Tom Fucoloro

The driver of a van tried to attack a person on a bike with a Taser while at a stoplight Northgate, according to the police report. The driver then tried to hit the cyclist with his van, but the cyclist picked up his bike and ran onto the sidewalk to safety.

The incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. October 19 at Northgate Way and Roosevelt. The victim told police he was riding westbound on Northgate, and signaled that he was going to slow down to stop at a red light at Roosevelt. A van following him stopped abruptly behind him at the light, then pulled up within a foot of the cyclist on the cyclist's left side.

The driver and biker got into a verbal altercation. The driver then allegedly grabbed a Taser and tried to reach across the passenger seat to attack the cyclist with it. The cyclist backed away from the van to avoid the attack.

The driver then tried to hit the cyclist with his van. Fearing for his life, the cyclist picked up his bike and ran to the sidewalk. The van only stopped when it hit the curb. The van then fled the scene.

Police seem to be familiar with the vehicle and the vehicle's owner, described as a balding white male in his 50s, and are aware that the owner carries a Taser. Witnesses corroborated the cyclist's version of the story.

Tom is the editor of SeattleBikeBlog.com, where this story was originally published.

Phinneywood reports that someone has stolen the over 400-pound pumpkin from in front of Greenwood Market at NW 85th St and 3rd Ave NW. From Phinneywood:

A store employee, who didn’t want to be identified, says the theft is disappointing, not only to the store, but to the farmer who grew up.

“We always return those pumpkins to the farmers, because they need the seeds and use them to grow them next year,” she said. “In all the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve never had this happen.”

If you happen to see a 400-pound pumpkin around anywhere unusual, you may want to call Greenwood Market at 206-782-1610.

Let's just hope the thieves did not have something like this in mind when they stole it:

A man was arrested in SoDo for threatening a couple with a knife after commenting on a woman's pants, according to the police report. As the woman was walking on the sidewalk around 3:30 p.m. October 16, a man in a parking lot said, "Those jeans look good on you," in a suggestive manner. He then asked her who she "rolled" with.

She told him she was with her husband. She then went to her husband, who was a short distance from her, and told him about the man. The husband walked towards the alleged catcaller and asked him what he had said to his wife.

The catcaller then allegedly whipped out a knife and pointed it at the husband. He walked towards the couple, saying, "You want to run on me, I'll run on you." This scared the couple, who began backing away and called 911.

The man was found at a nearby bus stop. He told police the husband had threatened him, so he pulled out the knife for protection. He said the husband ran towards him, but the husband said he was only walking towards the man. The catcaller was arrested and booked in King County jail for Unlawful Use of a Weapon to Intimidate Another.

SPD has released a sketch of a person they suspect burned a house in Madrona October 18. If this picture does not ring a bell, imagine the suspect flicking a lighter over and over and just staring at the flame.

From the SPD Blotter:

On October 18th at approximately 11:00 a.m. an arson of a home was committed in the 1700 block of 33rd Avenue.  The fire also engulfed the neighboring residence.  Just prior to the fire the pictured suspect knocked on the victim’s door and asked if he could look in the backyard for a ball.  The victim gave the suspect permission and then left his residence.  Shortly after the victim left, his house caught fire.  Further investigation revealed that a person matching this suspect’s description had gone to another residence in the area and asked if he could go into the backyard to look for a ball.  It is believed this was a ruse to determine if anyone was home prior to committing his crimes.

The suspect is described as a black male with a medium to dark complexion, 18 to early 20′s, 5’11″ tall, 150 lbs., athletic build, and hair in corn rows. 

Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identity or whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call 911 or Seattle Police immediately and refer to this incident. 

This remains an active and on-going Seattle Police Arson investigation.

When a Queen Anne woman saw someone leaving her apartment building's parking garage with a bicycle, she knew something wasn't right. She confronted the man about the bicycle, and he told her he lived in the building and had permission to take the bike. But she knew his story was a little fishy. After all, the bicycle was hers, according to search warrant documents filed in King County Superior Court.

She told the man to give her his ID, which he did. She snapped a photo of it with her cell phone and gave it back. The man then left the building. When the apartment manager arrived at the building later that day, October 10, she saw that the call box had been tampered with. When she got to the leasing office, she saw the door had been pried open and the lock box containing $70,000 - $100,000 worth of rent checks had been stolen from the ransacked room. Two laptops, some keys and $300 cash were also missing. In the parking garage, there were several car prowls in addition to the attempted bike theft.

When officers saw the photo of the ID the bike owner had taken, the face on the Arizona license was familiar. Kevin James Hill, 22, had been arrested a month earlier at the scene of a burglary at Wireless on Westlake. In that incident, Hill and an accomplice allegedly broke into the business and stole a black laptop bag containing the owner's credit cards and cell phone, among other items. According to the documents, police saw him try to flee in a car, which later came up as stolen. When Hill pulled into a parking space, they ordered him onto the ground and put him in handcuffs. He allegedly told police, "I'm a car prowler, I am not a burglar."

When police knocked on his door a month later, in investigation of the Queen Anne burglaries, he answered the door and allegedly incriminated himself right away. Police asked him about the incident, and he responded "I didn't even get the bike," according to the documents. He then went on to say, "What happened ... the lady told me I needed to pay for it and asked for my ID ... I thought if I gave her my ID she wouldn't call the police." When asked how he removed the bike, he told police he had used bolt cutters. He was placed under arrest.

Upon searching his body, they found a couple of the rent checks, which Hill had allegedly altered to include his name. They asked him where the rest were, and he told them they would find them in his apartment.

He was clearly just trying to be courteous. Nothing creepy about it at all. How were these women supposed to make it from the street to their front doors without an escort? And how rude of them to decline his offer!

A man hanging around outside a residence near 92nd and Phinney Ave in Greenwood around 11 p.m. October 8 asked a woman if she would like an escort from the street to her front door. She declined the man's offer, according to the police report. Another roommate came home around 11:55 p.m. and did not see anyone outside.

However, a third roommate was sitting by a window inside the residence a few minutes later when a rock the size of a softball came flying through the window, hitting her in the head. She received a one-inch laceration from the blow.

The police report does not say for sure if the man who offered the escort was the same person who threw the rock, but he appears to be the main suspect.

Two men followed a Columbia City woman into her apartment building and robbed her Sept. 23, according to the police report. The robbers snatched her $800 gold necklace and ran, she told police

The woman, who speaks limited English, told police through an interpreter that she had returned from work around 9:30 p.m. and gathered her bags from her car. She saw a group of black men across the street, and one of them followed her to the building entrance. Because her hands were full with her bags, she used the powered automatic door button to get inside, which allowed the man to enter the building behind her.

When she went to check her mail, she noticed the man waiting by the elevator, but he had not pushed the call button. She got scared, so she left the building. The man followed her, saying something about the elevator button not working. Once outside, he called to one of his friends in an African language, the victim told police. The friend began running over to them, and she went back into the building, using the automatic door again.

They followed her back into the building. She asked the men if they live there. One man said his mom did. She pushed the elevator button and the doors swung open. One man grabbed her necklace and yanked it off, scratching her and ripping her shirt. They both fled.

She told police the necklace is about 18 inches long and made of 14 karat white gold. It has a white gold pendent with three blue-colored jade stones and is worth about $800.

A beauty contestant attacked a bartender the night of Sept. 25 near Olive and Boylston after she refused to serve him because he cut in line. The bartender told police she continued serving the people he had cut, angering the contestant. He threatened to beat her up, according to the police report.

The victim went to the owner of the bar and told him about the contestant's threat. He then spoke with the suspect and convinced him to apologize to the victim. The contestant did so and gave her a hug.

When the bartender took a smoke break across the street, the suspect approached her and confronted her about "snitching" on him to the owner. He then allegedly grabbed her around the neck and started to choke her. She was able to get a kick in, but then he punched her several times. He then walked away.

The victim told police people saw the attack from across the street, including bar security, but did not intervene. When she went inside and told the owner what happened, he told her to get back to work.

She quit.

Here's a call you don't want to get. A friend calls you up and asks you if you will pick up a family friend from the Greyhound station because he's too drunk to get on the bus. You say, Oh, uh, I guess, sure (or something like that) and drive down to the station.

Well, that didn't work out too well for one Seattle woman, according to the police report. She went down to pick up a drunk family friend from the Greyhound Station. He was waiting with security, and she convinced him to go back to her place until he sobered up. She offered to drive him back to the station the next day so he could catch his bus to Arizona. He agreed to go with her.

Once in the car, though, he was belligerent the whole way back to her home. When they pulled into her driveway, he said, "Fuckin' bitch! I want more beer!" and threw a metal can of coffee at her. The can left a mark on her chin. She drove the man back to the station and told security to call detox on him. He was belligerent and refused to go with the detox wagon or leave the station, so police were called. He was arrested once he became "slightly hostile."

A man caught a car prowler in a parking garage in lower Queen Anne and kicked him in the groin before being slashed with a screw driver.

The victim went to his F-350 pickup truck around 4 a.m. September 11 to head to work, according to the police report. He noticed that some things had been piled onto the passenger seat of the truck, but he had not put them there. He noticed a man rummaging around in a Dodge Durango nearby and knocked on the driver's side window. He demanded to see the man's ID and proof that he owned the car.

At first, the suspect said he had ID, but then changed his mind and said he did not. The suspect started walking towards the garage door with the victim following, calling 911. When he got to the garage door, the suspect picked up a backpack that the victim immediately recognized as his own.

"Hey! You're the thief that stole my backpack!" he shouted at the suspect. The suspect took a swing at the victim, who grabbed the suspect and kicked him in the groin. The victim allegedly pulled a screwdriver from his pocket and stabbed the victim in the cheek with it. The victim kept a hold on the suspect's sweatshirt, but the suspect squirmed out of it and ran away. He left the scene in a brown SUV.

The victim declined transport to the hospital, saying he could drive himself. In the victim's packpack, police found items that had been stolen from other cars in the garage.

There is no word on on whether the groin kick was a direct hit.