Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Baby found safe after suspected kidnapping

Law enforcement arrested a 30-year-old Tacoma man on suspicion of kidnapping his 18-month-old nephew early on Dec. 27 in Gig Harbor. Family members told officers the suspect is struggling with mental illness.

The Tacoma man first came to the attention of local officers when he reportedly tried to steal a boat from a marina on Harborview Drive on the evening of Dec. 26.

Officers contacted his mother, who explained that her son has mental health issues and that the family is seeking help from professionals. She went on to say that officers in Kitsap County arrested her son the previous evening after he tried to steal a boat from a marina in Port Orchard. She bailed him out and asked him to follow her home to Puyallup, but instead he ditched her and ended up in Gig Harbor.

The same man was involved in a collision near the Wollochet-Highway 16 interchange later that night. While officers investigated the collision, he took a vehicle belonging to his brother, who was trying to help their mother corral the 30-year-old.

He drove his brother’s car to his brother’s house. There, he slipped into the house and made off with his 18-month-old nephew. Law enforcement in Thurston County found the suspect and the baby, who was not in a car seat, a little later. The baby was not injured.

Officers arrested the 30-year-old and booked him into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of kidnapping, hit and run, taking a motor vehicle without permission and attempting to elude.

Truck thief gets away after owner interrupts him

A Gig Harbor man caught someone trying to steal his truck from a hardware store parking lot around noon on Dec. 24. The suspect still got away with the vehicle, a 1999 white Ford F-250.

The 70-year-old Gig Harbor man walked out of the hardware store around 11:40 a.m. to find someone sitting in the passenger seat of the F-250, using vice grips and a screwdriver to take apart its ignition. The truck owner told the suspect to get out of the truck and go away. The suspect responded that he had a gun and would shoot the 70-year-old if he came any closer.

Shortly thereafter, the suspect got the truck started and drove off, hitting the 70-year-old with the door of the truck as he did so. The man reported no injuries.

Gig Harbor officers entered the truck as stolen.

Shoplifter said he stole because he needed Christmas gifts for kids

Gig Harbor Police arrested two people on suspicion of shoplifting from three stores on Dec. 22. One of the suspects told officers he stole because he needed Christmas gifts for his children.

The thefts occurred at a pharmacy and a shoe store on Borgen Boulevard and at a department store on Olympic Drive. Police caught the suspects at the department store. The other stores provided video footage showing the same suspects were involved in all three thefts.

One suspect, a 34-year-old Tacoma man, told officers he was stealing to provide presents for his kids.

They stole items from the three stores worth a combined $337. Officers sent reports on the thefts to prosecutors for consideration of possible theft charges.

Driver forgot about roundabout

A suspected intoxicated driver collided with a utility box at the intersection of Borgen Boulevard and Peacock Hill Drive in the waning hours of Christmas Eve. The collision caused a small fire, which firefighters quickly doused.

The driver of the vehicle, a black Subaru Legacy, told officers he forgot about the roundabout at Borgen and Peacock and accelerated through the intersection. He drove the car off the roadway and hit a utility box, causing the fire.

Officers saw drug paraphernalia on the floor of the vehicle. The driver, a 51-year-old Gig Harbor man, admitted to being a heavy fentanyl user. He said he drank one alcoholic beverage earlier that night.

Officers performed field sobriety tests on the driver and took him to St. Anthony Hospital for a blood draw. He was cited for DUI, given a court date and provided information on drug abuse services.

Driver’s wheel comes off, hits patrol car

Police arrested a 20-year-old Gig Harbor man on suspicion of DUI early on Dec. 18 after an officer watched him drive so poorly that a wheel came off his vehicle.

The officer watched the vehicle drive in the wrong lane, drive over the traffic circle at Stinson Avenue and Rosedale Street and blow through a stop sign. The wheel came off when the driver turned into an apartment complex on Rosedale. The detached wheel hit the officer’s patrol car.

The driver didn’t initially respond to the officer’s commands. The officer wrote that the driver appeared confused. He eventually admitted to having drank several beers earlier in the evening.

The officer found four Coors light cans, some open, in the vehicle. The driver agreed to take preliminary DUI tests, which showed readings of 0.23 or higher, well above the legal limit.