Compiled by P. Waters from Woodinville Police reports

His home got up and went

July 12: A Woodinville church keeps on its grounds unlocked trailers for church members to place items they wish to donate, such as bicycles and clothing. The driver who picks up the trailers to take the donations to be distributed has noted recently that someone has apparently been sleeping in the trailers and that some items seem to have disappeared. On this day, the driver closed and secured the door and began hauling the trailer onto her truck, when she began to hear what sounded like a man in the trailer yelling and pounding on the walls. Nonplussed, she called a church member, and he called police.

On their arrival, police spoke to the man through the closed door and got his agreement to behave if they opened the door.

He said he just wanted to get out of there. Police recognized him as a transient known to sometimes hang out in Woodinville.

He claimed he was homeless, had stayed there only three times, and had not stolen the items the church believed were missing.

Since there was no evidence to link him to the missing items, he was given a trespass warning, and he said he understood he would be arrested if found there again.

Dogs nearly perish in hot car

July 14: Residents of an apartment complex in Woodinville called police about two dogs locked in a car on a hot day, apparently near death, having been locked in the car at least six hours. The officer noted the dogs were panting heavily and their fur was soaked. He called for another officer with door tools to respond, but before that officer got there the dog owner arrived and unlocked the doors. A chaotic scene ensued while the owner, barely 20 and verging on hysteria, explained how this had happened and tried to figure out how to treat the dogs. One of the dogs could neither stand nor drink.

After a period of this dithering, the officer called a halt and put the dogs into his own air-conditioned car and sped them off to the Woodinville Animal Hospital not far away. On arrival one dog’s temperature was 106, and the other’s was off the scale. The veterinary staff immediately set to work administering emergency aid with impressive skill and caring. They ultimately were able to reduce both dogs’ temperature significantly, such that the dogs did survive. The officer went back to advise the owner, who was enduring considerable remonstrance and upbraiding from the neighbors, of the dogs’ condition and whereabouts, then went back to the clinic and briefed the County Animal Control officer, who by then had arrived. The owner also arrived and was interviewed. Prosecution of the case is now in the hands of Animal Control.

Environmental crimes and misdemeanors

July 14: A manager at an auto supply store in downtown Woodinville called police to report that a customer was illegally dumping used antifreeze down the storm drain in the parking lot. The customer was gone by the time police arrived, but police noted puddles of green liquid on the ground near the drain. The store employee said he had warned the customer against performing a radiator flush in the parking lot, but his warning was not heeded.

The employee had noted the license plate number, and the registered owner, a Woodinville resident, has been identified. The employee asked that the suspect be trespassed from his place of business.

And charged with environmental turpitude, if you ask me.