He fled the scene of a crash and went to kidnap his nephew. The State Patrol found them
Editor’s note: This blotter is compiled from recent Gig Harbor police reports.
Man suspected of trying to steal boat kidnapped his nephew
Gig Harbor officers responded to a report about a suspicious man trying to steal a boat Dec. 26 at Pleasure Craft Marina, 3215 Harborview Dr.
An officer arrived and saw the 57-year-old man tying the sailboat to the dock.
The man seemed confused and the officer began to think he could have mental health issues, according to the report.
The officer contacted the man’s mother, who agreed to come get her son. She told the officer her son has mental health issues and that they’re in the process of seeking help.
As they waited for the mother, officers received a burglary alarm call from a local business. They told the man to stay put as they responded.
The burglary call turned out to be an employee error with the alarm system. When officers returned they saw the mother, but the man was gone, the report said.
A passerby said a white SUV left the area quickly. The mother said that was what her son was driving.
Officers left the area to look for him, and minutes later got a call from the mother. She said her son got into a wreck nearby.
Then his brother arrived, saw the wreck and got out to help, and the man stole his car and fled.
The brother followed in the mother’s car as the man drove the stolen car to the brother’s house, where he kidnapped his year-old nephew, according to the report.
The Washington State Patrol stopped the vehicle with the suspect and the child in Thurston County on Interstate 5. The child wasn’t hurt.
The trooper took the man to the Gig Harbor Police Department to be booked into the Pierce County Jail.
Shoplifters visit three stores
Gig Harbor police were dispatched to a possible shoplift in progress around 5 p.m. on Dec. 22 at Walgreens, 4840 Borgen Blvd.
An officer arrived, but couldn’t find anyone who matched the description, according to the police report.
The manager showed him surveillance video of the two suspects.
The video showed a man and a woman putting items into a shopping cart, the report said. The manager told the officer she saw them go through an employee door to a hallway that leads to an emergency exit that doesn’t have cameras.
The manager followed them out the emergency exit as she called 911. The suspects went around the side of the building and she lost them, according to the report.
Inside the shopping cart were three drones and some speakers.
An hour later a different officer was dispatched to a shoplift at Famous Footwear, 5151 Borgen Blvd. The description of the suspects was the same.
Around the same time there was also a call from Ross Dress for Less at 5500 Olympic Dr. for a business check.
The manager at Ross told the officer she had two people in the store she thought may be getting ready to shoplift, who matched the description from Walgreens and Famous Footwear.
Officers saw the man and woman in the store and detained them.
They allegedly admitted to stealing merchandise and fleeing Walgreens, the report said.
They said they ditched the shopping cart at Walgreens because the manager was following them and told them she was going to call the police, according to the report.
They allegedly told the officers a friend then picked them up and they went to Famous Footwear, where they each stole two pairs of shoes, as Christmas gifts for their kids, the report said.
Both suspects were released at the scene after being told that a report would be written and forwarded to prosecutors.
Driver hits utility box
A Gig Harbor officer responded to a wreck around 11 p.m. at Borgen Boulevard and Peacock Hill Drive, where a car drove off the road and hit a utility box, which caused a fire.
An officer contacted the driver, who had already been checked out by Gig Harbor Medic One.
The driver told the officer he was going south on Peacock Hill Drive at about 40 mph, which was 10 miles over the speed limit, according to the police report.
The driver said he forgot the traffic circle was at that intersection and accidentally accelerated through the middle of it, which caused him to hit the utility box.
The officer looked in the vehicle and saw foil with burnt brown residue and a blue pill next to it that he believed to be fentanyl, the report said.
The driver said he used fentanyl earlier that morning and had one alcoholic drink that night.
He agreed to do field sobriety tests.
After the tests, the officer believed he had probable cause to arrest the driver and sought a search warrant for his blood as evidence of driving under the influence.
The officer took the driver to St. Anthony’s Hospital for a blood draw.
