All suspects in the police blotter are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

YELLOW FLAMINGO: At 8:32 a.m. June 2, an officer was dispatched to 99th Street Court East in reference to a theft from a vehicle and resulting damage. The complainant reported a theft from his work truck while it was parked in front of his residence. He had parked it at 9 p.m. the night before, and when he picked up the newspaper outside his door the next morning, he noticed a yellow flamingo in his yard. He looked around his property to find the back doors of his truck open, and a large tool bag inside missing. The officer noted damage that suggested the thief unsuccessfully attempted to drill the lock and ultimately gained entry by prying the doors open. The officer provided a theft inventory form and photographed the damage.

ELUSIVE: At 12:46 p.m. June 5, an officer on patrol on Sky Island Drive observed a blue quad bike traveling in the opposite direction. The driver was wearing a helmet with no visor. The officer turned around and activated the patrol car’s emergency lights to initiate an emergency stop. The driver of the quad looked over his shoulder and continued on the road. Pursuit continued at 40 miles per hour down Sky Island to Rhodes Lake Road. The driver turned into a gravel parking area and onto Rhodes traveling eastbound. He turned onto Falling Water Boulevard, which ended in a dead end roadway. The driver continued onto an old gravel road, bypassing a large concrete cylinder blocking the right of way. The police patrol vehicle could not continue past the cylinder and an area check assisted by other officers did not turn out the suspect.

VANDALISM: At 6:55 p.m. June 5, an off-duty officer reported his personal vehicle had been struck in the windshield by a bottle. The officer had been traveling northbound on Sky Island Drive when an occupant of an approaching blue Jeep threw a bottle out of the sun roof, striking the officer’s car in the windshield. The officer turned around and caught up with the other vehicle, which pulled to the shoulder of the road. The officer pulled up alongside the car and, speaking from his open window, identified himself as a police officer and informed the driver he would be filing a police report about the incident. There was no damage done to the windshield and he did not wish to file charges, though he wanted the incident documented. The on-duty officer handling the report called the occupants of the Jeep and advised them what they had done was illegal.

FOUND CELL PHONES: At 9:35 a.m. June 6, a city employee turned in two found cell phones. One was a black Verizon Spectrum, and the other was a black Sprint cell phone; they were both found in Allan Yorke Park, at the dike expansion area and life jacket kiosk, respectively. The phones were placed into the evidence room as found property.

RECKLESS DRIVING: At 12:46 p.m. June 6, an officer was dispatched to a single car collision on 74th Street East. The caller advised the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and lost control, crashing into nearby woods. The officer found the vehicle and contacted a juvenile girl identified as the driver. She was uninjured other than scratches on her legs from walking in the bushes after exiting the car. She said she was driving to the park alone at 50 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone when she lost control and crashed into the bushes. The officer observed tire marks in the roadway that showed the vehicle had lost control. The marks showed the car had hit mail boxes and a yard waste bin before coming to a stop. The homeowner who had called in the incident recounted the accident to the officer and mentioned he saw a male passenger exit the vehicle. The driver said she lied about having a passenger because she was afraid she was violating the terms of her intermediate license and because she did not want her parents to know she was riding with the particular male. The officer advised her that, because of her age, she was not violating her intermediate license. Cascade towing was called to remove the vehicle from the bushes, and the girl’s mother was called to the scene. The girl was issued a citation for reckless driving.

ARGUMENT: At 4:52 p.m. June 6, an officer on patrol in Allan Yorke Park observed a man and woman in a heated verbal argument. The woman appeared to be trying to keep the man from approaching the boat launch. The patrol officer and another officer separated the two and talked with them to ascertain the situation. The man reported he was upset because he saw his girlfriend with another man at the park, and he was trying to walk to the boat launch to confront the man. The woman reported she was trying to keep him from confronting the other man. Both reported no physical confrontation had taken place. The officers determined no crime had taken place and both people were released.

HIT AND RUN: At 10:02 p.m. June 7, an officer was dispatched to a hit and run at Walmart. The victim reported he had just been told by a witness that his vehicle had been hit. The car had fresh damage behind the driver side door. The victim pointed to a car parked a few spaces away and said he was told that was the suspect vehicle. The officer observed fresh damage to the front right bumper, and noticed green paint from the hit car. The owner was an employee of the store. The officer contacted her and she said she did not report the collision because she did not know how to. She said she was still learning how to drive the vehicle and had just obtained her driver’s license that day. The woman was given an infraction for having no proof of insurance, and she was cited and released for hit and run of an unattended vehicle.

STOLEN CAR: At 12:25 p.m. June 8, a man reported the theft of his rental car from his 194th Avenue East residence. The theft had occurred some time between 9 p.m. June 7 and noon June 8. The man and his family had stayed the night at a friend’s house and discovered the car missing as they returned. The officer called Hertz to try and confirm the status of the vehicle. An employee informed the officer the car had been located abandoned in a ditch in Carnation, Wash. and had been towed from the scene. A broken key had been left in the ignition. Because the car had been located, it was not entered into the state and national crime database as stolen.

SHOPLIFTING: At 4:08 p.m. June 8, an officer was dispatched to Safeway in reference to a shoplifting incident. A loss prevention officer had detained one man and had chased a second out of the store. The store officer reported he had observed the men enter the east entrance of the store and stop in the deli section. They looked around before entering the liquor section. He observed the escaped man select two bottles of liquor and conceal them in his sweatshirt. Both men walked toward the checkout stands and stopped at a soup display before the escapee ran out the door. It appeared the detained man was going to run, but he turned around and walked toward the cash registers. The detained man told the officer he and his friend had stopped into the store to purchase alcohol and, while they were at the soup display, he suddenly said he was going to steal the bottles and ran out the door. The man said he had no prior knowledge of his friend’s intent to steal. He provided his friend’s name and contact info. A records check on the detained man revealed an arrest warrant issued by Federal Way police. He was arrested without incident for later transfer into FWPD custody. The store officer said they would not pursue criminal charges against the detained man, but he would be trespassed for life. The police officer attempted to contact the escaped man by phone with no initial success. He later called the officer and advised he had intended to purchase the alcohol, but decided to steal it when he realized he did not have enough money. While being chased, he had stashed the bottles in a bush along state Route 410. He said he planned to return the alcohol to Safeway. The officer checked the reported stash location with negative results, and later called the man to ask if he planned to return to the store. There was no answer, and the officer left a voice mail explaining he would be issuing a criminal citation for theft.

NOT FOR RENT: At 9:21 p.m. June 8, three officers were called to a North Island Drive East residence in reference to two females trespassing on the property. The caller, who was the owner of the house, said a neighbor had advised him of two women who appeared to be moving into the home. The homeowner said he had not authorized anyone to move into the house, and it was not in condition for occupation as it was currently being remodeled. He confronted the women, who moved their things back into a truck and waited for police to arrive. An officer contacted one of the women, who said she had been told by her stepfather that the home was available for rent, and that she could enter from the back door. The other woman was there to help. She said she had already established a utilities account with Puget Sound Energy, but she had not paid any rent yet. The homeowner was unfamiliar with the woman’s stepfather or the man he had claimed owned the house. There were no signs of forced entry and nothing missing. It was determined there was no intent to commit a crime. The officer informed the women they would be trespassed from the property, and that the incident would be recommended for forwarding to the prosecuting attorney for review.

THEFT FROM PORCH: At 1 p.m. June 9, an officer contacted a resident by phone regarding theft of packages. The man reported several packages that had been shipped to his home recently seemed to have never arrived. He suspected they had been stolen from his porch. He agreed to provide a full inventory of missing items once he had the information.