Editor’s note: Compiled from reports to Tacoma police.
May 27: The pizza-delivery driver kept his cool, even after he saw the gun.
The driver was 23. He worked for a delivery shop in the 3400 block of Sixth Avenue. About 7 p.m., he carried a stack of pies to his car, parked on the side of the business.
Someone walked up from behind.
“Give me the money,” a voice said.
“Seriously?” the driver said.
“Yes, seriously,” the voice said.
The driver turned and saw a gun pointed at his midsection.
The other guy wore a dark-blue hoodie. A black mask covered his mouth. He pulled it over his nose. He was a white guy, looked about 25.
The driver pulled out a ten and five ones and handed over the cash.
“Is this it?”
“That’s all I have,” the driver said.
The gunman snatched the money and walked away, then ran east.
The driver watched, then walked back into the shop and told the manager, who called police. Officers brought a dog and tracked the gunman’s path. No luck.
Security cameras at the business didn’t have an angle on the parking lot. Police found a witness who recalled seeing a red car whip out of the area, driven by a white man in his 20s. The report was filed under theft.
May 26: The drunk blew his luck and showed too much skin.
Police kicked him out of a convenience store in the 7300 block of South Tacoma Way at 2:50 a.m. and told him to take off. Ten minutes later, he was in trouble again, playing in traffic at South 74th Street.
The drunk was 39. He wore a black hoodie, a pink tank top, pink and orange shoes and a pink bandanna. He stood in the middle of the street and waved. A 44-year-old Tacoma woman swerved to avoid him. Officers heard a radio call about the disturbance and rolled to the spot. They saw the drunk yelling at cars. His jeans were unbuttoned, unzipped and falling. He pulled them down. The sight was revealing.
Officers cuffed him. He fought. He tried to explain. He was wearing a g-string. It was uncomfortable. He needed to adjust himself.
Officers booked the drunk into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of obstructing traffic and indecent exposure. The drunk didn’t like the jail staff. He soon found himself in restraints, parked in a holding cell.
May 27: Local meth labs aren’t so common these days, but they’re still around and still toxic.
The 61-year-old Tacoma woman was no chemist, but she knew enough to be cautious. The plastic jug on the sidewalk in front of her home hadn’t been there the night before – she knew that much, and she wasn’t going to touch the purple gunk inside. Instead, she called police.
Officers responded to the address in the 400 block of South Wright Street and took a look. Purple liquid, and a layer of cloudy white stuff. A field test identified a solvent, and another test confirmed the guess: methamphetamine. Officers packed the jug in a safe container and took it to the chemical locker at headquarters.
“This stuff is still out there. Do not touch it or move it,” advised police spokesman Mark Fulghum, who praised the woman’s wariness. “It is very dangerous. That stuff is very toxic. It’s nasty stuff.”
May 25: The bus passenger created a new definition of rude.
Along with a load of riders, he hitched on Coach 321 as it cruised into the Tacoma Transit Center near Tacoma Mall.
The passenger looked to be about 21, according to witnesses. He was white, with black hair and brown eyes, about 5-feet-10, 145 pounds. He wore an old Seahawks jersey: 83, the number assigned to departed receiver Deion Branch.
Near the transit center, he pulled the rope to get off the bus. He stood, cleared his throat and hurled a gob of spit across the aisle, straight into the face of a 21-year-old woman. The next moment, he was off and gone.
The driver, the woman and other riders gave the same account to an officer. The passenger hadn’t said anything to the young woman or anyone else. He just stood, spat and left. The woman said she didn’t know him and had never seen him before. Witnesses told police they saw him riding away on a bicycle.
sean.robinson@thenewstribune.com
253-597-8486
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