Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Mom confronts man who disciplined her son at party

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

A mom told told police that another child’s dad grabbed her 6-year-old son, yelled and cursed at him, and popped his balloon during a birthday party at a business on Kimball Drive on June 17.

The mom told police that her son was “playing rough” with other kids at the party. The father of another child attempted to discipline her son, but she told police he went too far.

When the mom confronted the dad, she said, he cursed and yelled at her, too.

Police asked the dad about the incident. He denied touching the child or popping the balloon, and said the boy had violently thrown several other children to the ground.

Police asked both parents to not contact each other.

Officer recovers pile of stolen IDs, credit cards

An officer pulled over a car for having expired tabs on June 17 and recovered a pile of stolen identifications and credit cards in the process.

The officer pulled the Ford Taurus over at about 7 p.m. June 19 on Point Fosdick Drive. Its tabs had expired in February 2022.

The driver, a 40-year-old University Place woman, argued that the officer wasn’t permitted to pull her over for the expired tabs, which she called a “secondary offense.” The officer told her she was wrong about that and asked to see her driver’s license.

She said she didn’t have one, The officer found that odd because a stack of driver’s licenses and credit cards sat in plain sight on the center console of the car. None of them were hers, though.

The driver claimed she had found them in various parking lots over the course of the past year and simply kept them. The officer cited the woman for possession of stolen property.

That drink costs more than a quarter

A store clerk told police that a customer assaulted him after paying just a quarter for a fountain drink that cost $1.59.

The clerk at the convenience store on Soundview Drive told police that the man walked into the store around 5:30 p.m. June 19. He filled up a fountain drink cup and tossed a quarter on the counter as he walked out.

The clerk told him that wasn’t enough and an argument ensued. The customer took a swing at the clerk, but missed and knocked over a store display, causing about $100 in damage.

The man left the store and the clerk followed him. The confrontation continued outside a  store on Olympic Drive. The clerk said he last saw the other man walking on the Olympic Drive overpass over Highway 16.

Burglary tools aren’t used for carpentry

An officer checking on a driver with expired license tabs discovered a cache of drug paraphernalia, burglary tools and other contraband on June 17.

The officer noticed the expired tabs at a gas station on Point Fosdick Drive around 3:30 a.m. He mentioned the expired tabs to the driver, and during their conversation saw possible methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia inside the car.

The officer also noticed tools commonly used to break into buildings or steal ATMs, including sledgehammers, bolt cutters, pry bars and a long chain. The suspect claimed he had those tools because he works as a carpenter.

The officer also saw a set of shaved keys, which can be used in car thefts.

The suspect’s driver’s license was suspended, so the officer could not allow him to drive away in the vehicle. The officer gave the man a drug treatment referral and told him the vehicle would be impounded if he was stopped again while driving with a suspended license.