Community News Police & Fire

Gig Harbor blotter: Same car flees police three times

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

A stolen white Kia Rio fled from law enforcement on at least three occasions on Sept. 24 and 25.

In the first instance included in the reports, an officer pulled the Rio over after checking its license plate and learning the vehicle was reported stolen.

The driver ignored the officer’s commands to show her hands, instead exiting the car holding a cell phone. When the driver got out of the car, a passenger slid over to the driver’s seat and sped off.

The original driver said she was driving the car with the permission of the owner. She agreed that the car had been reported stolen, but said the owner recovered it about a week ago. She said she called 911 to report the recovery, but the car still showed as stolen in the computer system.

The owner of the car, reached by phone, confirmed that to the officer. Still, since the passenger had subsequently taken the car without the owner’s permission, it was once again considered stolen.

The next day, the same vehicle fled from an officer who tried to stop it on Borgen Boulevard. It was last seen driving in the wrong lane on Wollochet Drive around 3 a.m. Sept. 25. The officer noted that the same vehicle had fled from a Pierce County deputy earlier that morning.

Beer shoplifters hit pickup while running from police

A car filled with people suspected of stealing beer from a grocery store on Point Fosdick Drive ran into another vehicle while trying to flee police on Sept. 16.

An officer patrolling the area noticed a blue Honda CRV with no license plates backed into a parking spot at the grocery store. The officer’s report noted that shoplifters often back into parking spots in order to have a quicker get-away.

Three people got out of the CRV, but the driver stayed at the wheel. A few minutes later, the same three came running out of the store, carrying boxes of beer and yelling “go, go, go” to the driver.

The officer turned on the police car’s emergency lights, stepped out of vehicle and yelled at the suspects to stop, but they fled anyway. While trying to get away, the CRV hit a parked, unoccupied pickup in the parking lot. But it continued on its way, leaking fluid.

The officer tracked the fluid leak to another nearby store and found the CRV abandoned.

A witness told officers that two of the suspects were now walking in front of the same store where they stole the beer. Officers apprehended them there. A third suspect later contacted police and admitted to involvement in the incident.

Reports of the incident were forwarded to county prosecutors and juvenile prosecutors, since some of those involved were minors.

Reminder: Burn ban still in place

Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One firefighters helped extinguish a bonfire at the Fox Island boat launch on the evening of Monday, Sept. 26.

Firefighters arrived at the boat launch to find two people burning pallets. They explained the need to extinguish the flames due to an ongoing burn ban, and helped the two people do so.

The burn ban, implemented by the Pierce County Fire Marshal and the Pierce County Fire Chiefs Association, was put in place Aug. 5 due to ongoing dry conditions. It prohibits all outdoor burning, including recreational fires. Cooking fires are allowed only in a gas grill.

For information about the burn ban, click here.