Community Police & Fire
Gig Harbor Police blotter: Fleeing suspect rams patrol car
Editor’s note: The Blotter is written based on information provided by Gig Harbor Police and Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One.
An apparently intoxicated man, trying to get away after shoplifting at a store on Borgen Boulevard, rammed a Gig Harbor Police car on Oct. 30.
An officer patrolling the parking lot noticed the vehicle, a Dodge Durango, because it lacked license plates. As the Durango left the parking lot, a passer-by told the officer that people inside it had stolen merchandise from the store.
The Durango fled from the officer’s attempted to traffic stop on eastbound Highway 16. The car repeatedly swerved in its lane. It stopped on the Wollochet offramp, but sped away when the officer started to get out of his car to speak to the suspects.
Officers eventually corralled the vehicle in a gas station parking lot. That’s where the Dodge ran into a patrol vehicle, causing an estimated $3,000 in damage. The Durango didn’t stop moving until officers deployed spike strips, which blew out its rear tires.
The two suspects inside refused to exit the vehicle or respond to officers, who ended up breaking a window to make contact.
Officers found stolen merchandise inside the vehicle. The driver of the Durango, a 58-year-old Tacoma man, was arrested on suspicion of assault, driving under the influence and possession of stolen property.
Officer tackles fleeing suspect
A Gig Harbor officer chased down a man suspected of possessing a stolen truck on Oct. 28 at a store on Point Fosdick Drive.
The officer saw the suspect, a 36-year-old Lakebay man, getting out of a Toyota pickup that lacked a front license plate. The truck’s owner had reported it stolen in Federal Way, and its rear license plate belonged on a passenger car.
The officer also saw a stash of apparently shoplifted goods in the bed of the truck.
The officer tried to speak with the man when he returned to the truck. The suspect instead fled, leaving the truck behind and running across the parking lot.
The officer eventually caught and tackled the suspect in front of a restaurant on Point Fosdick.
The suspect was booked and released from the Pierce County jail on suspicion of possession of stolen property and resisting arrest.