The following is a sample from the Federal Way police log:

Police nab serial mail thief: At an unknown time on April 26 in the 2600 block of S. 287th St., a police officer responded to a theft in progress. A witness said a woman wearing a red jacket was looking inside vehicles and taking mail from nearby mailboxes.

The officer found the woman walking down the sidewalk carrying a couple of bags. The officer stopped the suspect, who was later identified as a 42-year-old woman. The officer observed a priority mail envelope protruding from a blue bag she was carrying and asked her who the mail belonged to. She said, “I am not too good at this.”

She admitted to going through other people’s mailboxes. Police recovered 27 pieces of stolen mail that belonged to nine victims from addresses within a few blocks of each other. Police arrested the woman, who said her friend told her that if she stole a bunch of mail for him he would show her how to make a lot of money with the mail. Mail theft charges against the woman are pending.

Police shoot man carrying knife: At an unknown time on April 26 at 32100 Pacific Highway S., witnesses reported a suspicious subject standing in the middle of the street with a knife. Several officers responded and noticed the man was standing in the middle lane of Pacific Highway South yelling at a stopped car. The man’s arms were in the air and he appeared to be trying to fight the vehicles that were stopped in the roadway. He yelled, “C’mon! C’mon!” while pounding his chest and flailing his arms around.

An officer ordered the man to laid down on the sidewalk, however, he walked back to the sidewalk and sat down on the retaining wall. Police could see that he was holding a folding knife in his right hand.

They told him to drop the knife on the ground and he refused, yelling, “Don’t kill me! Are you going to shoot me?” After an officer told the man to drop the knife about 10 times, he finally did so but then grabbed the knife again, opening and closing the blade, while yelling, “The knife isn’t even open.”

As more units arrived, he dropped the knife in a grassy area but refused to get onto the ground.

Two officers deployed their rifles and a third officer deployed his or her handgun, pending an opportunity to take the man into custody. Officers directed the man to lie down on the ground with his palms up. He refused to and moved back and forth towards the knife, saying, “Just give me a minute” and “Let me talk to my family first.” He refused to comply with police orders, who told him he was under arrest.

Officers advised the man to comply with their orders or they would shoot him with a 40 mm “less lethal rubber round.” The man continued refusing to comply and placed his hands on the ground, then put them up “as if he was about to get off the ground,” according to the report. He told police he wanted to call his family before he “was killed.”

An officer deployed a 40mm and struck the man in his right thigh. The man then complied with police’s instructions and lay down on the ground. The 37-year-old Spanaway man refused medical attention and told police, “Man, why didn’t you guys just shoot me with a real gun?” He was arrested for disorderly conduct and obstructing a law enforcement officer, and was booked into SCORE jail.

Panhandlers brawl: At 2:50 p.m. on April 26 at 3000 S. 320th St., a man and woman were involved in a mutual physical altercation at the north Interstate 5 off-ramp. No injuries were reported or observed. Both would not say what started the altercation, however, both are panhandlers and working the same area.

Co-worker strangles fellow employee: At 3:20 p.m. on April 26 at 32125 32nd Ave. S., a man working for the same company as the victim got upset with his co-worker for telling their boss that the suspect stole items. The suspect strangled and punched the victim, who said he could not breath during the strangling. The suspect fled before police arrived.

Driver pulls out gun during altercation: At 10:35 a.m. on April 25 at 28719 Military Road S., a witness said a male and female in a silver Sedan pulled into the gas pump area, when a Jeep Cherokee occupied by two men pulled next to them. All of the parties started yelling and the jeep driver got out and pointed a gun at the couple in the sedan. The drivers of both vehicles then left eastbound on South 288th St. toward Auburn. Police conducted an area check with negative results.

Woman strikes boyfriend with pan: At 3:19 a.m. on April 25 in the 31000 block of 18th Ave. S., a 24-year-old Federal Way man told police he lives at the residence with his 22-year-old girlfriend but she was no longer at the scene. He said he attempted to gather his things and leave the residence when his girlfriend became upset and stood in front of the front door, preventing him from leaving. He pointed to a bent pan in the garbage can near the front door and told police his girlfriend hit him in the head with it. During the altercation, he said the woman also bit his arm.

The man showed police a video he took of his girlfriend during the altercation on his cell phone, which shows the woman grabbing a pan from the kitchen area and swinging it at the man, who said, “Ah, ah” when he was struck. The man had visible redness and minor lacerations on his neck, cheek and forearm.

He told police his girlfriend left the residence with her 3-month-old infant. He said he initially thought the infant was his but a recent paternity test revealed he was not the father.

Police located the woman, who said, “I was defending myself, and that’s all I want to say.” Police conducted a civil standby for her to gather some of her child’s belongings from the residence and she said she would stay with her parents for the time being to prevent further altercations.

Shrimp shoplifter leaves ID at scene: At 3:35 p.m. on April 25 at 31217 Pacific Highway S., a shoplifter hit a store employee and fled in a vehicle with another suspect. The store’s security guard said while working security, he saw a female carrying a gray bag with bags of shrimp inside.

The security guard followed the female, who was with a man, out of the store. The guard and store manager confronted the couple and asked for their receipt. The guard then tried to grab the bags of shrimp from the gray bag, when the male suspect pushed the guard and punched his head. They fled in a black vehicle.

A witness video recorded the incident with her cell phone as the suspects got into a black vehicle and drove off. The video shows the male suspect’s face, vehicle and license plate number.

Police also recovered the gray bag that the woman left at the scene, which contained shrimp, a can of Pepsi and the female suspect’s social security card and credit card. Police determined she has a bench warrant for her arrest for failure to appear in court for a third-degree theft charge.

Man resists arrest: At 8:12 p.m. on April 25 at 1928 S. Commons, a man accosted a woman, shoving her and attempting to reach into her pockets because he mistakenly thought she had his cell phone. When police contacted him, he attempted to leave the store and did not stop when police commanded him to. When police attempted to detain him, he began to resist and struggled. Police took him to the ground and arrested him.

Man claims man raped him: At 10 a.m. on April 24 at an unknown address, a police officer was dispatched to Overlake Hospital in Bellevue in response to a report of a rape that occurred within the past two days somewhere in Federal Way. The victim told police he met up with a couple who were together but separated. He said the man paid him $7 to have sex with him and he agreed. He said the act “got rough.” He took the money, bought some meth and they all smoked it together.

He said he did not know the couple, nor the Federal Way park the incident occurred in. Healthcare staff told police there was no bruising and no injuries to the man. Police determined no rape occurred and changed the case to a report of prostitution.

Woman steals shopper’s checkbook: At 4:47 p.m. on April 24 at 32521 Pacific Highway S., the victim told police she was shopping at Goodwill when a heavyset woman in her late 40s approached her. She said they engaged in conversation and at some point during a lull in the conversation, the suspect took the victim’s checkbook out of her wallet.

The suspect told the shopper she needed to leave and asked the victim to watch her cart. The victim waited for a while and eventually decided to go check out, when she discovered her checkbook was stolen. Her credit card company called and said two transactions were made at Safeway.

Woman attempts to make purchase with counterfeit bill: At 12 p.m. on April 23 at 35020 Enchanted Parkway S., an officer responded to Hobby Lobby for a fraud report. The victim said a customer tried to purchase merchandise with a counterfeit $100 bill.

The employee advised the customer that the bill was fake and the customer said she received the bill when she sold a cell phone on Craigslist. The customer left in her vehicle prior to police arrival. She was described as a young Russian female with blonde hair, pregnant and wearing a black and white shirt and black pants. Her vehicle was described as a blue Volkswagen. Police recovered the counterfeit bill and submitted it for evidence.

Elderly man grabs woman: At 1:44 p.m. on April 22 at 32300 First Ave. S., a care facility staff member observed an elderly man place his hand upon an elderly woman’s breast area.

Vehicular assault: At 3:52 p.m. on April 21 in the 31000 block of Seventh Ave. SW, a woman saw someone driving her unreported stolen vehicle down the road. She attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver struck her. The driver then fled off on foot.