Editor’s note: Compiled from reports to Tacoma Police.
May 24, 2:24 a.m.: No longer shall BEEFR, 5LEGS and DRYROT trouble Tacoma’s freeway pillars.
The trio of taggers walked into a trap under Interstate 705. It was one of their good spots: a twisting cathedral of four freeway ramps looming over South Hood Street, the holy of holies, the parliament of pillars. They’d been there before, left their marks.
The two cops knew about it. They were cunning.
“Using a position of concealment, we drove our patrol vehicle near the area,” the police report states.
The taggers arrived on foot and set up shop. In backpacks, they carried 10 cans of spray paint (black and white) and 16 nozzle tips (for fat and thin lines). DRYROT was 23, from the Spanaway area. 5LEGS was 19, from Tacoma. BEEFR was 19, from University Place.
The officers watched DRYROT spray a light pole. They rolled the car in. DRYROT walked away in one direction. The other two taggers scuttled under one of the freeway ramps. The chase didn’t last long.
An officer asked what was in the backpacks.
“Stuff,” the taggers said.
They had paint on their fingertips. Cuffed, riding in the back of the patrol car, they guided officers on a tour of their evening works: a spot at South Commerce Street; an apartment complex on South Seventh Street; a trash bin on South Cliff Street.
Officers booked the trio into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of graffiti and vandalism.
May 20, 11:37 p.m.: It was a lot of work for two gallons of cheap brandy.
The liquor store was closed. The burglar carried a crowbar. He smashed the lock. The alarm howled.
The police call came from a bystander cooling off at a nearby tavern. The man said he saw a red Toyota pickup, 1980s-vintage, leaving the parking lot after the alarm went off.
Officers called in the K-9 unit. The dog sniffed, but no one was around. They looked over the video, provided by a store manager. The footage showed a clean-shaven black man, 5 feet, 10 inches, 200 pounds, 30 to 35 years old. He wore a black hat, a gray T-shirt, black pants with white stripes, white shoes and gloves.
He knew what he wanted: five bottles of brandy from the lower shelves – not the good stuff. He walked out with three half-gallon jugs plus two fifths. Officers wrote down the description, took the statement from the witness and filed a report under theft.
May 24: The 31-year-old Steilacoom man crossed the railroad tracks at South 74th Street, heading east toward South Tacoma Way in a 2009 Honda. His wife, 28, and two children (the oldest was 2, the youngest 11 months) rode with him.
A dark-colored Chrysler 300 pulled in front of him into the left-turn lane, so close that the man had to slam the brakes. The Chrysler’s driver flipped the bird at him. The guy in the Chrysler got out and started yelling to another man on the sidewalk. Both men began yelling at the Steilacoom man. One of them ran forward and banged a fist on top of the car, then got into the Chrysler, which sped away.
The shaken man called police, but he couldn’t give officers much of a description. Officers filed the report under road rage.
May 23, 9:10 a.m.: The shoplifter liked chocolate-covered raisins. He popped them into his mouth, fisted extras from the bulk bin and stowed them in his pocket.
The bookkeeper at the grocery store in the 300 block of Sixth Avenue was not amused. She was 52. The shoplifter was 28 or 29, by her guess. He was 5 feet, 7 inches, 150 pounds. He wore a blue Mariners cap, a black winter jacket and blue jeans.
The bookkeeper confronted the man. He wouldn’t admit to stealing the raisins. He backed out of the store, saying nothing, and walked away. The bookkeeper called police. Officers gave her an incident card and filed a report.
sean.robinson@thenewstribune.com
253-597-8486
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