A police report states that early on the 3rd someone poured “tempura” paint all over a Mercedes parked in the 2000 block of Northwest 75th. Since the damage was colorful--not crunchy--we're pretty sure that the officer meant “tempera.”

On July 31, someone entered a home in the 3200 block of Northwest 73rd, ransacked each floor, stole a TV, and left a special calling card: They took a spear gun from the garage and took a shot in the house, leaving the tip embedded in the stairway landing wall.

On Aug. 1, someone threw a large rock through a window at Swanson's Nursery and stole a charity fund raising jar from the counter.

In mid-July, a Ballard woman returned home from work and discovered that someone had entered her home. She didn't report the break-in until last week, when she discovered that $5,000 worth of jewelry was missing. (Apparently, the Swiss Army knife that had been left on her bed during the incident hadn't been enough of a motivator to call 911.)

On Saturday Aug. 1, around 11 a.m., a man went to investigate a noise on the second floor of his home in the 9000 block of 9th Northwest. He saw a leg retreating from a window, heard a commotion, and noticed that the burglar had left a baseball cap behind on the floor of the room. No suspects were found.

A citizen stopped a burglary in progress at a store in the 8700 block of Greenwood Avenue North. recently. He gave a shout at a man who broke the store's window, sending the would-be thief running northbound down the avenue before he could make entry to the business.

At 122nd and Evanston, an officer made a stop on a car with tabs that had expired in 2006. The driver, a 43-year-old West Seattle resident, had no proof of insurance, was driving with a suspended license, and was under active Department of Corrections supervision for methamphetamine use. He explained to the officer that the meth pipe in the back seat wasn't his—that it belonged to friends. The officer of course then reminded him that the conditions of his release said he was not to hang around with drug users. He was booked into King County Jail for driving with the suspended license but was cited for the other infractions.

In the 12000 block of Greenwood, a man decided to call a rat exterminator and wanted a nearby tenant to share the cost. But the other man got angry and shoved him against the wall. The shover told officers that the man has been harassing him for years about “small things that go wrong” at the apartment. Officers warned him not to touch the man again, and reminded him that he could always close the front door to keep out unwanted “visitors.”

Burglaries/break-ins/car prowls by block: 9200 15th NW, 9700 15th NW, 9000 9th NW, 7900 8th NW, 300 NW 76th, 300 N 105th, 3200 NW 73rd, 6700 14th NW, 8000 25th NW, 3200 NW 73rd