Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter | Suspect drove the car like he stole it

Editor’s note: The Blotter is written based on information provided by Gig Harbor Police , Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.

The driver of a stolen green Kia fled led police on a 17-minute chase through two counties on the afternoon of Nov. 9.

A Gig Harbor officer saw a man slumped over the wheel of the car in a parking lot on Olympic Drive around 3 p.m. The officer ran the license plate and learned that the registered owner of the Kia reported it stolen.

The driver woke up, apparently noticed the officer and fled, driving recklessly through a crowded parking lot. While merging on to westbound Highway 16, the Kia “ran over a sidewalk, causing an explosion,” the officer wrote. Thick smoke billowed from the vehicle and the hood flipped up to obscure the driver’s view, but he barely slowed down.

The driver continued on westbound Highway 16 into Kitsap County, exiting at Mullenix and causing a non-injury collision on Bethel Burley Road. Eventually officers forced the Kia off the road on Purdy Drive. The car sideswiped a tree and ended up in a ditch.

Officers found the driver upside down in the passenger seat of the car, complaining about a sore back. He was bleeding and wasn’t wearing a seat belt.

Officers escorted him to St. Anthony Hospital, where medical staff sedated and treated him. Officers later arrested the suspect, a 20-year-old with a Seattle address, on suspicion of several felony charges.

Witness to fender-bender brandishes an air pistol

A fender bender in a grocery store parking lot on Halloween afternoon devolved into a shouting match, with one party brandishing an air pistol.

According to a Gig Harbor Police report, a Corvette backed out of a parking spot and collided with a Mustang. As the two people involved sorted things out, a witness yelled at the driver of the Corvette that he was at fault.

The Corvette driver told the witness that his input wasn’t appreciated and an argument ensued. Surveillance footage showed the Corvette driver approaching the witness and his car.

The witness told police that the other man threatened him with physical violence, put his hands on his Subaru, and began to stick his head inside the car. At that point the witness produced a yellow air pistol and pointed it at the ground.

Officers forwarded a report on the incident to prosecutors for review.

Shoplifting suspect scuffles with officer

A Gig Harbor officer grappled with a shoplifting suspect in the Fred Meyer parking lot on Oct. 31. The suspect later claimed to have ingested a large dose of methamphetamine, earning himself a ride to St. Anthony Hospital, where he walked away early the next morning.

The officer noticed a suspicious vehicle, full of apparently stolen items, in the parking lot around 7:30 p.m. A check of records revealed that the vehicle was associated with several other shoplifting incidents in the region.

When the officer tried to speak with the suspect, he ran.  The officer grabbed hold of him and threw him into a wall, but he spun free. The suspect slipped out of his hoodie, which the officer had grabbed, and fled.

Another officer tracked the suspect down a few minutes later and held him at Taser point. Because the suspect claimed to have ingested an overdose of meth just before the first officer contacted him, police called medics to take him to the hospital.

The police department was too busy that evening to station an officer at the hospital. Officers reported checking on the suspect regularly during the night, but nurses said he fled from hospital security around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 1.