A man with a car full of Pokémon cards fled police. Two flat tires didn’t stop him
Editor’s note: This blotter is compiled from recent Gig Harbor police reports.
Mystery backpack owner startled the cat
Around 2:30 a.m. on June 19 a woman who lives in the 3600 block of 40th Street Court heard a loud noise that startled her and her cat.
She looked outside, but didn’t see anything.
Around 5:30 p.m. police were dispatched to her home after her husband found a backpack in the backyard, according to the police report.
He saw it once he went outside to cook dinner.
“He stated he found a black Under Armour backpack that had been left there overnight,” the report said.
The couple told police they did not notice anything missing or messed with inside their house.
The husband also told the officer that their neighbors mentioned there was a man captured on several of their cameras the night before.
Another call came in from the same area describing a man with a black backpack looking into people’s cars, according to the report.
Inside the backpack police found a passport and a check addressed to the same person.
The officer completed a records check of the name that showed no criminal history or warrants. The passport also did not return as stolen.
Toiletries, clothing, several glass pipes and less than 1 gram of suspected methamphetamine were also in the backpack, the report said.
Police cracked his window before he drove off
While patrolling in the Target parking lot at 11400 51st Ave. around 9 p.m. on June 19, a Gig Harbor Police officer noticed a parked Ford F-150 with no license plate.
Inside a man was slumped over the wheel, according to the report.
“I observed the male driver had a piece of foil with burnt scorch marks on it located on his lap,” the officer wrote. “On the foil was a blue M30 pill that based on my training and experience I believed to be consistent with the appearance of fentanyl.”
The driver also had a torch lighter on his lap.
“I also observed the interior of the Ford was full of packaged merchandise, to include over a dozen boxes of packaged Pokémon cards, which are a common stolen item,” the officer wrote.
Pokémon cards have a huge value, Police Chief Kelly Busey told the Gateway.
The VIN number of the vehicle was in plain view on the dashboard, according to the report.
That allowed police to look up the owner of the vehicle.
The officer asked dispatch for a second officer.
When the second officer arrived, the two of them put a tire deflation device under the rear tires of the car to try to keep the man from driving away.
They then knocked on the window, waking the driver up.
They told him multiple times he was being detained and needed to exit the vehicle, which he refused to do.
The driver then started the car. While he did so, one of the officers used a window punch and shattered the right-side passenger and rear windows.
The driver then backed out and drove off with two flat tires, according to the report.
The owner of the vehicle matched the description of the suspect and has warrants, the report said.
Officers searched for the Ford.
Around 10 p.m. one of the officers found it on the shoulder of state Route 16. The vehicle was empty and the rear tires were shredded, according to the report.
“I could hear something moving around in the tree line in the eastbound lane, but was unable to locate anyone hiding or up the trees after numerous checks,” the officer wrote.
Cup of water prompts gas station fight
On June 19 GHPD was dispatched to a possible shoplift at the Union 76 Gas Station at 5555 Soundview Dr.
No one was there when an officer arrived.
“There was no one at the business and the door was locked with a sign reading they would be right back,” the officer wrote.
Dispatch told the officer there was a report of two men fighting just down the street.
Moments later the gas station clerk pulled up in his car.
The clerk told the officer a homeless man came into the store, grabbed a fountain drink cup, filled it up, then tossed a quarter at the clerk.
The clerk told the man the drink would be $1.59, according to the report.
“The homeless man became irate and swung at the clerk from across the counter,” the report said.
The swing missed, but the man hit some of the counter top displays, doing about $100 in damage.
The man left the store and the clerk followed him.
The clerk did not go into detail about their interaction.
“The drink cup was lying on the floor crushed and there was water all over the counter and floor,” the officer wrote. “It appeared the suspect filled the cup up with water.”
