Community Police & Fire
Editor’s note: The Blotter is written based on information provided by Gig Harbor Police , Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
A 68-year-old Port Orchard woman told police that someone Tased her following an unsuccessful attempt to steal her purse in the parking lot of the Gig Harbor Costco around 3:30 p.m. Nov. 9.
Police later arrested three 16-year-old suspects — two girls and one boy —in Federal Way on suspicion of committing that crime and several others in the region, according to reports by Seattle television stations.
In the Gig Harbor incident, the 68-year-old woman told police that a dark SUV drove up while she was loading groceries into her vehicle. A young woman got out of the SUV and tried to grab her purse off her shoulder.
The 68-year-old refused to let go of the purse, so the teenager used a Taser to shock her. When she still wouldn’t let go of the purse, the girl got back in the SUV and drove away.
At least two other women told police that someone from the same SUV stole their purses in the same parking lot that afternoon. One purse was stolen from a car while its owner returned a shopping cart. The other was taken from a shopping cart while its owner was loading groceries.
The suspects tried to use credit cards taken from at least one of the purses. Several charges to the cards placed in Tacoma, including over $70 at a Crumbl Cookie, were declined.
Tacoma police spotted the dark SUV running a red light later on Nov. 9. A chase ensued, with the fleeing SUV reaching speeds of up to 100 mph.
Officers arrested the three suspects after locating the car in Federal Way.
Young people scuffle in parking lot
About seven people, mostly teenagers, were involved in a fistfight in the Uptown Gig Harbor shopping center parking lot around 11 p.m. Nov. 11. Officers were unable to definitively determine who was the aggressor and thus made no arrests.
It wasn’t even clear how the fight started. One group told officers it started because someone from the other group was mocking them. The alternate story claimed someone tried to stop the other group from shoplifting alcohol.
Several people involved sustained what officers referred to as minor cuts and bruises. They declined medical aid. Officers saw empty bottles of alcohol inside at least one vehicle involved.
Teen arrested on suspicion of robbery
Officers arrested a teen boy on suspicion of robbery after he walked into a convenience store on Point Fosdick Drive early on Nov. 12 and demanded money and tobacco products.
A Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy and an off-duty Bremerton Police officer both happened to be nearby when the robbery occurred, so the suspect and his friend didn’t get far.
The convenience store clerk told a Gig Harbor officer that a young man wearing all black, including a facemask, walked into the store around 3:30 a.m. and grabbed a soda. He placed the soda on the counter and demanded money and tobacco.
The clerk was “in disbelief that he was being robbed.” He said he told the suspect that he needed to retrieve a key to access the money, then locked himself inside an office. The suspect attempted to follow him into the office but fled when the clerk pointed his cell phone at the suspect, trying to make it appear he had a gun, and yelled “freeze.”
They had 18 different driver’s licenses
Officers found a treasure trove of stolen documents while investigating a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a store on 51st Avenue on Nov. 11.
Officers noticed the older Ford pickup parked at the store with no license plates, a common sign of a stolen vehicle. The truck had smashed windows and a damaged ignition. Multiple checkbooks were strewn about the cab.
The officers located and spoke with two people who had been in the truck. Between them, the two had 18 apparently stolen driver’s licenses, four Social Security cards, someone else’s passport and several stolen checkbooks. Officers also found a list of addresses from apparent burglaries or identity thefts.
Police booked one of the suspects for an outstanding burglary arrest warrant and for possession of stolen property.
Driver waves pedestrians across, then speeds toward them
A 76-year-old Gig Harbor woman told Gig Harbor officers that someone in a gray four-door sedan tried to run her over in the parking lot of a store on Point Fosdick Drive.
The woman and her 80-year-old friend said they were walking through the parking lot when the driver of the sedan waved for them to cross in front of him. But instead of stopping and waiting for the ladies to cross, he accelerated toward them as if trying to hit them.
The victims were not injured.
The license plate they provided did not match the description of the vehicle. Officers were awaiting more information from witnesses and surveillance video footage.
Dismantled ATM found
A contractor called police after finding an automated teller machine at a property on 72nd Street on the afternoon of Nov. 9. The property owner later told an officer that he had noticed the dumped ATM at least three weeks before and had set up a surveillance camera to monitor the property.
Officers took the dismantled ATM for safekeeping.
