Police Beat: Grabbing the wrong behind, a naked stranger, custody madness

Editor’s note: Compiled from reports to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office and Tacoma police.

April 19: Looking at the “forensics lady” wasn’t a crime — but grabbing her behind was strictly prohibited.

The Tacoma officer was handling one crime scene that spawned another. The first was a reported armed robbery at a convenience store in the 1700 block of South 72nd Street.

A forensics specialist responded. The officer showed her the store counter, a possible source of trace evidence.

The specialist walked to her van to gather equipment. As she bent over, a trio of young men walked by. As the officer watched, one of the men lifted his hand with a clutching gesture, and reached for the specialist’s backside.

The officer couldn’t tell whether the man’s clutching hand actually touched the target, but it was close. He walked out of the store and yelled at the man.

“I was just playing around,” said the man, 20.

The officer tried to cuff the man, who tensed up. A second officer joined in a short struggle. The man kicked at them. Soon, he was cuffed. Officers took an open beer from his pocket.

The officer returned to the store to view a security video of the parking lot. The footage showed the man touching the specialist or coming close.

The specialist, 35, said she didn’t feel the man’s hand, but she heard a voice say, “Ooooo, forensics lady.”

On the way to the Pierce County Jail, the man told the officer, “I’ll remember your face.”

The officer asked the man how he would react if someone tried to touch his sister. The man said he would beat up someone who tried that.

He was booked into the jail on suspicion of fourth-degree assault and resisting arrest.

April 20: At the pancake house, the 25-year-old woman was determined to put on a show, whether patrons liked it or not.

Two officers responded to a report of indecent exposure at a restaurant in the 7200 block of South Hosmer Street. They spoke to the manager, who pointed to the woman.

“She saw you coming and put her dress back on,” the manager said.

The woman had been flashing customers, he added, lifting her dress and offering sex. The manager told her to leave, he said, but the woman strode into the lounge, said she wasn’t leaving, removed her dress and bra, sat on a stool, relieved herself and threatened to kill the manager.

The woman was putting on her shoes when the officers spoke to her.

“Go on, trespass me and let me go,” she said. “You know you can’t do anything else.”

Did the woman have identification? She said she didn’t.

How about a name? She gave one, and spelled it wrong, and came up with two birthdates. She said if officers couldn’t identify her, they could let her go.

The officer said he wasn’t making deals. The woman said all she did was get naked and soil a chair. The officer told her she was under arrest for obstructing, trespassing and indecent exposure.

The woman swore and said she didn’t have to leave the restaurant just because the manager said so. She said she would spit on the officer and soil the seat of the patrol car. The officer said such actions would be added to the charges.

On the way to the Pierce County Jail, the woman spat on the Plexiglas screen of the patrol car, continued shouting and swearing, gave her real name and said she had active arrest warrants. She was booked on suspicion of malicious mischief, indecent exposure, trespassing and obstructing an officer.

April 15: The custody transfer sparked a fight between two women and ended with a 7-year-old boy saying everyone was fighting over him and hurting him.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported domestic disturbance in the 22600 block of 58th Avenue East in Spanaway. Reportedly, two women were fighting, and one woman’s shirt had been torn off during the scuffle.

One woman said she had been choked and scratched by her ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend. The ex had come to pick up his son, according to the terms of a parenting plan.

The woman wanted the boy to clean up a mess before he left. The boyfriend got mad when it took too long, she said. He rushed into the house, grabbed the boy and his suitcase, and tried to leave.

The woman struggled with the boyfriend over the suitcase, she said. The boyfriend called his girlfriend for help. The girlfriend picked up the boy and put him in the car before the woman could say goodbye.

That started a new fight. The mother grabbed the boy. The girlfriend grabbed the mother, put her in a chokehold and ripped her top off in the process.

Deputies spoke to a witness who gave a similar account. The boyfriend and girlfriend were gone, but the girlfriend had called police to report the same incident. Deputies drove to a different address in the area.

They spoke to the girlfriend, who gave her version of the story. Typically, the woman sent the boy out to his father’s car during these transfers, but it hadn’t worked that way this time. She said she had picked up the boy, and the woman had come after her and scratched her.

She admitted responding with a chokehold, but said she was trying to defend herself and the boy.

The father said he was getting tired of these incidents, and added that the transfers were getting worse each time, always leading to drama.

The boy told the deputy he wanted to talk. He said everybody was fighting over him and hurting him.

Was he OK now? Yes.

Both women complained of injuries. Both were booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of misdemeanor assault.

This story was originally published April 22, 2017 at 9:03 PM with the headline "Police Beat: Grabbing the wrong behind, a naked stranger, custody madness."