Editor’s note: Compiled from reports to Tacoma Police.
Feb. 5: The live-in boyfriend didn’t feel like leaving when his girlfriend kicked him out. He bluffed a victim story and blew it. Boyfriend was 23. He called the cops and said Girlfriend cut his face bad.
Three officers converged: McKinley Avenue East, 3700 block. They took a look at Boyfriend. The right side of his face was nasty: deep wound, vertical gash from forehead to cheek, a blackened, scabbed-over trench.
The damage looked a little old. No fresh red on Boyfriend’s face, no blood spatters in the apartment.
Boyfriend told a story. He fought with Girlfriend. She told him to get out of her apartment. She called him a bitch and a punk. Boyfriend said he couldn’t leave because he had nowhere to go, and Girlfriend got mad and punched him, and she had something in her hand that he couldn’t see and she cut him while she punched him. He said he tried to dodge, but she got him anyway.
Officers said the wound looked old. No new blood. Boyfriend said that was because she cut him last week in the exact same spot.
The trench on Boyfriend’s face marked a dead-straight line, almost mechanical. Boyfriend said he got it while ducking and dodging the assault.
Girlfriend was 26. She worked at a child-care center. She told the cops her side. She told Boyfriend to get out – again. He wouldn’t go. They argued – verbal only. He left. She said she didn’t punch him or cut him.
Boyfriend texted her. Girlfriend showed the message to the cops. Boyfriend threatened: He’d report her for assault. He tacked a picture of his messed-up face to the end of the message.
Girlfriend said the cut was self-inflicted. Boyfriend did it to himself a week earlier by accident. Boyfriend’s mother knew about it. The cops called Boyfriend’s mother. Mom said her son cut himself a week earlier.
Officers told Boyfriend they were filing an informational report and nothing more. Boyfriend complained. He wanted charges against Girlfriend. He wanted her arrested.
An officer broke the news: Boyfriend’s mother said the cut was self-inflicted. Boyfriend laughed. He walked away and swore.
Feb. 5: The woman in the apartment had a swollen face. She was 23. The officer asked how she was doing – any other injuries? “I just feel like I’ve just been punched in the face,” she said.
The officer asked who punched her.
“It was John!” she said.
John lived in the same apartment building in the 3200 block of Union Avenue. He was 65. The woman said he’d been drinking all day. The woman’s sister, 21, said the same thing.
The two women said they’d been at a party at John’s earlier. Older sister needed to get her medication, she said, so both women started to leave. Just as they got back to their unit, John showed up behind them, angry and drunk.
John said the older sister stole cash from his apartment: $3,000. Older sister denied it. John shoved his way into the apartment and shook the sister by her shoulders, demanding the money. Again, she denied it. John shoved her into her bedroom doorway, she said. He yelled at her again to return the money. Sister denied taking it. John punched her in the face. Sister said she’d call police. Younger sister yelled at John to leave. John left, then came back and yelled some more. Older sister called 911.
Officers went to John’s apartment. They saw bottles everywhere: hard liquor and beer, and glasses with leftover drinks. John was there. He reeked and slurred. He complained about the stolen money.
John said he left the cash on the counter. Yes, unsecured. When he noticed, he went to sister’s apartment and confronted her. He denied forcing his way in, denied hitting her. Officers told him younger sister backed up older sister’s story.
“They are both liars,” John yelled. “Both of them. Why would I hit her?”
The math was simple: two to one against John’s denial. Officers arrested him and booked him into the Pierce County Jail. Prosecutors subsequently filed charges of first-degree burglary.
Feb. 6: The 16-year-old Tacoma kid learned a lesson about sharing with the wrong people.
He was waiting for a bus in the 1900 block of Tacoma Avenue South. Another man approached him. The man was somewhere between 20 and 30, a small guy, maybe 5 feet tall, 130 pounds. He wore a green hoodie, a black puffy vest and white shoes. His hair was short and brown, and a small beard covered his chin. The man asked the kid for money. The kid said he didn’t have any. The man asked to use the kid’s phone to call a friend. The kid handed it over: a Samsung Captivate Glide.
The man took it and told the kid to follow him. They walked up the hill and into an alley. The man spoke.
“This is how it’s going to go down,” the man said. “I’m not going to rob you.”
The man said he needed to find his friend. He said he’d be back in two minutes with the phone. He told the kid to wait, and walked away.
The kid waited about a minute. Realization sank in. The kid walked home and told his stepfather what happened.
The stepfather took the kid back to the location. No sign of the man in the green hoodie. The stepfather told police he’d called the phone carrier to report the theft. A worker tried to ping the phone, but had no luck. The stepfather told the carrier to deactivate the phone. Officers filed the theft report for information purposes.
Sean Robinson: 253-597-8486 Sean.robinson@thenewstribune.com
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