Sammamish Police Blotter: A Person Impersonates Deputy, Burglars Steal Over $24k in Goods From House and Man Arrested for Swiping Sushi

Friday, March 25

Suspicious circumstances: A couple contacted Sammamish police after encountering a suspicious man who claimed he was an off-duty sheriff’s deputy. The couple had been driving their Volkswagen down 216th Avenue Northeast when a silver BMW X5 approached them from behind and started following closely. The BMW then began to flash its headlights at them, at which point they pulled to the side to let the BMW pass. The BMW did not pass, though, and continued to follow them closely with its headlights still flashing. The Volkswagen driver then stopped on the side of the road, exited his car and wrote down the BMW’s license plate number.

He approached the driver of the BMW and asked what he was doing. The BMW driver said he was an off-duty cop. Because the BMW driver was talking on a cell phone, the Volkswagen driver believed that he was calling for other police. The Volkswagen driver got back into his car and drove away. The BMW followed them yet again. The Volkswagen driver eventually turned onto 212th Avenue Southeast and the BMW continued on 216th.

The couple provided police with the BMW’s license plate number, which police then used to locate the home of the registered owner. When speaking with the man, he first said that he hadn’t been out driving and that he had never told anyone that he was a cop. He then began to talk about strange teenagers that were driving around the neighborhood and upsetting residents. The man’s body language and unwillingness to make eye contact lead police to suspect him of lying. The man eventually changed his story and admitted that he had been out. He said that he saw the couple in the Volkswagen and suspected that they were up to no good. He said he confronted them and told them to get out of town. He then consented to a search of his garage. Police found the silver BMW X5 parked in the garage.

Police later contacted the victims to make arrangements to have them go over a photo lineup in the near future.

Sunday, March 27

Violation of court orders: Sammamish police arrested a man for violating court orders after he entered his wife’s home. A juvenile at the scene also was arrested on a felony warrant.

Monday, March 28

Burglary: A Sammamish man living on 251st Avenue Southeast contacted police after he came home and interrupted a burglary. The owner had returned home, noticed a strange vehicle parked in his driveway and his front door kicked in. He spotted a man inside the house. The owner entered his home through the garage, at which point the man ran out through a rear sliding door. The suspect ran around the house, jumped into his vehicle and sped away. The man is described as approximately 30-years-old, 185 pounds, with black hair. His vehicle was a dark green Toyota Camry. Police recovered fingerprints from the scene.

Vandalism: A Sammamish woman living at the Madison Apartments on 231st Lane Southeast contacted police after she discovered graffiti scrawled on her truck. Police arrived on the scene and found the words “Fowlow draw” written on the driver’s side window with a permanent black marker, along with a long line running from the window to the rear section of truck. “I peed hear,” was written on the side of the truck bed with an arrow pointing downward. “The sot team, I had to go bad Sory! Ha-fla” was also drawn on the side. The woman said that a specific body shape had also been drawn on the windshield but she had already cleaned it off.

The woman also directed police to another car that had been vandalized. “I wiped my pee hear” and an arrow pointing downward were written on the driver’s side window of the second car in the same black marker. Police noticed three garages in the complex that had the word “Sex” written on them.

Police contacted the manager, who said that he suspected kids who hang around the “S” building, which is located directly behind the QFC, might be responsible for the vandalism.

Tuesday, March 29

Burglary: Police were dispatched to a residence on 210th Avenue Northeast after the owners returned home from a trip to Vancouver, B.C. and found their home burglarized. Sliding glass doors at the front of the house had been shattered and the interior was in disarray. A camcorder, three digital cameras, a DVD player, two laptops, an iPhone, an iPod Touch, an iPad, a Nintendo Wii, an Xbox, two silk rugs, jewelry, purses and $1,500 in cash were taken. Total damages and losses exceeded $24,000. A neighbor reported seeing a strange person at the top of the driveway and a dark-colored SUV parked outside the night before. The female victim said that she had no idea how anyone knew that the family would be away, but said that their car had been broken into a year earlier during a similar trip. She also reported that her daughter had mentioned the trip on Facebook, but she did not believe that she had mentioned when the family would be gone. Police were able to recover fingerprints at the scene.

Wednesday, March 30

Criminal warrant: A Sammamish man was arrested after he met King County Sheriff's deputies at Sammamish City Hall in the interest of clearing up a warrant that had been issued for him. After fingerprinting the man, police found that the man was wanted on a felony warrant. The man was taken into custody and transported to King County Jail.

Thursday, March 31

Larceny: A Sammamish man reported that his backpack was stolen from a vehicle he had been riding in while it was parked at a residence on Northeast Inglewood Hill Road.

Larceny: Police arrested a 19-year-old man after he was caught stealing a sushi platter from the Pine Lake QFC on 228th Avenue Southeast. An employee had seen the man hide the sushi platter under his coat and had followed him out of the store. The employee confronted the man outside but he tried to walk away. The employee then grabbed the man and struggled with him briefly before other employees came and helped bring the man back into the store. The man was arrested for theft and released. The 10.5-ounce sushi platter was priced at $6.48. 

Drunkenness: A Sammamish woman contacted police after getting into an argument with her 43-year-old son, who she claimed had been drinking. After police arrived on the scene, a deputy spoke to the man and could smell alcohol. The man consented to a Breathalyzer test and blew a .232. The man was taken to Overlake Hospital Medical Center for detoxification.

Larceny: A Sammamish man contacted police after he believed that he lost his wallet in the Taco Time on 228th Avenue Northeast. After leaving the restaurant, the man noticed that his wallet was gone and went back to search for it. He could not find the wallet in the booth he had been sitting in and believed that one of the employees must have taken it. Police spoke with the manager who said that none of the employees had seen a wallet. The man reported that $125 in cash was in the wallet, along with a $25 Target gift card.

Friday, April 1

Break in: Police were dispatched to a storage garage owned by the city of Sammamish after it was reported that someone had broken into the garage. Located on Southeast 24th Street, the garage was apparently broken into by someone looking to get out of the inclement weather. No items were missing from the garage.

Saturday, April 2

Suspected arson: Police were dispatched to the Madison Apartments on 230th Lane Southeast after an unknown person lit a newspaper on fire in a stairwell. A woman was alerted to the fire by her 9-year-old daughter. She then put the fire out with a pitcher of water.

Sunday, April 3

DUI: Sammamish police arrested a man for DUI after he was pulled over for driving above the speed limit. The man was spotted driving 49 mph in a 35-mph zone on the Issaquah-Pine Lake Road. The man failed field sobriety tests and was taken into custody.