Police beat: Stolen stuff, a determined stranger and name games

Editor’s note: Compiled from reports to Tacoma police and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

March 11: Perhaps selling stolen stuff out of a stolen car to an irate victim wasn’t the best idea.

The dispatch call came from a man who spotted his stolen speakers for sale online. The man arranged an amateur sting, and called sheriff’s deputies to close the loop.

Deputies drove to a parking lot in the 17900 block of Pacific Avenue and spotted a green Honda Accord with a speaker propped on the trunk. As they pulled in and flicked on emergency lights, the car peeled away.

A 20-block chase followed. The driver hurled items out the window as he sped north, hitting 70. He ran a red light, burned through a stop sign, smacked into another vehicle, stepped out of the Accord and put up his hands.

Deputies closed in. Abruptly, the man bolted into the woods nearby, stumbled, scrambled to his feet and tried to run again. He stopped when a pursing deputy drew a gun and ordered him to halt.

The man was 31. Asked whether he wanted to talk, he said no.

The Accord was tied to a theft report out of Federal Way. The license plate had been switched.

Deputies brought the man who had reported the initial theft to the scene. He identified the driver as the man who tried to sell him his own speakers.

Deputies alerted the owner of the stolen car and booked the man into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of felony eluding, first-degree assault, possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of stolen property, resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license.

March 11: The man with the phony name sat in the lobby of the apartment complex near the soda machine, using jackets as blankets.

The dispatch call reported an unwanted person. An officer drove to the complex in the 2500 block of North Narrows Drive and looked the man over. The dispatch call said the man had been shooed away before.

The man was 24. He said he didn’t live at the complex, and didn’t know anyone who lived there. He said he’d been visiting a friend in a different complex, but he couldn’t name the friend.

Asked for a name and a birth date, he gave both, with precision. He said he had no ID at the moment, but he’d previously held driver’s licenses in Washington and Texas.

The officer ran a records check. No hits. Again, he asked the man for a name.

Again, the man provided the same name and birth date, and added a Social Security number. He said he’d been living with a family member in Tacoma, but he couldn’t name the family member or provide a location.

Once more, the officer ran a records check, this time including the Social Security number. Again, no hits came back.

The conversation ran for 25 minutes. Each time the man was asked for his name, he gave the same answer, insisting he was telling the truth. He said he’d grown up in Tacoma. He said he’d encountered police before, and they knew his name.

Weary of the debate, the officer decided the man was obstructing, and arrested him. A search of his belongings turned up a medicine bottle with a prescription and a new name.

This time, hits came back. The name matched previous jail booking photos. It also matched an active arrest warrant from the state Department of Corrections.

The officer booked the man into the jail on suspicion of obstructing an officer and on the active warrant.

March 12: At a certain point, denying your identity makes little sense — especially when officers can spot footprints in public records.

The man and the woman walked into the electronics store in the 2200 block of South 48th Street within moments of each other, and quickly caught the eye of a police officer working off-duty security.

The man was sweating. He grabbed a shopping cart and tossed various items into it. He gave off an erratic vibe. Other employees noticed, along with the officer.

The woman grabbed items, too, then put them back. At times, she walked with the man; at other moments, she walked away.

The officer and the store manager, now on alert, watched the couple on security video screens. They saw the man stash the packaging of an e-book reader on a shelf. An employee, watching the move, waited for the man to move on, and retrieved the packaging. The product was gone.

The officer moved in. He approached the woman first, and asked her about the man. The woman said he was a friend, but she hadn’t known him long.

“You can search me,” she said, opening her purse. “I have nothing.”

The officer approached the man, who darted around an aisle. Before the officer could say anything, the man blurted, “I didn’t steal anything,” and walked away hurriedly. The officer had to jog a little to catch up.

The officer took the man and the woman to the loss prevention office, and started filling out paperwork associated with a trespass notification. Meanwhile, an employee found the missing e-reader, buried on a shelf.

The manager wanted the couple banned from the store. The officer asked the man for his name. The man gave one, but it didn’t match any known records.

The officer asked again. The man apologized for lying, and gave a different name. The woman said the man was her cousin.

The officer ran another records check. This time, hits came back, but they were associated with the man’s brother. Dipping deeper into records, the officer finally found the man’s real name, which linked to several previous contacts and active arrest warrants.

The records showed the man had been married to the woman. She had filed a no-contact order against him that was still active.

The officer booked the man into Pierce County Jail on the warrants and suspicion of violating the no-contact order.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Police beat: Stolen stuff, a determined stranger and name games."