Nearby News: Crime reports from Phinney, Fremont and Wallingford

The North Precinct SPD blotter has recently been filled with crime stories from Ballard’s neighbors Phinney Ridge, Fremont and Wallingford.

Updates from the blotter posts are included below.

SPD officers arrested a man on Tuesday morning who was seen smashing the windows of a Phinney Ridge chocolate factory and an ATM machine in Fremont (pictured above). Check out more details below:

Officers made a rock-solid arrest Tuesday morning in Fremont after a man threw a chunk of concrete through a bus shelter, smashed windows at a chocolate factory with a cement brick, and hurled a large stone at an ATM.

Staff members at a Fremont business called police just before 10 AM and reported a man had smashed two windows at a chocolate factory in the 3400 block of Phinney Avenue North and ducked into a garage. Officers found the 34-year-old man a few blocks away and arrested him for malicious mischief.

Police followed the man’s suspected trail through fremont and discovered the smashed bus shelter and damaged ATM. They also discovered he had a warrant for throwing rocks through windows during a separate incident in June 2015, and booked him into the King County Jail.

SPD Detectives also arrested two teens in connection with an armed robbery that took place at a Wallingford convenience store last week. Read the full report below:

Police responded to the store in the 4000 block of Wallingford Ave N around 9:30 p.m. on January 28th, after an employee reported that two masked men had robbed him at gunpoint.

The employee asked the robbers to wait until a customer left before he handed over any cash. Instead, the impatient robbers walked behind the counter, emptied the register and several packs of cigarettes before fleeing.

Officers tracked one suspect, a 16-year-old boy, to his Queen Anne home the night of the robbery. They later released him to his parents pending further investigation.

Robbery detectives continued to follow-up on leads in the case, and arrested a second 16-year-old suspect on February 2nd at Ballard High School. Detectives booked the second teen into the King County Youth Services Center for investigation of robbery.

A 30-year-old burglar was also arrested by SPD officers on Tuesday after breaking into a home on Phinney Ridge. The suspect was caught by the home owner, who beat him around the head with his fists and a pair of garden shears. Read more details below:

The resident called 911 around 3:30 p.m. after he saw the burglar pull up on his street in the 6200 block of 4th Ave NW in a Toyota, force his way into the victim’s garage, and then make a beeline for his home.

As the victim was on the phone with 911 dispatchers he heard the suspect knocking on his front door, followed by the sound of glass breaking.

The resident stayed on the phone with dispatchers as he went to his front door and walked outside to look for the suspect. When he didn’t find him, he turned back around, walked into his home, and found the suspect in his kitchen, holding a pair of garden shears.

The victim leapt at the suspect, snatched the shears from his hands, and began beating the burglar over the head with the tool and his fists as he chased him out the back door of the home.

As the homeowner rushed after the burglar, the suspect jumped on the victim’s girlfriend’s bike, which he had removed from the garage.

The suspect ignored the victim’s orders to get off the bike, and instead rode away down the street.

Officers caught up to the suspect four blocks away and took him into custody.

The victim told police he believed he had injured his hand during the incident–presumably from striking the suspect in the head–but did not require treatment at the scene.

The suspect complained of head injuries and was treated at the scene by medics before officers booked him into the King County Jail for investigation of burglary.

Photo courtesy of SPD.