The car was OK. Firefighters evacuated the Gig Harbor motel it crashed into
Editor’s note: This blotter is compiled from recent Gig Harbor police and Gig Harbor Fire and Medic One reports.
Police responded to a medical facility for a report of vandalism Feb. 24 in the 4900 block of Point Fosdick Drive. Someone drilled a hole in the oil pan of a woman’s vehicle. The oil spilled onto the pavement, and the vehicle wasn’t operable.
“This was apparently an attempt to steal the gasoline, but the suspect mistook the oil pan for the fuel tank,” the police report said.
Someone also drilled into a 20-gallon gas tank a couple stalls away that had been full. It looked as if the thief took some of the gas and let the rest spill onto the pavement.
Fire crews tried to clean up the oil slick and get the fumes under control.
The case is active, the police report said, pending new leads.
Something similar happened Feb. 25 at an assisted-living facility in the 4300 block of Borgen Boulevard. On-site security chased away the thief, who left a gas can under a truck parked outside the main entrance. Gas was flowing from a hole in the truck’s tank into the can.
The value of the gas was about $75. The damage to the tank was expected to cost $2,000 to fix.
Police told the security worker they couldn’t transport the gas can, which didn’t have a lid, for safety reasons. They told the worker they’d return and pick up the can if security found another container to pour the gas into.
A suspect vehicle in the case seemed to match a similar gas theft in the assisted-living facility’s employee lot Feb. 20.
Locker trouble leads to stolen vehicle
A man put his phone and car keys in a locker at the YMCA Feb. 24, at 10550 Harbor Hill Dr. while he changed. His lock had been giving him problems, so he left it undone.
He returned to find the phone and keys gone, then ran outside and saw his vehicle was missing.
His wallet and work phone were inside.
Investigators planned to follow up to see what surveillance footage showed.
Security camera shows its own theft
Police responded to a theft Feb. 26 at apartments in the 4400 block of Rosedale Street Northwest. A manager put security cameras around the outside of the building because of vehicle prowls that happened in the past year.
The cameras showed a man walking around the parking lot about 1:45 a.m., at some point carrying a long pipe. Later the manager saw one camera move, it disconnected, and she went outside to find it missing.
It had been about 12 feet from the ground and was worth about $100. Other cameras were still in place.
Firefighters save sinking boat
Fire crews responded to a sinking boat at 3211 Harborview Dr. about 11 a.m. March 3.
They found the 12-foot boat tied to the dock, sinking, with no owner around.
The crews brought the boat onto the dock, tipped the water out and put the boat back in the water.
Motel evacuated after crash
A car crashed into a support column at the Westwynd Motel, 6703 144th St. NW, about 6 a.m. Feb. 28.
Crews took the driver to a hospital to get checked out and evacuated the 12 rooms at the motel.
The car sustained little damage, but the column was pushed in about three feet and broken between the floors of the two-story building. A beam that might have supported a balcony and part of the roof was sagging a couple inches.
Crews stabilized things and told management at the motel to talk to a construction company.
