Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter | Man arrested after threatening neighbors on Vernhardson

Police arrested a 49-year-old Tacoma man on March 16 after he screamed at and threatened several people who live near the intersection of Vernhardson Street and Randall Drive.

At about 11:15 a.m., a 911 caller reported that the man was threatening to kill and rape everyone in her home. Other neighbors later reported similar interactions.

Police arrived and located the man walking on Crescent Valley Drive. Officers held him at taser-point, and he was initially cooperative. But he later began struggling and cursing at officers.

Police found drugs and paraphernalia on the man, who admitted to having smoked methamphetamine at nearby Crescent Creek Park. He went back and forth between apologizing profusely to the officers and threatening to rape and murder them.

Police arrested the man for a felony warrant and on suspicion of drug use.

1990s Civic is a ‘nice car’

An officer investigating a suspicious car in the Target parking lot on March 29 ended up in a bizarre exchange with a 19-year-old Vancouver man.

The officer noticed a primer-black 1990s Honda Civic with no license plates in the parking lot shortly before noon. Civics of that vintage are among the most commonly stolen vehicles.

He tried to check the vehicle’s VIN, but a piece of paper on the dashboard obscured it. The officer believed someone placed the paper deliberately to prevent identification of a likely stolen car.

The officer began working on impounding the vehicle to determine if it was stolen. While he was doing that, the 19-year-old walked past and made the unlikely remark that the primer black-1990s Civic was a “nice car.” He wandered off, but came back later and repeated the same implausible statement.

The 19-year-old denied that it was his car, but became angry that the officer was seeking to have it towed. After an extensive verbal confrontation, the teen admitted the car was his — whereupon the officer arrested him for the misdemeanor crime of obscuring a VIN number.

Officers cited and released the 19-year-old. But before they could have the car towed, a 31-year-old Lakebay man showed up and parked his vehicle in front of the Honda to prevent it from being moved. Another verbal confrontation ensued before officers eventually arrested the older man, too.

After officers explained the situation to the 31-year-old, he told them that the 19-year-old had misrepresented to him what was happening. Officers arrested the 31-year-old on suspicion of obstructing an investigation. They eventually managed to get the Civic towed.

Theft of tip jar

An unknown suspect stole a tip jar from a restaurant on Olympic Drive on the afternoon of March 14.

A restaurant employee told police that the man called in a takeout order and arrived to pick it up at about 1 p.m. The employee told the suspect that his meal wasn’t quite ready yet, then attended to other customers.

When the employee returned to the lobby, the suspect and a tip jar with $25 were both gone. But since it was a call-in order, they had his phone number.

An officer called the number, but the person who answered hung up. Officers found no information on the number in a search of records.