While walking near 15th and Northwest 87th Thursday evening, a man and his female friend were accosted by two men in their twenties—one white and one Hispanic. The suspects—strangers to the victims—starting calling names and challenging the male victim to fight. The two pummeled the man and hit him in the head with a rock, causing a severe gash. The woman threw a cup of coffee on the combatants, which allowed the victims a moment to escape and seek treatment at a hospital, where they called 911.

After losing 10 doses of prescribed anxiety meds, a couple of beers, and an antique glass—but without any signs of forced entry to her apartment—a Ballard woman suspects that the new building maintenance worker has sticky fingers.

Around 8 p.m. Thursday, a man walked into the Greenwood Walgreens and demanded the pain reliever oxycontin from pharmacy technician, who did not have a key to access the supply of the drug. The would-be robber fled southbound on Greenwood Avenue.

The officer took time to speak with the suicidal man on the curb outside Ballard Swedish Hospital. A run of bad luck and depression made him want to “drink himself to death.” Persuaded to go into the building for treatment, the emotional man became violent and argumentative. The officer filled out paperwork to admit him for an involuntary evaluation.

The man who called 911 to complain about being threatened by a gun actually turned out to be suspicious himself. The other party turned out to be his ex-wife, to whom he had been sending threatening messages: over 100 of them 18 hours. Before he called 911, she had called as well, saying that her ex-husband was chasing her in his car and that she and a friend were headed to the North Precinct. Officers listened to her story and advised that both she and her friend should go to court for restraining orders against her ex. When he showed up after they left, he admitted he had lied about the evening's events but that he was scared of his ex's boyfriend, whom he knew to carry a gun. What he couldn't explain was why, given his fear, he was spending so much time following the couple. Officers also told him he was no longer allowed to contact his ex. He was released, but charges are pending.