Community Police & Fire
Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Suspect caught when his car won’t start
Editor’s note: The Police Blotter is written based on information in Gig Harbor Police reports.
A broken-down car foiled a shoplifter attempting to get away with more than $2,000 worth of merchandise from stores on Borgen Boulevard.
An employee called Gig Harbor police to a shoe store on Borgen Boulevard on the afternoon of Aug. 4 to report that a man had tried to steal five pairs of shoes. When the employee told the suspect police were being called, he dropped the shoes and left the building.
The suspect returned to a vehicle in the parking lot, but it wouldn’t start. When a passer-by confronted him about the theft, the suspect walked away.
An officer located the nonfunctioning vehicle and noted that it was filled with merchandise apparently stolen from other stores in the shopping center. The officer determined that the man had shoplifted more than $2,200 worth of merchandise.
A document inside a backpack in the car provided officers with the suspect’s name, but he could not be located. A report on the incident was forwarded to the city prosecutor and the merchandise was returned to the stores.
Man arrested after smoking pot in car with child
Gig Harbor officers arrested a man who had been smoking marijuana in his parked car, with a young child in the passenger seat next to him.
A passerby alerted officers to the situation on the evening of Aug. 6 in a parking lot on Olympic Drive. The officers found the vehicle parked illegally in a handicapped spot.
A marijuana bong and a pill bottle were clearly visible between the 35-year-old suspect and the 10- to 12-year-old boy in the passenger seat. The officer also reported being able to smell marijuana.
The suspect appeared to be preparing to start the vehicle after the officers contacted him. He then got out of the vehicle and attempted to walk away, leaving the child alone in the car. After overcoming momentary resistance, the officers placed the man in handcuffs.
A check of the man’s name revealed that he was the subject of multiple arrest warrants.
While being driven to jail, the suspect called the officer who was driving multiple names and racial slurs. He attempted to spit on the officer, but the police vehicle is equipped with a plastic spit shield.
The suspect was booked into the Kitsap County jail, where Gig Harbor officers sometimes take misdemeanor suspects, for the outstanding warrants and for a new charge of obstructing an investigation.
One driver, two crashes
A suspected drunken driver fled a collision on Borgen Boulevard on Aug. 3, only to cause another in a nearby parking lot.
Witnesses reported the first collision, in the roundabout of Borgen and 51st Street, at about 2 p.m. Dispatchers informed officers who were en route that one of the involved vehicles was attempting to flee.
Witnesses told the officer what direction the vehicle, a blue Honda Accord wagon, had gone. The officer found it in the parking lot of an adjacent grocery store, where it had hit three parked vehicles.
The driver admitted to the officer that she had drank “approximately 5 inches” of vodka. Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One took her to St. Anthony’s Medical Center as a precautionary measure. Charges are pending toxicology results.