Community Police & Fire
Gig Harbor Police Blotter: That’s a lot of tequila
Editor’s note: The Blotter is written based on information provided by Gig Harbor Police and Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One.
Three people stole 31 bottles of tequila from the Rite Aid store on Point Fosdick drive around 8 p.m. July 23.
The liquor was worth about $1,150, clerks told officers. Employees provided officers with a license plate number for the blue Chevy Cobalt the suspects left in, but the registered owner of that vehicle told officers he had sold the car several years ago and didn’t know who might be driving it now.
Store employees promised to send officers store security footage of the incident.
Argumentative driver says he’ll beat the ticket
A driver told a Gig Harbor police officer that he didn’t need to provide his license and vehicle registration because he was a “traveler” from out of state. It didn’t go well.
The officer noticed the vehicle, a gray Oldsmobile with an out-of-state vanity license plate, on the evening of July 22 on Borgen Boulevard. The officer wrote that the plate looked wrong, lacking raised lettering and other usual license plate conventions.
A check of records showed that the plate should’ve been on a white pickup instead of a gray Oldsmobile. During the resulting traffic stop, the driver argued that as a visitor from out of state he needn’t provide the information the officer requested.
He also unsuccessfully tried to cover up the vehicle identification number (VIN) imprinted on the dashboard. Plus, he gave the officer a fake name.
Officers eventually figured out the driver’s real name. They removed the license plate and issued him a citation and court date, to which he responded “I look forward to beating it.”
Suspects take motor home for joy ride
A 74-year-old Gig Harbor woman reported her nine-year-old motor home stolen, then found it the next day.
The woman reported the $50,000 vehicle stolen at around 10:15 p.m. July 22. She called back the day after to tell police she had the RV back again.
She told the officers that she found a 30-year-old woman and her 9- or 10-year-old daughter having a meal inside the motor home. The adult woman admitted stealing the vehicle. The rightful owner of the motor home took possession of the vehicle, but didn’t call police until several hours later.