Police blotter: Attack on officer leads to tasing, and a teen shoots himself with dad’s gun
Assault on an officer
May 1 – A Gig Harbor police officer was attacked and punched in the face by a man who fled a vehicle he had stopped, but another officer was able to subdue the man with a taser and placed him under arrest.
Police were dispatched at 11:17 a.m. to the 4900 block of 33rd Avenue where a nearby nursing home reported four suspicious-looking people peering into the windows of vehicles. The vehicle left before police arrived, but an officer located it half an hour later at a gas station in the 5100 block of Olympic Drive.
Two men and a woman were in the car. The officer then noticed the fourth subject in the brush next to the vehicle, and when the officer went to challenge him, the two males in the car began to get aggressive toward the officer.
All three males began yelling at the officer, and one of them punched him in the face several times. The officer backed up and drew his taser gun. The man ran away, but was stopped by an arriving backup officer who fired his taser.
The officer found a folding knife, key fob, pieces of foil, and small tube abandoned in the brush.
Two of the men were given criminal citations. The man who attacked the officer was taken to the hospital to get the taser probe out of his body, and was then charged with third degree assault.
Accidental shooting
April 23 – Police were sent to a Gig Harbor hospital after a teenager shot himself in the groin while playing with his dad’s gun.
Police were dispatched at 1:58 a.m. to the 12200 block of 59th Avenue as the victim was not cooperating with the hospital staff and refused to tell them where the shooting took place. Police later discovered the shooting was accidental. Four friends were hanging out, and when three of them left, the fourth accidentally shot himself in the groin.
The teenager did not need surgery. The parents were contacted and informed of the incident.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 9:50 PM.