Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Scuffle ensues when shoplifter tries to flee

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.

A Gig Harbor Police officer wrestled a 42-year-old man to the ground on Oct. 30 at a shopping complex on Olympic Drive after the suspect tried to escape an arrest for shoplifting.

The officer saw the man walk out of the store with about $300 in unpaid merchandise. When the office tried to speak with the suspect, he dropped the stolen goods and tried to walk away.

The officer grabbed the suspect’s arm, attempting to handcuff him. The suspect pulled free and again tried to flee. That’s when the officer enveloped the suspect in what he described as a “bear hug type hold” and pulled him to the ground, flipping their position so the officer landed on top of the suspect.

The suspect was cooperative after that. He told the officer he tried to escape because he was “scared.” Medics checked on the suspect, who was not injured.

Officers arrested him on suspicion of shoplifting and obstructing an officer. He was booked into the Kitsap County Jail.

Halloween horror story

Security footage captured images showing two men stealing an electronic bike worth about $3,300 from outside a business on Borgen Boulevard around 5:45 p.m. on Halloween night.

Gig Harbor Police posted this photo on Twitter of two suspects in the theft of an electronic bike on Halloween night.

The footage showed two men using bolt cutters  to cut a lock securing the bicycle to a railing outside the business. The business owner said the thieves also caused about $1,000 to the business while stealing the bike.

With friends like these …

A 62-year-old man told police that his friends stole his car from the parking lot of a grocery store on the morning of Oct. 29 while he was being treated by emergency medical responders.

Making matters worse, the man was living in the car at the time.

Medics responded to the store for a medical emergency around 8 a.m. The 62-year-old told them he couldn’t go with them to the hospital until he checked on his car, because he was afraid two other people living in it with him might steal it.

The car was already gone by the time they looked for it.

Fortunately for the 62-year-old, a Gig Harbor officer spotted the car back in the grocery store parking lot a few hours later. Still at the hospital, he asked them to lock the car and leave it there until he could retrieve it.