Suspects in the police blotter are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
DEER: At 7:32 a.m. June 12, officers responded to an injured deer on the 17700 block of state Route 410. The deer was laying against a concrete barrier out of the roadway with a severely broken leg and apparent severed hoof; it appeared to have been struck by a motor vehicle. Police blocked westbound traffic and an officer euthanized the deer with his rifle. Public Works responded to remove the deer from the side of the road.
ALARM: At 10:21 a.m. June 12, officers were dispatched to an alarm from a 190th Avenue East residence. They found no sign of forced entry, and went around the house to an unlocked sliding glass door. They called inside and a man laying on a bed in the room adjacent to the sliding door answered. He said he was the boyfriend of the homeowner and did not know the code to shut off the alarm. He had called his girlfriend for the code. The man told police he believed he had warrants for his arrest. A computer check confirmed misdemeanor warrants out of the Puyallup and Fife police departments. He was arrested without incident and transferred into the custody of Puyallup police. Police were later able to confirm with the homeowner that the man had permission to be inside the house.
SHOPLIFTING: At 6:16 p.m. June 12, an officer was dispatched to a shoplifting incident at Target. A store protection specialist reported he had video of an older man stealing a digital camera. The video showed the man take the camera from the end of the electronics aisle and continue walking through the store. He paid for some small items and went to the men’s restroom before leaving the building. Later examination of the restroom turned up a security device in the trash, which the specialist believed to be from the camera. The suspect was wearing a blue coat with light blue jeans, white shoes and a dark colored baseball cap; his likely car was identified by video. A copy of the video was placed into police evidence for further examination.
MAIL THEFT: At 6:42 p.m. June 12, a citizen reported an unknown person had pried open his roadside mailbox. The complainant said he had last seen the mailbox undisturbed the evening of June 11. An officer inspected the damage to the mailbox and took a photo for evidence. The complainant reported a neighbor had seen a suspicious vehicle in the area around 11 p.m. June 11.
NOTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK: At 9:17 p.m. June 12, officers were dispatched to a vacant home on North Island Drive after a neighbor reported its front door was open. The neighbor had already called the homeowner, who was waiting in the driveway for police, along with a friend and the reporting neighbor. The neighbor had been keeping an eye on the house after a June 8 trespassing incident (see last week’s police blotter). After spotting the open front door, he walked inside the home but did not check it. Officers inspected the interior of the house, which was in the midst of a remodel; they did not find anyone inside and did not immediately find signs of forced entry. The homeowner entered and noted the kitchen sink and faucet was missing, and nothing else. Pry marks and a broken bolt lock were found on the front door. Photographs were taken and placed into evidence.
BURGLARY: At 11:30 a.m. June 14, a Church Lake Road resident reported his home had been burglarized and damaged. He said he had not been at the house in about a week. He was checking on the property to make sure it was secure, and found his key no longer worked on the back door. A small black tool kit had been left on an outdoor freezer underneath a window. The window had two distinct marks that suggested it had been pried open. The homeowner reported there was nothing of value in the house, and the only item taken was an antique scale. He also reported two copper tubes had been cut from an old oil tank in the garage. Photographs of the damage were placed into evidence.
DUI: At 12:38 a.m. June 15, an officer was patrolling state Route 410 on a Target Zero emphasis when he observed a white minivan drifting between lanes as it traveled westbound from Valley Avenue. At one point the vehicle’s tires almost touched the highway’s concrete divider, before the driver took a fast and sweeping turn onto the state Route 167 ramp, nearly leaving the roadway. It continued to drift on 167 and momentarily drifted into the opposing lane, prompting the officer to initiate an emergency stop prior to 24th Street East in Sumner. The officer contacted the driver. He initially said he was extremely tired because he had been working all day. The officer noted he smelled of intoxicants, his eyes were droopy and watery, and he was slurring his speech as he answered questions. The officer asked him if he had been drinking alcohol, and he said he had a couple beers at Wayne’s Inn in Puyallup before driving. The officer asked him to step out of the vehicle, and the driver came out with a cane to help support his balance due to a bad back. When asked, he told the officer he was taking Vicodin and prescription Acetaminophen for his back pain. The officer asked him again how much he had to drink and, the second time around, the driver said he had a couple beers at Wayne’s, then another couple beers at Schafer’s of Sumner. The driver volunteered for field sobriety tests that were not completed due to his back pain. He was arrested without incident and taken to the police station for processing, where he refused to submit a breath test. The officer noted the man’s mood shifted to upset and angry; at one point he stood up and head-butted a door in the room. He was secured in a holding cell, where he calmed down and apologized. Processing was completed, he was cited for driving under the influence and given a notice of infraction for improper lane travel. The driver was released to his boss and, before entering the vehicle, his mood changed again and he began shouting at the officer.
HIT AND RUN: At 5:36 p.m. June 15, officers responded to the Safeway in reference to an intoxicated driver ramming into vehicles in the parking lot. The driver had apparently hit one parked car, which then hit two other parked cars; the first car hit was heavily damaged and later needed to be towed from the scene. He was attempting to leave the lot, and citizens had blocked him in with their vehicles to prevent him from leaving the area. The driver continued to ram vehicles blocking him in the lot. Customers on the scene were able to walk up to the suspect vehicle’s door and remove the keys from the ignition; as the first officer arrived, they were removing the driver from the vehicle. The arriving officer was able to place the suspect driver under arrest, to be transferred into another arriving officer’s custody. The man was unable to stand without swaying and could barely walk. When told he was under arrest for DUI and hit and run, he said he was not aware he had been in a collision. On the way to the station, the man rested his head on the patrol car’s partition and mumbled incoherently. At the station, he blew .215 and .216 blood alcohol content readings.
MALICIOUS MISCHIEF: At 6:13 a.m. June 16, an officer contacted a 185th Avenue East citizen regarding damage to his mail box. The man reported he had left his home at 4:30 a.m. to take his wife to the airport. When he returned less than two hours later, he discovered his locked mail box and several other nearby mail boxes had been broken into. He noted that he spotted a potentially suspicious vehicle in the area as he was leaving for the airport, but did not know if it was involved in the tampering. At 12:32 a.m. June 17, another officer was dispatched to contact a 185th Avenue East residence about a break-in into a community locked mailbox. He said he was unaware if mail was stolen, and that a similar incident from a few weeks prior saw several community mailboxes broken into.
NO LICENSE: Shortly after 9:02 p.m. June 16, an officer stopped a green minivan with expired tabs and an un-transferred title in the vicinity of Kelley Lake Road. The driver was unable to provide a license and did not have insurance. Her name turned up a revoked driving status and felony arrest warrant from the department of corrections for escape from community custody. The driver was cited for driving without a license in the third degree and provided a notice of infraction for operating a motor vehicle without valid proof of insurance, and for failing to renew her vehicle registration. She was arrested and transported to Enumclaw Jail for the warrant.
SUSPICIOUS: At 11:01 p.m. June 16, officers were dispatched to a report of narcotics activity at 75th Street East. A citizen reported an unfamiliar white SUV was parked in his residential complex, and it appeared two men inside were smoking something through a straw. As police arrived, the SUV turned its headlights on and started to drive away. One officer blocked off the exit and the two men were contacted. Both were found to have their driving status revoked, but there was no readily apparent probable cause for other illegal activities. The driver was arrested and transported to Puyallup Jail; the passenger was released at the scene and asked not to return.
