Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Officers crack down on shoplifters

Editor’s note: The Blotter is written based on information provided by Gig Harbor Police and Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One.

Gig Harbor police made several arrests and recovered hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise during an anti-shoplifting operation on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27 at stores off Borgen Boulevard.

Police reports indicate that the operation involved officers from the Gig Harbor Police and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, as well as store security. At least seven arrests were made and at least $3,000 in stolen merchandise was returned to stores.

Bullet found between panes of window

An officer found a stray bullet between panes of a window at a home on Veteran Avenue on Jan. 27.

The bullet made it through the outer pane but not the inner pane. The resident didn’t know when the bullet landed there or where it came from.

Though the home is in the vicinity of the Gig Harbor Sportsman Club firing range, the investigating officer reported that “it does not appear that the round was a stray round” from there due to the angle from which it was fired.

Suspicious truck flees despite spike strips

A U-Haul truck fled from police despite its tires being deflated by a spike strip on Sunday, Jan. 29.

Investigators believe the pickup was associated with an attempted burglary at a restaurant on Olympic Drive on Jan. 28. Officers saw the same vehicle early on Jan. 29 on Wollochet Drive, but it fled across the Narrows Bridge.

Around 8:30 p.m. Jan. 29, two officers spotted the pickup in the Target parking lot. Inside were a “crate” containing several cartons of cigarettes, stacks of cash sorted by denominations and a variety of tools that appeared to have been stolen from stores.

Officers deployed portable spike strips while waiting for the occupants to return to the truck. When a man and a woman returned and got in the truck, officers told them they would blow their tires if they tried to leave. They left anyway.

Officers found the truck abandoned nearby. Most of the apparently stolen merchandise was gone, though of the cash and cigarettes were still inside.

Officers identified the suspects and forwarded a report to prosecutors for possible criminal charges.