Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Bank robbery suspect arrested

Editor’s note: The Police Blotter is written based on information in Gig Harbor Police reports.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a suspect in two Gig Harbor bank robberies on the afternoon of July 12 near Silverdale. The same man is suspected in a string of robberies in Pierce, Kitsap and Thurston counties.

The arrest occurred just hours after the 28-year-old Tacoma man allegedly robbed a bank on Point Fosdick Drive in Gig Harbor.

Gig Harbor Police released this photo of a suspect in a string of recent bank robberies.

According to the Kitsap Sheriff’s Office, tellers at a bank in Poulsbo reported a robbery at about 5 p.m. July 12. Deputies located the vehicle associated with the suspect, a red pickup, on Highway 3. The red pickup exited the highway in Silverdale and rear-ended another vehicle.

The deputy then executed what law enforcement calls a “pursuit intervention technique” — essentially bumping the fleeing vehicle and forcing it off the road.

The suspect expressed surprise that the deputy was allowed to give chase. The Kitsap deputy explained that state law and department policy permits pursuits when a “violent felony” has been committed. A bank robbery qualifies.

Gig Harbor robbery

According to a Gig Harbor Police report, the same suspect robbed a bank on Point Fosdick Drive that morning.

The Gig Harbor officer investigating that crime noted that the man likely was behind a string of similar bank robberies in Thurston and Pierce counties, including at least one other robbery in Gig Harbor.

The officer reviewed security footage near the Point Fosdick bank. The suspect — who has a distinctive neck tattoo of the word “Karma” — parked a red pickup across the street from the bank. A security guard at a nearby medical facility briefly spoke with him.

The man paced around for awhile before walking into the bank and presenting the teller with a note. The teller did not report seeing any weapons.

The note, similar to those in the other associated robberies, included a line saying: “You have 2 minutes or my homies will run up in here, you don’t want that.”

No homies were evident in the video. However, Kitsap deputies arrested a second man after stopping the red pickup several hours later.

Deputies arrested both men on suspicion of first degree robbery, attempting to elude and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office released this photo from the apprehension of a bank robbery suspect near Silverdale this week.

Driver flees from police, nearly hits children

A woman fleeing from officers nearly hit two children in a grocery store parking lot on July 8.

Passersby reported seeing a woman passed out in a gold Chevrolet Impala in the parking lot of the store on Point Fosdick Drive around 4:30 p.m. The Impala was parked in a handicapped spot but had no handicapped placard.

An officer located the vehicle, with the woman still asleep, and noted a pipe on a seat nearby. The officer took her name and registration, asked her to wait a moment, and returned to his patrol car to check the information.

She instead backed out of the parking spot and tried to speed off through the parking lot. She “nearly hit two children” in the process.

The officer followed, noting that he did not turn on his emergency lights and was driving with the flow of traffic while searching for the Impala. He lost track of the Impala after it ran a red light.

Another driver reported a hit-and-run collision involving the Impala a few moments later. No injuries were reported.

The officer was able to identify the driver of the Impala – she gave him fake name – but was unable to locate her.

Driver rifles around in car before finally getting out

An officer responded to a gas station on Stinson Avenue early on the morning of July 11 after witnesses reported a possible vehicle-versus-building collision.

The officer found a red Ford Crown Victoria that had mounted the curb, knocked over a large ash tray and struck a planter. The driver appeared to be sleeping at the wheel.

The officer attempted to wake the man using an air horn mounted on his patrol car, to no avail. After several minutes of yelling and banging on the window, the man finally stirred.

He immediately started the vehicle. An officer warned their dispatchers that he may attempt to ram a patrol car parked directly behind him.

The driver didn’t do that, but he removed his shirt for reasons that are unclear. Then he reached into his pants for something. He searched in the passenger seat and floorboards of the Crown Victoria for something before finally heeding officers’ requests that he exit the vehicle.

Officers did not smell alcohol on him, but they suspected he might have been high on drugs. After obtaining a warrant from an on-call judge, officers took the driver to a hospital for a blood draw. They cited him for driving under the influence, gave him a court date and released him. His girlfriend, who had retrieved the Crown Victoria, picked him up from the hospital.