Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Reckless driver tased by angry neighbor

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

A man called 911 on the evening of July 14 to report that he had been tased by someone who was angry over the speed he was driving in the neighborhood.

Several witnesses confirmed to officers that the man who called 911 had been driving recklessly in the area of Sentinel Drive and Sawtooth Court, off Peacock Hill Avenue. They described him speeding through stop signs, failing to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks and accelerating to speeds as high as 75 mph. 

The 23-year-old driver later admitted to driving dangerously. He said he was upset because his dog had recently died. He was cited for reckless driving.

The man with the taser, 53, told officers that he confronted the driver and asked him to stop driving dangerously. The driver got “feisty,” the 53-year-old said. When the driver tried to get back into his car, the older man used a Taser on him.

The 53-year-old said the other man swung at him, though he couldn’t remember if that happened before or after he used the Taser. Nobody was injured, and officers couldn’t find any marks from the Taser on the driver. The 53-year-old said it is possible he missed his target.

A report of the incident was forwarded to Pierce County prosecutors for review of possible criminal charges.

Customer harasses McDonald’s employees

Employees of the McDonald’s on Olympic Drive asked Gig Harbor Police to come to the store several times in recent days to help with an unruly customer.

On the morning of July 14, an employee told officers that the customer threw his just-purchased meal at her car in the parking lot. The man reportedly was upset because the McDonald’s app was not working properly.

The employee told police that the same man had gotten in a fight with another customer the previous day. In another earlier incident, the man threw his food in the face of the same McDonald’s employee.

Officers weren’t able to find the suspect that day, but he returned to cause more problems on July 15. This time, employees had asked the man to leave, but he was refusing to do so.

Employees said the man was making hand gestures in an apparent attempt to indicate that he had a gun.

He denied making threats and insisted that store employees had actually threatened him. He also said that McDonald’s owed him a refund, since his wife had paid for food and been asked to park until employees could bring the food, which they didn’t do. 

Officers obtained a refund for the man. Reports on both incidents were forwarded to prosecutors for review of possible criminal charges.

The first employee told police that management at the restaurant had refused to have the man trespassed from the restaurant. Under a trespass order, the man could be charged with burglary if he returns to the location.

Shoplifting report leads to recovery of stolen vehicle

Officers recovered a stolen Honda Civic while investigating a shoplifting incident at the Rite Aid on Point Fosdick Road.

Employees at the store told police on the evening of July 14 that a man had taken a bottle of brandy from the store without paying. Officers found a man matching the description provided by employees sitting inside a white 1990s Civic in the parking lot.

Officers noted that the vehicle lacked a rear license plate.

The subject eventually admitted that the bottle was in the back seat of the vehicle. He invoked his right to not speak to the officers after that.

A second man who had been inside the store with the suspect was not located. The suspect was booked into the Pierce County jail and trespassed from the store. The vehicle was towed and impounded until it could be returned to its owner.