Sammamish Police Blotter: $17,500 in Items Stolen by Burglars Who Entered Through Dog Door

On Thursday, July 10, residents of the 1500 block of 209th Ave NE reported a burglary of about $17,500 in items, including camera equipment, a large amount of jewelry, computers, and tablet computers.  Because of the time that the computer was logged off the internet router, the time of the burglary is estimated at 1:15 p.m. The residents of the house had blocked off a dog door that a previous resident had installed, and it appears the burglars gained access to the home through that dog door.

Wednesday, July 11

Larceny: Police received a report of a 26-year-old babysitter stealing $2,000 from a cash drawer. The complainant, who lives on the 20600 block of NE 16th street, told police that she had hired a babysitter from a web site, and that after babysitting off and on for some time the babysitter one day oddly asked to be paid by check. After she left, the woman discovered that about $2,000 was missing form the family’s cash drawer, so to test her theory, she put exactly $500 in the drawer next time the babysitter was to come, and after again being asked to be paid by check, the woman discovered $60 missing from the drawer. The family was not sure if they would prosecute, out of fear of retribution.

Thursday, July 12

Gold Bracelets stolen from toddler: A daycare in Sammamish, Sammamish Children’s school, was the scene of an unusual theft.  of the 22500 SE 15 Place. The reporting party told police that his one-year-old child goes to school each day with a gold bracelet on each wrist, and that the bracelets are pretty snug and would never fall off. None of the teachers knew what had happened to the bracelets, which were worth about $1,000.

Mailbox bombing: A mailbox at the 1600 block of 236th Ave NE was bombed with fireworks, and the victim reported seeing a red “muscle” car in the area shortly after the bombing. The metal mailbox was blown completely off the stand, and paper remnants from fireworks were at the scene.

Fraud: A Sammamish resident reported that an unknown party, apparently calling her bank from California, had withdrawn $2,000 from her account, and she had a few months ago had her mail stolen.

Theft discovered: A resident of the Knolls, who parked his work truck outside his apartment on July 12, discovered when he got to work the next morning when he arrived at work that someone had managed to steal about $600 worth of equipment, including mini grinders, and epoxy gun, and other items. When he returned home, he called 911 to report the incident, and then, in a small wooded area near one of the apartment garages, he found all of his missing tools, apparently “staged” (covered in dirt and partially hidden) until the thief could come back for them. The man was not sure if he had locked the toolbox they had been taken from, but all of the tools were recovered.

Friday, July 13

Neighbor dispute: Two neighbors, who had previously contacted police over a dispute that ended in one man’s trampoline being vandalized, called police again, form the 3400 block of E Lake Sammamish Shore lane NE, wit reports of a trespass and additional vandalism to a new trampoline, which had been bought to replace the previous one. The complaining resident had video footage of his neighbor trespassing on the property, but there was no footage of the trampoline being vandalized. The officer gave the neighbor a letter of trespass, and he became verbally abusive to the officer at the scene.

High Speed DUI: A 39-year old Microsoft employee was arrested for reckless driving, DUI, and driving with a suspended license, after driving at speeds in excess of 95 miles per hour about 1 am on July 13. The officer was having a lunch break at pine lake park, when he saw a 2011 jeep grand Cherokee make an aggressive left turn onto SE 24th from 228th Ave SE. The speed limit there is 35 mph, but the car, while the officer was trying to catch up with it, quickly accelerated to speeds of about 100 mph. the officer realized it would not be safe to pursue the driver as such high speeds, especially as it passed another eastbound vehicle on the 23500 block of SE 24th. The car did slow down near 244th, and the officer was able to catch up and the driver then pulled over. The driver had a license suspended in the third degree, and failed field sobriety tests. A breathalyzer administered at the Issaquah Jail revealed a blood alcohol level of .132/.148.

Saturday, July 14

Vandalism: The mother of a young woman who had been babysitting at a local apartment complex reported to police that she suspected another resident of that complex had keyed the girl’s car after a dispute over the babysitter parking in a spot belonging to the resident. Police had not made contact with a suspect.

Slashed tires: a resident at the 1300 block of 205th ave ne called police to report that the sidewalls of two of the tires on his Nissan X-Terra SUV had been slashed

Monday, July 16

Vandalism at Samantha Smith Elementary: Police were called to investigate graffiti at the Lake Washington school, where the custodian reported finding smashed wine and beer bottles on the sidewalk leading to the school playground. Some also had used hot tar (which was now hardened) to write obscenities, including expletives aimed at the police “Smoke weed 420” and others. It was unknown how much it would cost in time and labor to clean the graffiti or where the tar had been obtained by the vandals, but police the night before had arrested three juveniles, ranging in age from 15-16, at the site of another incident on the 23500 block of NE 17th Place. In that case, police arrived to the scene and saw several construction cones scattered about, and caught the three teens fleeing the scene. Upon inspection, the officers discovered that a nearby construction vehicle’s windshield had been smashed by a heavy object. One of the boys admitted to committing the crime, and the mother of the boy told police she would like to talk to VB-Award Construction about the malicious mischief and see if an agreement for damages could be arrived at without the company pressing charges.

Wednesday, July 18

Vandalism: A resident of the Knolls Apartments on Inglewood Hill reported to police that someone had flattened all four tires on his RV. The tires appeared to be flattened solely by letting the air out, and the man said he suspected one of his neighbors who often calls 911 about improperly parked cars, of having done it. He said if the tires have to be replaced, it would cost about $1,000 to replace them.

Thursday, July 19

Mailbox bombing: a mailbox on the 3900 block of 229th place SE was bombed by a small explosive.

Friday, July 20

Mail theft: The owner of a home-based business located on the 22900 block of NE 14th reported to police that someone had stolen a UPS package from his front porch, which contained a $300 wireless router.