Seattle Police responded to two separate occupied burglary calls overnight, one in West Seattle, the other in the University District. In both calls, the suspect was apprehended. First, the West Seattle incident:
A couple had quite a start early this morning when they discovered a burglar inside their Fauntleroy home early this morning.
The couple was asleep when they were awakened by the door alarm at about 2:45 this morning. The husband went downstairs to check the house when he saw an unknown male dressed in all black, inside the home on the first floor. The burglar apparently did not see the homeowner. The man went back upstairs and he and his wife locked themselves in an upstairs room and called 911. Southwest Precinct officers arrived quickly and contained the house in the 9300 Block of Fauntleroy Way SW. Officers could see the suspect inside the house walking around. Officers gave the suspect verbal commands to give himself up. The suspect ran and hid inside the house. Officers entered the home and began clearing the house, and soon located the suspect hiding behind a couch in a downstairs room. He was taken into custody without incident. The suspect refused to cooperate with officers or provide any personal information. He was later booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary. Detectives will now handle the follow up investigation.
Shortly after 4:00 this morning, residents in an apartment in the U District heard an unknown male break into their apartment and yell. The man then left and could be heard on an upper floor of the building in the 4300 Block of 8th Avenue NE. Within minutes victims in another unit reported that an unknown male had broken into their apartment and that they were hiding in the bedroom. Several other 911 calls came in about this incident.
Officers arrived and were let into the secure apartment complex by another tenant. Officers located the suspect in the hallway and took him into custody. During their investigation officers determined that a third apartment door had been forced open and a hiding victim was found inside.
In all, three units were broken into with extenstive damage to the doors. The suspect had been seen inside an apartment by one of the victims. In one of the units, interior closet doors were pulled down. The apartment manager was contacted and maintenance people were contacted to begin resecuring the damaged doors.
The suspect appeared very intoxicated. None of the victims of the apartment claimed to know the suspect. He was later booked into the King County Jail on three counts of Investigation of Burglary. Detectives will handle the follow up investigation on this incident. It does not appear that these two incidents are connected in any way.