Community Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Police Blotter: Shoplifting suspect ‘looked a bit puffy’

Editor’s note: The Police Blotter is written based on information in Gig Harbor Police reports.

Employees at a Point Fosdick Drive department store called police on the evening of July 22 when they saw several “known shoplifters” inside the store.

An officer stationed himself near the front door to see if the suspects left the store without paying. When one of the suspects left the store, the officer wrote, “he looked a bit puffy.”

The officer wrote that a common shoplifting tactic is to don unpaid merchandise in a fitting room. The suspect then walks out wearing stolen items beneath the clothes he wore in.

When told he looked “puffy,” the suspect said he was just wearing two jackets. The officer observed that it was nearly 80 degrees outside.

The officer asked why the suspect appeared to be wearing at least two pair of pants. The suspect claimed that his legs were swollen.

The suspect was found to be wearing 14 stolen items, worth an estimated $600. The officer issued a criminal citation and trespassed the suspect from the store.

Boat stolen from Gig Harbor Marina

A 24-foot boat was stolen from the Gig Harbor Marina on July 24. Despite the presence of a device onboard that allowed the owner to track its location, officers could not immediately find the vessel.

The boat owner said he had last seen the boat about two weeks ago. He checked a location tracking app on July 24 and noted that the boat was not where it was supposed to be.

Officers and the owner checked the area where the device indicated the boat to be. They couldn’t find it. The owner noted that last location from the device was about an hour old.

Officers promised to check the marina for possible surveillance footage.

Stolen car recovered, 3 cited for shoplifting

Gig Harbor police recovered a stolen vehicle and apprehended three suspected shoplifters at the Big 5 store on Harbor Hill Drive on July 21.

The stolen merchandise was recovered with the assistance of helpful passers-by, who pointed out where the goods had been dumped by the fleeing suspects.

While investigating the incident, officers learned that the suspects had arrived at the store in a stolen vehicle. The Jeep Wrangler, reported stolen from Tacoma, was impounded.

The man suspected of stealing the vehicle was booked into the Pierce County Jail, then released. The other suspects were issued citations.