Community Police & Fire
Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Officers Taze ‘frantic’ suspect
Editor’s note: The Blotter is written based on information provided by Gig Harbor Police and Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One.
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Gig Harbor Police officers fired Tasers at a fleeing suspect on April 21 in the Target parking lot, striking him twice.
Officers said they observed no injuries from the Taser strikes, but medical crews took the suspect to the hospital after he said he swallowed two bags of fentanyl.
Officers contacted the man around 9:30 p.m. while investigating a blue Mazda SUV in the parking lot. The Mazda had two broken windows and a haphazardly-attached rear license plate. The VIN strip on the dash was covered by paper. Car thieves often obscur the VIN.
The suspect walked out of the store and to the car. An officer wrote that he was in a “somewhat frantic state” and seemed to be looking for a direction to run.
He did run, and two officers chased. The suspect began circling back toward the car and the officers were concerned he might get in it and drive away recklessly, possibly endangering pedestrians.
The two officers Tazed the suspect and took him into custody. That’s when he told them he swallowed two bags of fentanyl. Gig Harbor Fire and Medic One took him to hospital.
Officers later confirmed the Mazda was stolen. The suspect, a 39-year-old transient from Federal Way, was the subject of eight misdemeanor warrants.
Mom, two teens flee scene of wreck
Police arrested a 45-year-old South Prairie woman, her teenage son and his teenage friend after they fled the scene of a single-vehicle collision around 6:30 p.m. April 22 at the Peacock Hill Avenue-112th St. roundabout.
Witnesses reported that the woman, driving a maroon Pontiac SUV, failed to negotiate the roundabout and ran into a utility pole. The woman and the two teen boys ran into the woods after the crash.
An officer tracked them to an under-construction home a short ways through the forest. The suspects briefly resisted the officer’s attempts to handcuff them and refused to identify themselves.
The woman showed signs of intoxication and later tested above the legal driving limit for alcohol. The officer booked her into the Kitsap County Jail on suspicion of DUI. A friend came to the scene to take charge of the boys.
Officer pins shoplifting suspect
An officer pinned a woman to the ground when she refused to stop pushing a cartful of stolen merchandise at Target on April 24.
The officer was already inside the store when the 32-year-old woman pushed the cart out of the store without paying around 8:30 p.m. When he asked her to stop, she continued walking. She flailed her arms and attempted to push away from the officer.
The officer took the woman to the ground and pinned her there with his knee in her back and handcuffed her.
The woman told officers she didn’t know they were law enforcement, though the officers said they identified themselves repeatedly.
She had about $822 of merchandise in the cart. The officers booked her into the Kitsap County Jail on suspicion of third-degree theft.