Police: Burglar shocks sleeping resident, smokes pot in bathroom
SEATTLE -- If you let a burglar use the bathroom, he's going to want to smoke some pot. If you let a burglar smoke some pot, he's going to want to talk about PTSD and the government.
At least that appears to be the lesson learned by a Queen Anne resident when a man broke into her apartment early Monday.
According to the Seattle Police Department's report for the incident, the resident was sleeping in her mother-in-law apartment on the first floor of a house in the 400 block of West Comstock Street around 3:15 a.m. when she heard sounds coming from the living room.
The woman got up to find a strange man standing in her living room, according to the report. She told officers he had a scraggly beard with white powder in it, was possibly wearing bicycle shorts, and appeared to be homeless.
According to the report, she asked the man what he was doing and how he got in, but he ignored the question and asked to use the bathroom because he needed to pee.
The woman told officers she didn't know what else to do, so she let him use the bathroom.
He was in there for about five minutes with the fan running, and when he came out it smelled like he had been smoking marijuana, according to the report.
The woman told officers the man started talking about the government and PTSD, so she told him to leave.
According to the report, the man left her apartment and walked across the porch to the main house, where he tried the front door.
The woman yelled at the man to get off the property, and he walked off.
The woman told officers the man never acted angry or hostile or made any threats. She said it just seemed like he was looking for a place to stay.
It appeared the man entered the apartment through a window left ajar.
Officers were unable to find the man when they arrived. However, a man was arrested the following morning after allegedly entering a sleeping woman's apartment two blocks away.
For the homeless, the world is their bathroom and ashtray. Â
Just more propaganda from our "Progressive" government so that we are willing to give up our freedom to be protected by the government. And thats why they are working so  hard to disarm us all. So we have no means of defending ourselves and we have to rely on them.Â
@Busyhands Do you just paste that general statement on articles hoping it's relevant to the article?
I have a better solution to all of the alternatives discussed herein. How about you pay attention in school, stop smoking dope at 4:20 and learn to support YOURSELF!
Worked for me â even if I didnât have a date to the prom.
Stories are getting stranger by the day.
So...if you are homeless, where are you supposed to legally smoke pot? :)
@lakeview If you are homeless, maybe you spend too much money on it. I mean people should be able to make their own choices but it doesn't seem to me that the issue is where can they smoke it, it's why are they wasting money on it if they're homeless. Seems someone could be making better life choices... but hey that's just my opinion i guess.
@lakeview Where they always do. Under bridges etc. They've been doing it for years in their little nooks and crannies. Why stop now? ;)
@lakeview This is a good question that should be discussed.  Seems like our laws always assume everyone has cars, homes and normal hour jobs.  If I am homeless and have a gun where do I put it if I need to go into a post office?  What if I don't have a car or walked, and am told to put my gun or knife in my car before I can enter a police station.  If I have no money or lost everything or just don't believe in clothes do I have to wear them due to the law and if I can't afford them is the government going to force me to buy them or provide them for me?  If I'm homeless where do I smoke pot or drink cause doing so in public is against the law?
@APenny4MyThoughts @lakeview Hmm...if you're homeless you probably don't own a gun but if you do you need to get a carry permit. That would solve your problem. Same with the police station but there are things you have to do differently with your weapon if you want to approach police. As far as clothes, there is a law against indecent exposure so yes, you have to be dressed. There is a place called Red Cross and many, many shelters across the city that will give you clothes. As far as smoking pot or drinking you'll just have to either shelve it because gee whiz how can you afford it if you're homeless or do it the old fashioned way of doing it anyway by hiding in an alley.
@cm257n7 @APenny4MyThoughts @lakeview Thank you for the response, I guess my main point was freedom.  These laws actually lessen freedom.  I sold my cross country van to a friend he sold all his stuff and lived in the van. Very quickly he learned all the laws on the books assume you have a home.  He would be breaking the law if he opened a beer container in his car or had them available to him.  Not all homeless are poor.  Some save a lot of money buy not paying rent or a mortgage.  He was far from poor but wanted to save up money for some big ideas.  He was single and  a contractor at a large local software company so he had showers and such available there he just didn't see the need for a apartment.  I guess just food for thought.
@lakeviewSure you of all people would know the answer to that?Â
@NW-Economist @lakeview OK Unemployed-Economist.Â
This sounds like some elaborate story I would have come up with as a teen, to avoid being busted for smoking pot in the bathroom. "Yeah Mom, some guy broke in, asked to use the bathroom & proceeded to smoke pot in there. I swear it wasn't me!"
All jokes aside, she was brave confronting this guy.  I'm glad it ended well, it could have been horrible.
@Shelly I'm pretty sure I heard that story from one of my kids! <g>
@Shelly The powder in his beard was from TopPot....
could've said, "surprises" or "awakens" , rather than shocks..... kept looking for the part about a taser or?????Â
All these negative stories with the word "pot" in the titlle recently. Hmmm... Geez what's up komo? Can you put a good story about "pot"? I didn't think so....
@sophiekitten Your kitten is cool....
@Funky-Munky @sophiekitten Thank you!!!! Seven toes on each paw,  a very cool cat!!
Well, at least he was polite in asking to use the bathroom...
There are worse, much more violent, ways for someone with PTSD to ask for help...hope he finds it.
"the man started talking about the government and PTSD, so she told him to leave." If he would have started talking about the latest fashions, and who was on Dancing With the Stars do you think she would have made him a sandwich?Â
probably... Who wants to talk about the government and PTSD at 3:15 am???
@Mr. H no better time like the present. Sit down and let tell you what i think about the gov
Bless her calm heart! I would have been too scared to ask a stranger in my house how they got there or to say anything unless I was holding a gun, and even then, the gun would only give me courage enough to ask questions!
Here's hoping that for once, this guy not getting shot will let him have a wakeup call and some mental health help instead of his family getting the call to identify the body. If he continues this behavior he's eventually going to get rightfully killed by an rightfully armed homeowner.
Â
No matter where you live in this city, leaving a window open in the middle of the night is asking for situations like this or even worse. Prowlers are abundant and a simple walk through the house to insure your doors and windows are locked before you go to bed is too easy. It's just the world we live in now, especially if you live near downtown.
@snowman It's sad that that is a true statement...
This guy trying to do suicide by home owner?
I wonder if he offered her a hit. I quit smoking weed about ten years ago, but thats pretty much protocol, offering your buddies a puff.
Wow -- I can't believe how calm she was. He could have turned all psycho and she could have been in some serious danger. Personally, if it was me, I would do one of two things: 1. Sneak out of the house (if I was alone) and call the police or 2. Give him the joy of staring down the barrel of my gun while waiting for the police to come -- especially if my kids were in the house. I wouldn't leave them alone with him.
@The WA Mama Yeah if I come out of my office to find a strange person standing in my living room I don't think I'm going to let them use the bathroom.......
Funny opener Michael.
This bum is a Darwin award waiting to happen, eventually he'll break into the wrong house.
@NW-Economist Thanks. Obviously a fan of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."
@MichaelHarthorne @NW-Economist Loved that book!
Michael: Love your stories.....keep 'em coming!
My kids loved that book! By the way, if he was smoking pot, he probably would want a cookie.
Always been a lovely part of town for homeless and lame residents anyway..
"The woman told officers she didn't know what else to do, so she let him use the bathroom." The woman needs to have her head examined for not insuring her own safety and security. If the intruder would have been someone other than a mere zombie, but someone with a weapon and other intentions, then this story would have been a different read. When are people gonna wake up and take responsibility for their weaknesses that allow themselves to become victims? **facepalm**Â
I was thinking the same exact thing. You never know if he's going to turn all psycho.
Sounds like she was pretty calm the whole time...not sure i would've been
...if the lady would have let the man stay even longer chances are he would of asked for a cookie.
@aintno1special But, of course then you're going to have to get him a glass of milk...
@MichaelHarthorne @aintno1special That is some quick whit - I can greatly appreciate that! Well-read too :)
Lucky he just got arrested.
@Gunnartheviking Â
The police arrested A man with a similar Modus Operendi,Â
not necessarily THE man