Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Weapons found in car on school grounds

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

A Gig Harbor Police officer investigating alleged threats made via social media on Sept. 25 ended up taking possession of weapons found in an 18-year-old’s vehicle at Henderson Bay High School.

The suspect made no threats toward the school itself. School officials found the weapons during an unrelated search for marijuana in the vehicle, which coincidentally happened while the officer was there.

A teen boy told police about the threats, which occurred via SnapChat. He told officers the 18-year-old threatened to “curb stomp” him and shoot up his house.

A car associated with the 18-year-old drove by the teen’s house, and the family later found spent fireworks in their driveway.

The investigating officer went to Henderson Bay, where the 18-year-old attends, to notify security there about the threats. At the school, he learned administrators were already planning to search the 18-year-old’s car, which they suspected contained marijuana.

The officer did not participate in the search (school officials are not required to obtain a search warrant on school grounds, if the search is “reasonable“). But he stood by and watched as school staff removed a rifle, ammunition, a folding knife and an axe from the car. They also found alcohol and the marijuana they had been looking for.

The suspect said he carried the weapons in his car because his friend had recently been shot and he was concerned for his own safety.

The officer took possession of the weapons. He forwarded a report on the incident to prosecutors for review of possible charges of felony harassment and misdemeanor weapons charges.

Pooch-walking porch pirate

Sadly, thieves take packages off porches fairly routinely. But it’s rare that a suspect does it while apparently walking a dog.

Unfortunately, that happened to a 65-year-old man who lives on Olympic Drive recently.

The man provided footage from his home security camera showing a woman stealing a package off his porch on the evening of Sept. 23. The package contained about $200 in goods.

The footage shows a white woman pilfering the package. She also held a leash attached to a  “small blonde terrier-like dog wearing a pink harness.”

Officers had no leads on who held the leash.

Converters stolen

At least two people reported catalytic converters stolen from their vehicles at the Kimball Drive park and ride lot on Sept. 25.

Thieves target the devices because they are easy to steal and contain valuable metals that can be resold. Officers filed reports on the thefts but had no leads.