The sticker on the Gig Harbor Jeep said: ‘Drive it like you stole it.’ Someone did
A 16-year-old Gig Harbor High School student went to leave school Feb. 1 and saw that their Jeep Cherokee was gone. The student, who had put a lot of work into the vehicle and had recently replaced the motor and installed a new front custom bumper, didn’t suspect classmates.
A sticker on the fuel door said: “Drive it like you stole it.”
Surveillance video showed the Jeep leaving about noon with another car close behind, but didn’t show the driver of the Jeep.
Shoplifters take off with 13 bottles of liquor
Police responded Jan. 27 to the Rite Aid at 4818 Point Fosdick Dr. after two men stole 13 bottles of liquor that totaled about $360, according to police reports. The manager asked the men if they needed help, and they ignored her and left with the bottles of vodka, rum, and whiskey without paying. They drove off in a white Cadillac Escalade. Police searched the area but didn’t find them.
Burglars back car into commercial building
Someone stole about $15,000 worth of tools and batteries from a commercial building being remodeled in the 5100 block of Borgen Boulevard. Police responded Jan. 28. It looked like the burglars backed a car into the doors of the building, the police report said.
Missing bikes
Someone reportedly stole three motorcycles from AutoHome USA at 6405 42nd Ave. Ct. Police responded Jan. 29 and saw the lock on the roll-up door of the building had been cut, their report said. Other items were believed to be missing, pending an inventory of the business.
Car prowler or vigilante?
Police got a report Jan. 30 that people were prowling cars in the 4100 block of Foster Street. The caller said the prowlers used a slim-jim to break into a vehicle. Another vehicle had been broken into two nights prior and was taped up, and the prowlers got into it by cutting through the tape, the caller said.
When police got an updated location of the prowlers and responded to the 7400 block of Stinson Avenue, a man who was sweating heavily ran up to them.
He said he had called police and was chasing car prowlers, but that didn’t make sense to the officer, who knew the caller had been watching from an apartment window, not following the prowlers on foot, according to police reports.
When the officer asked the sweating man if he’d been prowling cars, he said no and reiterated that he’d been chasing prowlers. He’d come from a friend’s place, he said, though he couldn’t give the friend’s name or address. Ultimately, he said he had been prowling cars with a couple others. The other two suspects were detained after they jumped a fence in the area. One said he’d been walking through parking lots because he was lost and looking for street signs, according to police reports. The other said he’d been getting exercise jumping fences.
Police reports said that the suspects, ages 29, 35 and 43, had warrants. Due to COVID protocols, they weren’t booked into jail. They were released, and officers asked that information be sent to prosecutors for appropriate charges.
Smash and grabs reported at Cushman trailhead
Someone broke a window of a vehicle Jan. 29 parked at a Cushman trailhead off Borgen Boulevard. They took a handbag inside that contained an Amazon Kindle. The officer who responded was driving past the trailhead later and saw another vehicle’s window had been broken. The owner had just returned and reported that an iPod that had been in a handbag in the vehicle was taken.
Pricey electronics stolen by suspected repeat shoplifter
A Costco loss prevention officer reported Jan. 31 that someone stole a display model Macbook Pro that was worth $1,249.99. The loss prevention officer thought the same person stole an iPhone a couple weeks prior, the police report said.
26 gallons of gas siphoned from truck
Someone parked a truck Jan. 27 in an out-of-the-way spot at an inn in the 3200 block of 56th Street then went on a trip.
There were 26 gallons of gas in the truck, but when the driver returned Jan. 31 and went to start it, the tank was empty. Then gas spilled onto the ground when the driver tried to refill it. Someone had severed a hose to siphon the fuel, the police report said.
Driver was free to leave, at first
Police stopped a vehicle that didn’t have plates Feb. 7 in the 11300 block of 51st Avenue. The man and woman inside yelled and argued with police and were told the vehicle would be impounded because there was reasonable suspicion it was stolen, police reports said. A piece of paper covered the VIN in the windshield, and police got a warrant to remove it.
The woman told police they were breaking the law. They told her she was free to leave, but she and the man stayed. They approached officers when police got the warrant and went to enter the vehicle. It turned out the Nissan Pathfinder had been stolen out of Puyallup.
The woman, who was seen getting out of the driver’s seat, was arrested for suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle.
Spikes, patrol car used to prevent suspect from fleeing
An officer responded to a report of shoplifting and found a man slumped over the wheel of a Subaru Legacy Feb. 6 outside Ross Dress for Less. A plastic sheet covered the window and there was narcotics paraphernalia in the man’s lap and a lighter nearby, the police report said. The officer saw the man was breathing and that there was a large amount of merchandise in the vehicle. The man didn’t wake up when the officer shined a flashlight inside. The officer put spikes down and parked his vehicle behind the Subaru in case the suspect tried to flee. Another vehicle parked in front.
As the officer cut the plastic from the window, the driver woke up and tried to put the key in the ignition but had trouble.
The officer gave commands for the driver to show his hands and not try to flee. He complied when an officer pointed a laser from a stun gun at him.
He got out of the vehicle, police ordered him to the ground, and he was taken into custody. Police told him charges would be requested from the city prosecutor for obstructing police.
The same vehicle had been spotted leaving the scene of a shooting that morning in Tacoma. The man said he didn’t have anything to do with the shooting, and that he had lent the vehicle to someone else, the police report said.
Storage facility break-in
Officers did a security check Feb. 5 at 8801 state Route 16. They found a hole cut into the chain-link fence and the barbed wire of a nearby storage facility. Three RVs at the facility that were next to each other had cargo doors ajar and belongings strewn on the ground, according to police reports.
Another RV had pry marks on a side door, but it didn’t look like burglars had gotten inside.
The side door of a travel trailer was ajar, and the inside was a mess.
The door of the main storage building was open, but the locks of the interior storage units were secure. It didn’t look like the burglars got into any units.
In the end, not much of value was missing, but quite a bit of damage was done to the RVs, police reports said.
A car battery, drill, barbecue, Keurig coffee maker and duffel bag of hand tools were taken.
Weirdly, some belongings appeared to be swapped between RVs.
The value of what was taken was less than the cost of the damage to the vehicles.
Woman accused of shoplifting baby formula
An officer driving by the Safeway at 4831 Point Fosdick Dr. saw a suspicious vehicle that was full of items, was spray painted and had quite a bit of damage Feb. 4, the police report said.
Then the officer heard over the store’s loudspeaker that they needed security to respond to part of the Safeway.
An employee told the officer that a woman put baby formula into her bag without paying. The officer asked the suspect if she stole it, and she said no, the police report said. Then she asked the officer to just take the formula back.
The officer told her she was under arrest for shoplifting and asked if she intended to sell the formula and if she had a child in need.
The woman apologized and said no, she was not intending to sell it. The formula was for a friend, she said.
She didn’t respond when the officer asked if it was normal to need six large canisters, the police report said.
The officer gave the woman a citation, trespassed her from the store and gave her instructions to attend a Zoom court hearing.
The formula was left at the store.
This story was originally published February 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
