Berge’ journey is illustrative of an exploding behavioral crisis in Seattle. He moved here from New Mexico, where he had a long criminal record. He was addicted to meth, homeless throughout his stay here and alternately charming or terrorizing. Most of Berge’s offenses were serious misdemeanors, including assault, harassment, repeat theft, trespass and property destruction. But some were felonies. According to court records, he attempted to rape a young runaway sleeping in a business alcove, smashed out all the windows of a county building downtown and assaulted police officers on multiple occasions.
Virtually every minute that Berge was not in jail, he was involved in one crime or another. On
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