Community Police & Fire
Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Suspect fires Taser at officers
Editor’s note: The Blotter is written based on information provided by Gig Harbor Police and Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One.
A suspect in a domestic dispute at a home off 46th Avenue twice discharged a Taser at officers on the evening of Nov. 26, according to Gig Harbor Police reports.
The Taser fell from an officer’s holster while law enforcement was attempting to apprehend the suspect. The Taser’s prongs struck one officer in the foot. The officer reported no injuries.
A woman asked officers to come to the home because the male suspect was yelling at her and refusing to leave. Officers arrived to find the suspect, a 45-year-old Gig Harbor man, shoving the woman and demanding that she give him money.
The suspect, who officers wrote appeared highly intoxicated, continued to try to advance on the woman when officers attempted to intervene. When officers tried to handcuff the suspect, he pulled his hands away and repeatedly said “no.”
The two officers collaborated to try to take the man — described as 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds — to the ground. In the ensuing struggle, one officer’s taser fell from its holster. The suspect picked it up and told the officers: “I will Tase your ass.”
He did so, missing wildly once but hitting one officer in the foot with his second shot. He also used his forearm to hit officers who were attempting to regain control of the Taser.
The officer who was still in possession of his Taser used it on the suspect, and together the two officers wrestled the suspect to the ground.
The suspect continued trying to get up and advance toward the woman, so one of the officers punched him in the side three or four times. A third officer arrived on scene and tried to use pepper spray on the suspect, inadvertently tagging one of the other officers with friendly fire. The suspect continued to struggle, so the third officer finally subdued him by Tasing him a second time.
Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One medics took the suspect to St. Anthony Hospital for treatment of cuts to his knees, hands and head, taser wounds and chemical spray to his eyes and face. The officers involved reported no serious injuries.
The suspect was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of assault, resisting arrest and disarming a law enforcement officer.
The disagreement was apparently over an unhappy vacation the couple took to Central America. The male suspect wanted the victim to reimburse him for his costs on the trip.
One dead in KeyPen collision
One man died in a collision on 118th Avenue NW on the Key Peninsula at about 10:45 a.m. Monday, Nov. 28, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
The collision occurred on the 14800 block of 118th Avenue, close to the Kitsap County line. The driver of a work van collided head-on with a garbage truck that was picking up a trash can. The driver of the work van died at the scene.
The garbage truck driver was not injured, according to the sheriff’s office, likely because the driver’s seat on the truck is on the right side. A Pierce County Sheriff’s Office blog post indicates that “there is no evidence that the van braked prior to the collision.”
Suspect uses circular saw on front door
An unknown suspect tried to cut a hole in the door of a house off 38th Avenue in Gig Harbor on Nov. 27 — while the residents of the home were inside.
The suspect knocked on the door around 10:15 a.m. The couple inside the house ignored him, assuming he was a door-to-door salesman or some other form of unwanted solicitor.
After a few minutes of knocking, the man produced a circular saw and began trying to cut through the door. The couple inside the home yelled at him to stop, but he continued.
That’s when the man inside the house yelled at the woman to “get my gun.” The suspect stopped sawing and left the area.
The resident later explained to police that he doesn’t actually own a gun. He just figured the suspect would leave if he said he was arming himself.
Video footage showed a male wearing a medical mask outside the home. The report included no firm description of the suspect.
Man tries to climb through windows
At least two people reported that someone tried to get into their homes by climbing through windows early on the morning of Nov. 19.
One woman told police she saw a man trying to climb through her kitchen window around 6 a.m. at a home on Soundview Drive. He didn’t make it inside. She described the suspect only as a male with a red jacket and red shoes.
On nearby Harbor Sunset Lane, a resident told police a suspect had tried to climb through a bathroom window. Police mentioned in their report that a third similar incident is likely related.
SUV flees from Gig Harbor, is torched in Tacoma
Gig Harbor officers repeatedly tried to pull over a suspicious brown Ford Expedition early on the morning of Nov. 20. The vehicle later burned in Tacoma.
A neighborhood resident called 911 to report the Expedition had been parked near the intersection of Echo Rock Place and Sentinel Drive, running, for about 10 minutes. The caller was concerned the vehicle might be casing the neighborhood for a possible burglary.
When police responded, the Expedition sped off and refused to pull over when an officer tried to do so. The officer did not chase the Expedition.
But a second officer deployed a tire-deflation device as the Expedition drove toward Tacoma on Highway 16. The device worked, blowing both of the Expedition’s front tires. But the SUV continued into Tacoma on its rims, throwing sparks.
About 30 minutes later, Tacoma police and firefighters responded to a vehicle fire on South 37th Street across the bridge. A witness reported seeing someone pouring gasoline on the car and setting it on fire. Officers were not able to identify a suspect.