May 26
Disorderly conduct: Someone was arrested for assault in the 8400 block of Southeast 26th Street.
Theft: A suspect was arrested for shoplifting at a QFC in the 7800 block of Southeast 28th Street.
May 25
Car prowl: A male party reported that between 10:30 p.m. May 24 and 8 a.m. May 25, Tuscan Stone Pizza (2885 78th Ave. SE) had been prowled. The business stated that about $1,080 had been lost in stolen/damaged property.
Suspicious circumstance: A woman reported that at 1:50 p.m., a man approached her and her pet Rottweiler while they were waiting outside the restroom at Mercerdale Park for her husband. The woman reportedly “screamed” for her spouse, who then followed the suspicious male to a parked car. The suspect drove off. He was identified from his license plate and numerous Mercer Island Police Department reports as a homeless man who has lived in his car on the Island since at least 2019. While this was not reported as a crime, the incident was documented for informational purposes.
May 24
Fraud: A male victim in the 2800 block of 78th Avenue Southeast reported that he had received a gold coin in the mail. The victim had been charged $834.69 on his credit card. There was an additional change of address request that failed to go through. If it had gone through, the gold coin would have gone to an unknown address in Richland, Wash.
May 21
More theft: Between 2-6 p.m. in the 8600 block of North Mercer Way, someone called a female victim stating that they worked for the Social Security department. The suspect told the victim that her Social Security number was used in a money-laundering and drug-trafficking crime in Texas. The suspect transferred the reporting party to another suspect, who claimed that they were an FBI agent. The “agent” persuaded the victim to buy $1,000 worth of eBay gift cards from QFC and $1,600 worth of Google Play gift cards from Walgreens. The victim then gave the caller the redemption codes on all the gift cards. After having doubts about what had transpired, the reporting party called the FBI’s Seattle offices. Personnel confirmed to her that she had been scammed.
Another theft: A female victim in the 2900 block of 76th Avenue Southeast reported that she believed her former roommate had stolen jewelry from her. She stated that the roommate went to Cash America Pawn around the same time her rings went missing. The victim provided police with a description of the property and the suspect. The pawn shop confirmed with police that the suspect had pawned the rings. After police obtained photos of the jewelry, the victim confirmed the jewelry was hers.
More fraud: A female victim in the 7300 block of 86th Avenue Southeast reported that she had discovered six unauthorized charges adding up to $350 on her credit card. She told police that she is working with her bank to find out exactly what the charges were and where they occurred.
Harassment: A male victim reported that while he was using the restroom in the 2100 block of West Mercer Way, a man came up to the porta-potty and started yelling at him. The suspect threatened to kill and run over the victim. The suspect subsequently fled to a wooded area toward I-90.
May 19
Extortion/blackmail: A female victim lost $100 after contacting a fake Amazon employee at 4:30 p.m. in the 4100 block of 92nd Avenue Southeast. She was advised by the “worker” to pay using a $100 Google Play gift card to regain access to her Amazon Prime account.
Eluding police officer: At 2:43 a.m. in the 3500 block of East Mercer Way, a suspect vehicle failed to stop for a traffic violation.
Fraud, again: A male victim in the 7600 block of Southeast 72nd Place reported that unemployment fraud had been attempted in his name. In addition, the victim had a credit card opened under his name without his permission with the Florida-based Green Dot Bank. The victim was provided resources to protect his identity. No known charges were made to the credit card.
May 18
Burglary: A housing general contractor reported that someone had forced open a temporary plywood door to gain entry to a property between 5:30 p.m. May 15 and 7 a.m. May 18 in the 8300 block of East Mercer Way. About $500 worth of tools were taken.
Even more theft: A male victim in the 7400 block of East Mercer Way reported that on March 13, someone had used his information to make a fraudulent credit card purchase for $13,137.
Another theft: A male victim in the 7200 block of Southeast 29th Street reported that at around 5:30 p.m. May 14, someone had opened a fraudulent credit card in his name. The card had been mailed to his house from Green Dot Bank. An unknown number of charges had been made on the credit card. The bank was not willing to provide information to the victim. The fraudulent account was subsequently closed.
May 17
Theft, again: A suspect was arrested for stealing cigarettes, a Mountain Dew Baja Blast and cake from a Chevron in the 7600 block of Sunset Highway at 6:58 p.m.
More theft: At 9:25 p.m., a known subject stole about $30 in cigarettes by reaching over the unmanned counter of a Walgreens in the 7700 block of Southeast 27th Street. The incident was caught on camera. A shoplifting citation has been sent to the prosecutor queue and is pending further investigation.
May 16
Threats: An undisclosed victim reported that the night before, a suspect threatened to bomb an unspecified location/person.
May 15
Another theft: An outdrive motor estimated to cost around $12,000 was either removed or stolen from a trailered boat in the 3700 block of 81st Avenue Southeast.
Fraud, again: A female victim in the 5300 block of West Mercer Way reported that her employers had been alerted by their HR department that a fraudulent unemployment claim had been made with her information. The claim didn’t go through. The victim’s employers have provided guidance on next steps.
DUI: A male driver was stopped at 11:21 p.m. in the 7200 block of North Mercer Way for using his cell phone while driving. He additionally provided two breath samples. The driver was subsequently transported to SCORE jail.
May 14
More theft: Three subjects shoplifted from a Rite Aid in the 3000 block of 78th Avenue Southeast at around 9:50 a.m. They have all since been formally trespassed. One suspect will be receiving a criminal citation for theft in the third degree (shoplifting).
Theft, again: A victim who works for a company that accepts payments through a third-party service (which are then deposited into the company bank account) found that no payments between April 29-May 4 had come through. After logging into the account, the victim found that the payment information had been changed. Someone had transferred the funds to a fraudulent account. This resulted in a loss of $6,369.67.
May 13
Car prowl: Between 6 p.m. May 12 and 8 a.m. May 13 in the 7900 block of Southeast 34th Street, a victim’s locked car was broken into. The suspect smashed the rear window and accessed the car’s interior. They took a backpack with about $1,000 worth of hiking gear in it.
Shake it off: A victim reported at 1:04 p.m. in the 4400 block of West Mercer Way that someone in the past week had taken their Amazon package from an unsecured mailbox. A Taylor Swift CD costing about $20 was stolen. There are no suspects or further evidence at this time.
Car theft: A male victim reported that sometime between 6:30 p.m. May 12 and 2:30 p.m. May 13, his locked Honda Accord, which was parked in front of his apartment building in the 3000 block of 80th Avenue Southeast, had been stolen.
Malicious mischief: At around 5 p.m., a female victim’s mailbox in the 4300 block of Fernbrook Drive was pried open and damaged.
Another fraud case: A victim in the 6100 block of 90th Avenue Southeast reported that their Social Security number had been used to file a fraudulent unemployment claim.
May 12
Fraud, again: A female victim in the 3900 block of 91st Avenue Southeast told police at 12:18 a.m. that someone had tried to file an unemployment insurance claim in her name, which her employer then denied. During the same window, the victim checked her account on the Washington state unemployment website (which she had created a few years ago to file a claim) and found that someone had been direct-depositing several thousand dollars into the account. The victim said that she has been trying to call the unemployment department to figure out how to proceed, but is unable to get through to someone.
May 10
An additional theft: A female victim reported that at 2:30 a.m. in the 9700 block of Southeast 41st Street, her mailbox had been broken into, which was supported by surveillance footage. It is unknown how much and what kind of mail was stolen. The video shows a vehicle stopping at the mailbox, with a suspect using what appeared to be a flashlight to look inside before driving off.
