Driver hits light pole while doing doughnuts in Gig Harbor, gas station loses power
Editor’s note: This blotter is compiled from recent Gig Harbor police reports.
Driver was doing ‘doughnuts’ and hit a light pole
Gig Harbor Police responded to a call about a red Ford Mustang that hit a power pole at 55th Street Court Northwest and 38th Avenue Northwest on Jan. 21.
The police report said a man working inside the gas station nearby called police about 2:25 a.m. about a driver “traveling recklessly in circles in the middle of the roadway” before driving away southbound on 38th Avenue Northwest. The caller also said that the power went out as the vehicle left the scene.
Police located the vehicle at Murphy Drive Northwest and 38th Avenue Northwest, about two blocks south of the damaged power pole. The vehicle had “major damage to the front passenger side and moderate damage to the front driver side,” the report said. They arrested the 32-year-old driver on suspicion of driving under the influence.
While talking with police, the driver allegedly insisted that he hit the pole because there was something wrong with his car.
Peninsula Light Company arrived to fix the pole, which the police report said had “major damage.”
“Based on the damage to the power pole, the damage to (the driver’s) vehicle, and his statement of colliding with a pole, I request the prosecutor review the case for the charge of hit-and-run property damage,” the officer wrote in the police report.
Runaway U-Haul
A Gig Harbor police officer was patrolling the parking lot of Marshalls at 4601 Point Fosdick Dr. on Jan. 18 around 12 p.m. when he saw a U-Haul van parked on the north side of the building.
He stopped by the van and saw a woman in the passenger seat who looked “very worried of (his) presence,” he wrote in the report. She went inside the store.
After parking his police vehicle, the officer came closer to the U-Haul and saw that the inside was “torn apart” and looked like a place people were living, the report said. He called a U-Haul company executive who allegedly confirmed that this specific U-Haul was “considered long ‘overdue’” and was in the process of being marked as stolen.
While talking with the U-Haul representative, the officer saw two women get into the van. The woman who got into the driver’s seat drove out of the parking lot and exited onto Point Fosdick Drive.
The officer began pursuing the U-Haul in his vehicle and allegedly observed it change lanes without signaling, cut off cars and weave through traffic. When the officer activated his emergency lights to perform a traffic stop, the van allegedly sped up, at one point reaching approximately 60 miles per hour in a 30 miles per hour zone.
The U-Haul also drove through a red light, “causing westbound traffic to slow and avoid a collision at the intersection,” the officer wrote.
The officer kept up the chase until the U-Haul began speeding westbound on 56th Street. The officer turned north onto 38th Avenue and parked his car on Hunt Street, facing Wollochet Drive. He guessed the U-Haul would circle around via 56th Street to Fillmore Drive Northwest to Wollochet Drive to get onto state Route 16.
At 12:14 p.m., the officer saw the U-Haul as it “knocked over numerous cones in an active construction area at 6500 Wollochet Dr.,” he wrote. He didn’t continue the chase.
The officer spoke with a Bremerton Police Department officer working on the motor vehicle theft report. The Bremerton officer sent over a picture from the Bremerton U-Haul facility that allegedly matched the appearance of the driver.
The Gig Harbor officer saw that she had prior contacts with law enforcement, including for “warrant arrests, shoplifting and other eluding incidents.” He also saw that her driver’s license had been suspended and that she is only allowed to drive vehicles with an ignition interlock device, which prevents the vehicle from starting if the driver’s breath alcohol content is 0.025 or above. U-Haul vehicles do not carry ignition interlock devices, he wrote. There are several warrants for her arrest, including one for $15,000 via Gig Harbor Municipal Court.
The officer searched but wasn’t able to find the woman or the U-Haul.
The case was forwarded to the city prosecutor for review.
