04/09/06, 22:18, Vandalism/Assault/Assault on Police Officer, 1353 W. Indiana Ave./790 S. 900 West
“[The 22-year-old male suspect] entered the 7-Eleven on Indiana Ave. and knocked over displays and generally messed up the store. He fled before officers arrived. A short time later the [suspect] entered the 7-Eleven on 900 West and again knocked over displays and made a disturbance. This time the [suspect] jumped the counter and tried to hit the clerk. The [suspect] then fled but was located at 690 S. 900 West by officers. The [suspect] made fists and threatened to assault the officers but then ran. He was chased on foot and apprehended. The [suspect] resisted forcefully and threw punches at the officers. At this point the [suspect’s] mother, [51], saw the officers scuffling with her son and she jumped into the scuffle. [The male suspect] was booked for Criminal Mischief, Assault on a [police officer], Fleeing, Resisting Arrest, and False Information. [His mother] was issued a misdemeanor citation for Interfering with an Officer and released at the scene.
Why do 7-Elevens remain flypaper to the oddest of antisocials? For three decades, the company has led convenience stores in trying to study and befuddle the criminal mind. Yet there are invariably thugs dim or desperate enough to rob the places of, on average, $37, and a carton of smokes if they’re lucky. State-of-the-art video surveillance systems and close partnerships with area police invariably lead to arrests down the line. Still, police blotters teem with robberies, muggings, assaults, shootings and even more bizarre disturbances than this one at corner 7-Elevens.
Perhaps it’s not surprising that vexed hotheads are drawn to the 24-hour-a-day retail equivalent of the quick fix'Big Bites, Big Gulps, six packs, rolling papers and Slurpees to go. Or perhaps'as 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris pointed out in a 2003 Boston Globe article'far from magnets of mayhem, 7-Elevens are beacons in the night for denizens in distress, accounting for the inordinate number of emergency calls made from the stores.
Dumb Luck
04/08/06, 17:40, Traffic Stop/Narcotics Arrest, near 1300 S. Lincoln St.
“An officer was driving eastbound on 1300 South when [the 45-year-old male suspect] jaywalked/ran in front of the officer’s car. By the time the officer was able to get turned around to talk to him, he found [the suspect] in the middle of what appeared to be a drug transaction with a car that was pulled over to the curb. When the officer activated his emergency lights, the vehicle took off, trying to get around the police car. The vehicle, driven by [a 20-year-old male] finally stopped just short of hitting the police car. Both parties went to jail for possession of narcotics as well as failure to stop for a police officer.
Elusive Closure
03/31/04, 08:31, Dead Body, 830 N. 300 West
“A passer-by notified City Parks that a male was in the hot springs, not moving. Officers arrived and found a male white adult, late 40s to early 50s, obviously deceased in the pool. The identity of the male is unknown. No sign of foul play.
Salt Lake City police identified the man through a fingerprint match but, by press time, could not release his name or further details because next of kin hadn’t been notified. However, the responding officer’s brief description of the idiosyncratic death scene'an urban hot spring'suggests a certain serenity in this passing:
“Upon arrival an unknown male was lying in the hot spring in echo condition. … The victim was lying in the hot spring on his back. He was dressed in socks and had a pair of boxer shorts on. There were two pair of jeans, shirt and jacket lying on the north side of the hot springs.