The following information was compiled from Renton Police Department case reports.
The mother of his 3-year-old daughter was snorting cocaine at home, so he decided to leave with the child. But he didn’t have any clothes for her, nor any money to buy some.
So, the afternoon of July 20 he headed to Walmart on Rainier Avenue, where he stuffed about $100 worth of children’s clothing in his baggy jeans. He left without paying but was stopped outside by store security officers.
In frisking the suspect, a Renton Police officer felt something in his jeans near his feet.
“Probably more of their stuff,” he answered, when asked what was in his pants.
The officer removed a child’s canvas shoe from each pant leg. He blurted out why he was stealing the clothes but was told not to say anything more because he hadn’t yet been read his rights.
As the officer interviewed him, the 25-year-old Seattle man fidgeted, reached into his pockets, kicked his feet, shook his legs and lifted his feet in and out of his shoes. The officer looked around the bench while interviewing the suspect but didn’t see anything.
The officer determined there was probable cause to arrest the man for third-degree theft. City prosecutors would mail the citation to him.
He was free to leave. He took just two steps when the officer spotted where his feet had been a baggy containing a rock-like substance; a field test later showed it was crack cocaine
“Hey, nice rocks you dropped,” the officer said. The suspect sprinted from the store and drove away in a silver 2011 Hyundai Sonata.
He ran off before the officer could return his Washington ID card, so it was booked into evidence along with 3.8 grams of crack cocaine. The case was forwarded to Renton detectives.
GUNFIRE HITS CAR: A sedan was struck 10 to 15 times by gunfire – flattening three tires July 21, but none of the three people inside was hit.
One of the bullets went through the driver’s-side rear window near where a 7-year-old child was sitting and struck the windshield between the driver and a passenger.
The driver, a 27-year-old Renton woman, pulled into a Chevron station on Southwest Sunset Boulevard at about 2 a.m., but it was closed.
Someone opened fire as the vehicle started to leave; the driver saw five males standing across the street. A police officer heard the gunfire from several blocks away.
The driver called 911 and drove to the Renton Police Department at City Hall. An officer could smell a heavy odor of marijuana inside and saw marijuana leaf residue on the dashboard.
BURGLARY THWARTED: The resident was getting ready to take a shower, when three men knocked on her front door and tried to remove a screen from a front window without success.
They walked to the backyard. When neighbors went to investigate, one man ran to the Lincoln Town Car that brought them there and two fled on foot.
The resident learned of the burglary attempt from the neighbor. She doesn’t believe her home was entered.
BOYFRIENDS FIGHT: Two boyfriends hit each other and one bit the other July 20 after one of them became belligerent with a fast-food worker in the drive-through.
The 24-year-old man was drunk, so his boyfriend was driving; they decided to stop for food at about 1 a.m.
The 29-year-old driver tried to get his boyfriend to calm down after he became belligerent with the employee, without success.
They drove off. They started hitting each other, but both said the other started it.
The boyfriend bit the neck and left arm of the driver, who then pushed him out of the car. He later showed up at his boyfriend’s apartment where officers were dispatched.
Officers determined the 24-year-old was the primary aggressor, so he was arrested for fourth-degree assault, domestic violence, and booked into the SCORE regional jail
PEDESTRIANS PEPPER SPRAYED: A 23-year-old Renton man was arrested July 19 after reports he was spraying people with pepper spray on South Third Street.
Two victims were hit in the face with the chemical, including one who was treated with eye wash.
The suspect was spotted on the sidewalk outside a teriyaki restaurant. He was instructed to stop but he continued to walk toward an officer, who drew a Taser gun and held it at low ready. The suspect dropped a windbreaker and beanie and got on the ground, where he was handcuffed.
He was booked into SCORE regional jail for investigation of fourth-degree assault. He’s known to Renton officers.
FOOT RUN OVER: The foot of a Goodwill store security officer was run over July 14 when he tried to pull a fleeing shoplifter from a getaway vehicle.
The security officer watched as the two suspects in their 20s indiscriminately grabbed men’s and women’s clothing and shoes and put them in a shopping cart. One had a duffle bag slung across his front.
One of the suspects loaded the clothing into two duffle bags and ran from the store, with the security officer in pursuit.
The security officer grabbed him just was he was getting into the rear passenger door. The suspect yelled, “drive off, drive off.” The security officer’s right foot was run over as the car accelerated away.
Officers were able to trace the 2001 Lexus through its license plate to a Carnation address. However, police have had contact with the owner before, who lives in Renton. A booking photo appears similar to the driver.
Neither of the driver nor the Lexus were located at the Renton address.
The stolen items were worth about $200.
