Friday | 31

MALICIOUS MISCHIEF: A resident in the 7200 block of E. Mercer Way neglected to pay his water bill. The city placed a lock on his meter, which he then cut off. A second lock was secured and the suspect again cut it off. His most recent bill was delinquent $2,507 worth of utilities. When contacted by police, he admitted to the crime, claiming that water was a necessity for life. He attempted to make a payment on his utility bill, but didn’t fulfill the obligation. The city filed a police report to be reimbursed for its damaged property and the theft of its service.

Friday | 7

CAR PROWL: An elderly Mercer Island woman in the 2200 block of 78th Ave S.E. who was allegedly not home at the time of the crime, was notified by police that her car had been prowled and damaged overnight. The passenger window was shattered and the glove box was left open. It was not immediately clear if anything had been taken.

CAR PROWL: Between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., Friday, an Islander in the 8000 block of S.E. 24th Street was informed by police that the window of his vehicle had been shattered and possibly prowled overnight. The contents of the glove box were tossed around the interior of the car but it was not immediately clear if anything had been stolen.

CAR PROWL: Police notified a residence in the 2200 block of 81st Ave S.E. that two cars—a Ford Focus and a Kia Motors Corp. Rio—had been prowled overnight. The windows were broken and the contents of the car were rummaged through. It’s unknown if anything was stolen.

CAR PROWL: At 5:30 a.m. on Friday morning, an Islander in the 2200 block of 81st Ave S.E. awoke to find his 2003 Mercedes Benz prowled. The front passenger window was shattered and the glove box had been rummaged through, though nothing was taken.

Saturday | 8

MALICIOUS MISCHIEF: Between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. a 65-year-old Island woman’s Toyota Prius was keyed while parked in the covered lot by the Islander restaurant. The damages were estimated at $500.

Monday | 10

FRAUD: A 43-year-old Mercer Island woman discovered that her credit card had been fraudulently used to buy a $1,400 computer online.

WARRANT ARREST: The Mercer Island Police Department was notified that King County Jail had a defendant that was released on other charges and had a Mercer Island Municipal Court warrant out in his name. The defendant was taken into custody at King County Jail and transported along with the subject’s belongings to SCORE jail where he was booked.

Monthly Crime Statistics

Every month, the Police Department calculates crime statistics and compares them to numbers from the year prior. In January of this year, there were 96 total serious offenses, almost double that of last year. The majority of that spike was in theft—74 offenses compared to 26 in 2012. There were seven cases of identity theft, up from four last year and eleven burglaries, an edge above the eight last January. One vehicle was stolen and there were two incidences of simple assault, as well as one documented rape.