Officers responded to a home burglary in progress on the 6300 block of 37th Ave s.w. earlier in the week. The owner of the house had cracked his kitchen window to let in some fresh air and was in his bedroom when he heard some commotion from the kitchen, initially assuming it was the cats messing around (cat burglar pun intentionally omitted). The sound continued and sounded less cat-like, so the owner investigated and found the red-hooded sweatshirt wearing burglar about halfway through the window. The suspect saw the man and put it in reverse, sliding back out the way he came. The owner chased him towards the alley and as the suspect jumped a wooden fence he dropped his copper-colored Motorola phone in the alley. The suspect turned back, hoping to recover the phone, but the owner stood over it and yelled, “I saw you!” The call of “Male trying to climb through window / two minutes ago / ran northbound in alley on west side on foot,” came over the radio and a SPD officer responded. When the officers arrived they were shown the cell phone and given a description of the suspect. As they talked, the victim spotted the burglar farther down the alley (he had not made much progress in the escape) and officers took off in pursuit. Backup units were called and the suspect was rounded up at the intersection of 35th s.w. and s.w. Morgan.

A red-hooded sweatshirt made another appearance later that day (different guy; the first one was sitting in jail) when the police radio warned of a possible burglary in progress. Officers arrived at the 3600 block of 46th Ave s.w. and surrounded the house. Once they had all the exits covered officers entered the house from the rear, flushing the suspect out the front. An officer was waiting for the burglar, but he refused commands to stop and bolted down the road. He was caught quickly by another officer and was booked into King County Jail. He was allowed to keep his sweatshirt, but his leather gloves and two screw drivers (your basic burglary kit) were placed in evidence.

The victim of an assault stopped by a friend’s house to give her a ride to the store. While waiting out front he noticed two others who frequent or live at the house were in the garage working on a truck. They had a dog with them that “per a family dictate” was not allowed on the premise (there was no indication of why). As the victim and the men talked about relocating the dog, the suspect came up and started yelling at the victim to leave the “boys” alone. The suspect shoved the victim and told him to remove his glasses, otherwise he would “punch them into his face.” The suspect then grabbed the victim’s neck and applied pressure. About that time a witness emerged from the house and told the suspect to leave – he did. Turns out no one, including the guys in the garage, knew who the suspect was. The victim had some redness on his neck, but was otherwise fine.

Burglaries/break-ins/car prowls by block: 1400 Alki SW, 2300 Harver Ave SW, 5700 SW Hanford, 3300 59th SW, 2900 SW Avalon, 4400 48th SW, 4300 SW Oregon, 7100 Wright Ave SW, 6900 37th SW, 3900 SW Webster, 9900 18th SW, 8600 34th SW, 3600 SW Cloverdale, 3600 SW Barton, 10000 37th SW, 10600 Seola Beach SW, 11100 Marine View SW

The success of this column is largely based on feedback, tips and suggestions from you, the reader, so please contact Ty Swenson anytime at policeblotter@robinsonnews.com.