If you get a call demanding court fines paid in gift cards, the answer is no

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

Aug. 2: Canadian courts differ slightly from their American counterparts, but they don’t demand payments in gift cards.

The dispatch call reported a fraud. A Pierce County sheriff’s deputy drove to a house in the 20400 block of First Avenue East and spoke to a couple who said an unknown man had called them a day earlier, demanding money to get their grandson out of trouble.

The grandson was in Canada at a recreational camp. The man on the phone called from what looked to be a number in Calgary. He claimed to work for the Canadian court system.

The couple’s grandson had rented a car and hit a telephone pole, the man said. Repair costs for the pole amounted to $2,500. The money had to be paid, or the boy wouldn’t be allowed to return to the United States.

The man gave instructions: Buy enough iTunes gift cards to pay the debt, call the man back and read off the numbers.

The grandfather did as he was told. He and his wife went to the bank, withdrew the money, went to the store, bought 25 gift cards, called the man back and read off the numbers.

The next day, the man called again. This time he demanded $5,000, delivered in the same manner, within an hour.

The grandfather, suspicious, called police.

The deputy listened, took down the information and asked the grandfather to write a statement. During the process, the couple reached their grandson, who said he hadn’t rented a car, let alone crashed it. The grandson also spoke to the deputy, and said he didn’t know who the money-seeking caller could be.

As the deputy continued to gather information, the man called the grandparents again, still demanding money. The deputy picked up the phone and took over.

The man was pushy. He claimed to be a lawyer. He demanded to speak to the grandfather.

The deputy identified himself. The man said he didn’t believe it. He refused to give any personal information. He said he would call the grandparents back as soon as the deputy left.

The deputy hung up, and told the grandparents not to speak to the man if he called again. He filed a report for information purposes.

July 29: Pop quiz: You want to test the trigger pressure on your AR-15 pistol. What do you do?

A) Go to a shooting range and practice under controlled conditions.

B) Run the test in your bedroom while watching YouTube videos and smoking weed.

The Tacoma man chose option B.

The call started as a report of a shot fired at an apartment complex. Three officers drove to the 5500 block of Cheyenne Loop Road and spoke to neighbors, who pointed to a hole in the bedroom window of one of the ground floor units.

Officers spoke to a woman, 21, who lived in the unit. She said her boyfriend, 23, was inside. Officers told him to come out, and cuffed him.

The man said the disassembled pistol was inside. Officers took charge of it.

At first the man said he was cleaning the gun when it discharged accidentally. Gradually, he admitted he wasn’t cleaning it, but watching videos and trying to replicate the test. He hadn’t checked to see that the weapon was unloaded.

Was this a domestic situation? The man said he and his girlfriend weren’t arguing. The girlfriend said the same: they were lying on the bed, not arguing. She had been turned away from him, on her side. Her boyfriend had smoked some weed before the gun went off.

Officers checked the apartment complex for signs of damage from the discharged round, but found none. They booked the man into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of reckless endangerment.

July 29: The woman said her name was Sunshine, because it was so sunny out. She was lying, but not about the weather.

The answer didn’t satisfy the two Tacoma police officers. They were telling her to leave the soup kitchen in the 700 block of South 14th Street, and she was refusing.

Security officers and other staff members at the place had called police when she started shouting racial slurs and causing a scene.

The woman, 51, had a prior history on the streets and in the state mental health system. Her record included two convictions for second-degree assault.

The officers told the woman she had to go. She said she had a right to stay. She walked away and sat at a table.

The officers said that wasn’t good enough. They asked for her name. She said her name was Sunshine, though it wasn’t. The officers asked for her real name. She wouldn’t give it. Again, they told her she had to leave. Again, she refused.

The officers said the woman would be arrested if she continued to refuse.

“If you touch me, I will sue you,” the woman said, announcing that she wanted to make a citizen’s arrest of the officers.

Standing on either side of the woman, the officers took her hands. She struggled. She lost. The officers cuffed her and put her in a patrol car. She was booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of trespassing and interfering with police.

This story was originally published August 5, 2017 at 10:00 AM with the headline "If you get a call demanding court fines paid in gift cards, the answer is no."