A 16-year-old boy viewed pornography on his phone discovered it was infected with “ransomware” when he tried to free up space.
He and his mother went to the Police Department on June 17 to report the ransomware, which was activated when he attempted to delete a URL.
An officer scrolled through the screens on the phone, noticing sexually explicit photographs of people, some of whom looked younger than 18.
In searching the internet, the officer learned that to remove the malware, a user pays money for a “PIN” to unlock the phone. One screen offered a payment location.
With permission, the officer tried to remove the ransomware but the fix didn’t work.
The boy told the officer he didn’t download any photos. Because of the boy’s age, the officer placed the phone into evidence so the boy wouldn’t get into trouble for possessing pornography. The boy said OK.
NOT GOING ANYWHERE: A 22-year-old Seattle man yelled profanities and tried to break the grip of a Good Samaritan who intervened in a fight between the suspect and another man in an aisle at the downtown Safeway.
Multiple police units had been dispatched to the store at about 10 p.m. on June 10 after the suspect was reported acting aggressively and glaring at customers.
For some reason, the suspect attacked another customer who weighed between 250 and 300 pounds. The victim managed to get the best of the other man and wasn’t hurt. He slipped away without talking to officers.
The suspect continued to yell profanities as he was taken to a patrol car. He was booked into the SCORE regional jail for investigation of disorderly conduct.
JUMPED ON SUNSET: A 30-year-old Renton man was attacked at about 7 p.m. June 12 by three men as he walked to a store on Sunset Boulevard Northeast.
His keys and phone were stolen.
It’s possible the victim did something inappropriate earlier to the woman who was driving the SUV in which the men were riding.
BRANDISHING: A dispute, apparently over money owned by a drug dealer, ended June 16 when what appeared to be an automatic-style rifle was shown to two female victims on Northeast Sunset Boulevard.
The two women had approached the third woman about $50 she owed one of them. The later became upset and told a woman with her to “take care of it,” making the two women feel threatened.
The woman pulled a black bag out of the trunk and handed it to a male passenger. He unzipped it and showed the two victims the rifle inside. They then went into a nearby clinic and called police about 20 minutes later.
Detectives were reviewing the case.
