Man dies in house fire

September 19-A 56-year-old man died in a fire that destroyed his home shortly after midnight.

Burien/Normandy Park firefighters discovered the body after putting out the blaze that destroyed the small house in the 16200 block of Eighth Avenue Southwest.

At last report, the victim had not been identified. One unconfirmed report indicated he was a Vietnam veteran whose home recently had gone into foreclosure.

Battalion Chief Doug Luedeman said the home was fully engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived at the house in the 16200 block of Eighth Avenue Southwest.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze. The fire did not damage the room where the victim was found.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Memorial plaques stolen

September 19-Four bronze plaques honoring American soldiers who died in World War I were reported stolen from the war memorial on Des Moines Memorial Drive at South 156th Street.

The memorial in front of the Sunnydale School site honors soldiers from the Highline area who died in that war.

Burien police believe the plaques were stolen by thieves who then would sell the metal for cash-an increasingly common means for getting drug money that is employed by methamphetamine addicts.

City Manager Mike Martin said later that a time capsule had been found inside one of the plaque holders. Perhaps 50 years old, the time capsule was turned over to the Highline Historical Society.

Des Moines

Car-semi crash injures 1

September 20-At 10:45 p.m., a full-size sedan collided with the trailer of a semi-rig at Kent-Des Moines Road and Pacific Highway South, causing heavy damage to the front end of the car.

The lone occupant of the car, an unidentified man, was trapped in the wreckage. Firefighters from the Kent Fire Department and South King Fire & Rescue had to use the "Jaws of Life" to free him.

The damage was so extensive that it took them 35 minutes to extricate the victim.

The driver of the semi was not injured.

The condition of the man, who was taken to a local hospital, was not known.

North Highline

Suspect turns himself in

September 17-The suspect in a domestic violence complaint turned himself in at the Seattle Police Department's Southwest Precinct following a standoff two days earlier at a residence in the 2700 block of South 125 Street.

According to a King County Sheriff's Office spokesman, a victim had reported on Sept. 15 that the suspect was armed with a handgun. The victim claimed she was punched and pushed and threatened with the gun.

Because the suspect in this case was armed, the sheriff's S.W.A.T. and Hostage Negotiation Teams responded to the residence. When a search warrant was served, the suspect was not inside.

On Sept. 17, a sheriff's deputy on patrol discovered a stolen vehicle parked at the suspect's residence. While deputies were recovering the stolen vehicle they saw movement that led them to believe the home was occupied.

The S.W.A.T. and Hostage Negotiation Teams again were called, but got no response. After the team broke out some windows, the victim came outside and said she had been sleeping.

When the S.W.A.T. Team entered the home they found that the suspect wasn't present.

Later in the day, he turned himself in.

Compiled by Ralph Nichols