A Snapchat group chat led officers to weapons and drugs on school property. Here’s how
Editor’s note: This blotter is compiled from recent Gig Harbor police reports.
Weapons, drugs and alcohol found in student’s car
The Gig Harbor Police Department met with a 16-year-old and his mother Sept. 25 to discuss a harassment incident.
The 16-year-old told the officer that someone was threatening him on Snapchat.
The two were in a group chat together, where someone made a comment about the suspect’s hair.
The suspect direct messaged the 16-year-old, asking him to provide the address for the person who made the comment, according to the report.
The suspect allegedly told the 16-year-old he was upset about the comment and wanted to “curb stomp” the person who made it.
He also allegedly told the 16-year-old if he didn’t give him the address he would “shoot up” his house, according to the report.
The 16-year-old refused to give him the address and then the suspect gave him a “3, 2, 1,” countdown via Snapchat.
The 16-year-old also noticed a red Honda Civic stopped outside his house and then it drove off, he told officers. This was the same type of car the suspect is known to drive, the 16-year-old told officers.
At the time, the mom and son said they did not want the behavior prosecuted, but that they did want it documented.
The officer wrote in the report that Gig Harbor police had an incident with the same suspect the day prior while patrolling near Cutters Point Coffee on Point Fosdick Drive.
The same car was doing donuts in the parking lot. Officers gave the driver a warning, the report said.
The officer saw an airsoft type gun in the back seat. When the officer asked the driver about the gun, he said it was a gel ball gun.
After the report of the Snapchat messages, the officer went to Henderson Bay High School to inform staff of threats involving a firearm from one of their students. The officer also wanted to make sure the suspect did not bring the airsoft gun/gel ball gun to school.
When the officer arrived at the school, it was coincidentally performing a lockdown drill. All of the students and staff were standing in the parking lot.
The red Honda Civic was in sight, according to the report.
The officer went inside and spoke with the security guard and principal. They told the officer the suspect was already being brought into the office for allegedly being under the influence of marijuana.
The officer told them he was going to check the Honda Civic to make sure the airsoft gun/gel ball gun was not in the back seat.
School staff told the officer the student allegedly had marijuana in his vehicle and that they would search it, per school policy.
The officer told them he would not be investigating that matter and was only at the school to advise them of the threats and to check the vehicle for the airsoft/ gel ball gun.
The officer looked in the back seat of the car and saw the airsoft/gel gun. He needed the suspect’s permission to remove it.
The officer told the suspect that he was only there for the airsoft/gel gun in the back seat, and that the school was going to search his vehicle and it was a completely separate matter.
The suspect opened the back seat for the officer and handed over the gun, according to the report.
Officers spoke with the suspect about the alleged threats. The suspect told officers he had no idea what they were talking about.
Officers saw school staff remove alcohol, marijuana products, smoking products, a Ruger 10/22 rifle, an extended magazine containing .22 caliber ammunition, a large folding knife, a firecracker, and a black tomahawk-style ax from the vehicle, according to the report.
“The rifle did a successful function check and is believed to be operational,” the officer wrote.
The suspect told officers his parents gave him the rifle and that he purchased the ammo. He also said he puts the rifle in the trunk for safety because he had a friend that was shot, the report said.
Police officers took custody of the firearm, ammo, knife and ax.
The school collected the drugs and alcohol, and contacted the suspect’s parents. The suspect was later suspended.
Officers went back to the mother and son who reported the threats and told them what they found in the suspect’s car.
The family then decided they wanted to pursue harassment charges.
Officers explained the steps to obtain a no contact order or anti harassment order from the court.
The case was forwarded to the felony prosecutor to review for possible charges, such as felony harassment and possession of dangerous weapons at a school facility, according to the report.
They caused almost $4,000 in damage and losses to a local restaurant
On Oct. 10 GHPD officers were dispatched to a burglary that occurred overnight at Il Lucano Ristorante Italiano, 3119 Judson St.
When they arrived they met with the owners who told them a suspect pried the door open and stole unknown merchandise between 7:18 a.m. and 7:28 a.m.
The owner showed officers surveillance video of the suspect, who was wearing an all black outfit, including gloves.
They stole a blue box full of unknown items and 12 bottles of wine, each valued at $105.
The front door will need to be replaced and is valued at $2,000, according to the report.
They left without a car wash
GHPD was dispatched on Oct. 11 to Classy Chassis, a self-serve car wash at 6750 Kimball Dr. for a commercial burglary.
When officers arrived, the operations manager was reviewing the video footage. He told the officers three suspects arrived just before 6 a.m. in an older white Ford van with no plates.
There were two male suspects and one female suspect. They were all wearing masks and hoods, making them unidentifiable, according to the report.
“The video shows suspect one working on the door with a cordless wrecking saw and then a handheld Ramshot type tool which shoots out hardened spikes with pyrotechnic charges,” the officer wrote.
The second suspect went back and forth between the van and the door, giving the first suspect tools.
Suspect three was on the street side of the business acting as a lookout.
It took them about 25 minutes to get the door open, according to the report.
The officer said they caused extensive damage to the door, the metal frame and adjacent brick wall.
Once they got inside, the first suspect attempted to cut open the back side of a change machine, but it appeared the battery in the saw died.
Near the counter was a bag full of approximately $300 to $400 of quarters the business uses to fill the machines with, which the suspects took before leaving the car wash just after 6:30 a.m.
The cordless wrecking saw left behind was taken as evidence to send to the lab for DNA prints, according to the report.
This story was originally published October 16, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
