Police Beat: Five-finger dining, street racing and a mysterious tree fort

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

Sept. 21: Eating and running to skip out on a restaurant tab is a fairly common offense. Eating and staying without paying is a rarer move.

The dispatch call reported an unwanted customer. Two Tacoma police officers drove to a restaurant in the 5900 block of Sixth Avenue to sort it out.

They spoke to the manager, who pointed to a man parked at a booth where he’d been sitting for two hours. He’d ordered chicken strips and fries, wheat toast, more fries and an ice cream sundae.

After finishing the meal, the man sat for 90 minutes. The manager told him the restaurant had a two-hour dining limit. The man said he was waiting for a ride. The manager said that was fine, but the man needed to pay.

The man ignored him, the manager said.

A few moments later, the manager talked to the man again and told him it was time to go. The man ignored him. The manager said he would call police. The man ignored him.

One officer spoke to the man, 46.

“I paid for my meal,” the man said. “I paid for my meal already.”

Who did he pay? How did he pay?

The man said nothing. The officer looked at the tab for $23.51, still sitting on the table.

The officer said the man would be arrested for theft of services and trespassing if he didn’t settle the bill and leave.

The man shrugged and said he had no money. The officer cuffed him.

The man was booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of theft and trespassing. He also was banned from the restaurant. He said he understood.

Sept. 21: If you’re waiting for a green light and a motorcycle pulls up and challenges you to a race, it might be smart to decline — especially if you have no insurance and your driver’s license is suspended.

The sheriff’s deputy was on routine patrol, heading east at the 6500 block of 112th Street East in Summit, when a pickup truck zoomed past in the opposite direction, hitting 60 miles per hour. The speed limit was 40.

The deputy turned around, followed the truck and pulled it over. The driver, a 21-year-old man, handed over his license and registration. He said he had no insurance.

Did he know why he’d been stopped?

Yes, the man said. He’d been stopped at a red light when a motorcyclist pulled next to him, offering to race. The motorcyclist accelerated, then slowed, but the man kept going, and didn’t see the deputy until it was too late.

The deputy ran a records check, and found the man’s license was suspended. Making a judgment call, he cited him and released him at the scene, telling him to park the truck and have someone else come and pick it up.

Sept. 20: Constant trespassing on private property was one thing, but the manager of the homeowners’ association reached her limit when she found a two-story tree fort.

The dispatch call reported squatters on a parcel of property in South Hill. Two sheriff’s deputies drove to the 12600 block of Sunrise Parkway East and spoke to the manager. They knew her from previous contacts.

The manager said the wooded area belonged to the association. She was tasked with keeping tabs on it, but she was increasingly afraid to check since spotting the tree fort.

The deputies ventured into the woods. They soon found the fort, covered with a tarp. It perched 12 feet up in the trees.

“Police,” one deputy said loudly. “Speak up and make yourself known if you’re up there.”

A man’s voice sang back from the fort.

“We’re in here, just the two of us.”

Soon, both occupants, a man and a woman, emerged and climbed down.

The deputies told the couple they had to leave. This was private property and they didn’t have permission to be there. The man and the woman said they understood.

After collecting names, the deputies ran a records check. The man had two active felony arrest warrants, ordering no bail. One came from the state Department of Corrections, the other from Pierce County Superior Court.

A third record listed a no-contact order. The man had been ordered to stay away from the woman in the fort. Prior records showed another order of the same type, involving the same woman.

The woman said she didn’t want the man arrested, and refused to fill out a domestic violence report. She was released. The man was booked into the Pierce County Jail on the warrants and suspicion of violating the no-contact order.

This story was originally published September 22, 2018 at 3:09 PM.