Editor’s note: Compiled from reports to Tacoma police and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
Jan. 2: The shoplifter paid for laundry suds and dish soap. On the way out, he snagged a five-finger discount: a package of Nutter Butters.
It took four days to unravel the incident, which led to the arrests of a father and son on suspicion of robbery.
The odyssey started on Dec. 28 when a sheriff’s deputy on the Key Peninsula spotted a familiar vehicle: a gold 2006 Chevrolet Equinox. The deputy knew it from previous encounters. It belonged to a father who slept in it, and frequently drove around the area with his adult son.
The deputy took note of the car, then pulled away to answer a call reporting a robbery at a grocery store in the 9000 block of Key Peninsula Highway North.
At the store, a loss prevention officer told the deputy the suspects had fled in the Equinox -- the same car the deputy had spotted moments before.
A younger man had walked into the store and purchased laundry items, then grabbed the package of Nutter Butters on his way out. The officer had followed the man outside, and seen him get into the car, driven by an older man.
Identifying himself repeatedly, the officer told the man he’d stolen the Nutter Butters.
“What Nutter Butters?” the man asked, as he munched the cookies.
Identifying himself repeatedly, the officer told the man he’d stolen the Nutter Butters. “What Nutter Butters?” the man asked, as he munched the cookies.
The Equinox had started pulling out of the parking lot. The officer tried to stop it, but the driver kept going, and the car clipped the officer in the shoulder.
The deputy knew that factor added urgency to the incident. A simple theft had turned violent. Leaving the store, he searched for the Equinox, guessing at typical locations where he’d seen it before, but found nothing.
The next day, the deputy spotted the car in another area of the peninsula, and pulled it over. The father and son were inside.
The father admitted being at the grocery store, and said some guy claiming to be a security officer had opened the door and alarmed him. The son said he’d been in the car, but hadn’t gone into the store. Somebody else, a friend he identified vaguely, had been riding with the father at the time. The father backed up the story.
The deputy arrested the father and booked him into the Pierce County Jail. The son took charge of the Equinox, but the story didn’t end there.
After the arrest, the deputy returned to the store and watched security video of the theft. The images gave a clear view of the suspect’s face: it was the son. The deputy sent out an alert advising colleagues that the son should be arrested.
Four days later, another deputy found him. Once more, the son said he hadn’t done anything, but it was no good. He was booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of third-degree theft.
Dec. 30: The new hire at the petting zoo didn’t last long — one day, to be exact.
Responding to a reported theft, a sheriff’s deputy stopped at the zoo in the Parkland area and spoke to the owner, who said he’d hired a woman the previous day, and assigned her to cleanup and closing.
The next morning, the owner noticed the receipt bag he used for bank deposits was missing. The loss topped $2,000. The owner said security footage showed the woman taking the bag and leaving.
The woman, 35, was supposed to come to work today, the owner said. She hadn’t, and she wasn’t responding to text messages.
The deputy checked the woman’s name in records. He found a Midland address, not far away, and an active arrest warrant related to an earlier theft.
In Midland, the deputy didn’t find the woman at first. He spoke to a property owner who said she wasn’t welcome at the address. She might be at another address about a block away, the man said.
The deputy checked, and found the woman. She was sitting in a blue truck, waiting for her boyfriend to work on it. The deputy told her she was under arrest and cuffed her.
The deputy checked, and found the woman. She was sitting in a blue truck, waiting for her boyfriend to work on it. The deputy told her she was under arrest and cuffed her.
She admitted taking the zoo money. She said her boyfriend had been kidnapped recently, and she owed money to someone who threatened to kill her. That guy had driven past the zoo just as she saw the deposit bag, she said, so she grabbed it, took it outside and gave it to him.
She added that she didn’t come to work because she knew about the security cameras. She also knew about the warrant.
The deputy booked her into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of second-degree theft.
Dec. 31: The man dozed off in the burger joint, and the maintenance worker couldn’t rouse him at first.
The dispatch call reported a possible assault. Two Tacoma officers drove to the business in the 6300 block of 6th Avenue. They spoke to the worker and a manager, who said the man turned belligerent after he was repeatedly told to leave.
They described him: 30 to 35, green beanie, dark jacket, fanny pack.
The worker said the man challenged him to a fight. The worker refused, and held the front door open. The man punched him in the face and left, the worker said. The manager backed up the story.
The worker said the man challenged him to a fight. The worker refused, and held the front door open. The man punched him in the face and left, the worker said. The manager backed up the story.
Police spotted the man nearby, leaning against the outside wall of a grocery store: green beanie, dark jacket, fanny pack. Officers told him to put his hands behind his back.
The man, 37, refused.
“I’m street military! Call it in!” he said.
Officers cuffed the man after a minor struggle. He kept saying he was military. He was booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of misdemeanor assault.
Sean Robinson: 253-597-8486, @seanrobinsonTNT
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