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23rd/Madison Safeway security guard pepper sprayed in laundry detergent tussle

SPD responded to the 23rd and Madison Safeway last Sunday night after a security guard was pepper sprayed by a shoplifting suspect known to police and witnesses as a serial thief who was attempting to flee with a ripped-off box of laundry detergent.


According to a witness, the transgender suspect is a regular at the grocery store that serves southeast Capitol Hill and the Central District. Police were able to track down the suspect at a nearby apartment where they attempted contact but were yelled at and had a door slammed on them by the suspect and the alleged thief’s mother.

According to the report on the late night incident, the security guard was hit in the face with the spray in a scramble that followed his attempt to stop the suspect from leaving the store with the $14.99 box of detergent.

The report says officers decided not to attempt further contact with the suspect and mother that night and forwarded the case to the robbery unit for follow-up.

The security guard went to the hospital “due to the effects of the pepper spray,” according to the SPD report.

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BA
BA
12 years ago

If the police come knocking on your door have someone yell at them. They’ll give up, walk away, then have someone else “follow up” later.

JimS.
12 years ago

This story is so bizarre it cries out for some smart-assed, humorous comments, but….. Damn, I’ve got nothin! Anybody…?

Ernest Tee Bass
12 years ago

After reading the story and your comment, I’ll take you up on your challenge. Without being offensive to the trans community, I’m curious as to what how police and jails deal with trans people. In this case, the beat cops seem to be passing the buck on to detectives but what is protocol in King County in regards to incarcerating trans people? At what point in the transition from on gender to another do the jails consider a M2F or F2M trans person their new gender?

Again, no offense meant to trans people but I’m curious as to how this is handled and I’d like to hear how trans people feel about current policy.

Merry Christmas

Neighbor of Gender
12 years ago

If you’re going to mention the suspect’s trans status, why not say “transgendered woman” or “transgendered man”?

But really, how is the suspect’s trans status even relevant to this post? Love your blog in general, but WTF?

jseattle
jseattle
12 years ago

We usually report characteristics when available like male or female. In this case, the police report indicated only transgender. I give how to handle this kind of thing a lot of thought — and I’m open to feedback but I definitely would prefer solutions that increase the amount of information I include, not decrease.

Neighbor of Gender
12 years ago

Thanks for your reply.

Maybe next time you could just say in the original post what you said in your comment?

“The suspect, who the police identified only as ‘transgender’….”

That would be more information all around.