Gig Harbor police search for bank robber in hot pink hospital scrubs, ask for tips
Editor’s note: This blotter is compiled in part from Gig Harbor police reports.
Bank robber in pink scrubs
Officers responded to a robbery about 4:50 p.m. April 4 at the Umpqua Bank in the 5300 block of Point Fosdick Drive.
“We have reason to believe that the suspect got away in a vehicle that may have been positioned on the eastbound off ramp or the eastbound lanes of SR-16 near Olympic Drive,” a Gig Harbor Police Department Facebook post said. “The suspect was wearing distinctly bright pink hospital scrubs (pants and shirt) under a black jacket and a pink stocking hat”
Anyone with information can call Detective Jarab Daniel at 253-853-8259.
Driver not worried about DUI impound
An officer was at a gas station April 1 at 7101 Pioneer Way when he saw a Jeep go through a flashing red signal at Pioneer Way and Kimball Drive without stopping.
The officer followed and saw the 38-year-old driver go through a solid red light and cross into the oncoming lane at times. The suspect’s tires locked up and he skidded at Wagner Way Northwest and 72nd Street. It looked like he was having trouble shifting.
He almost side-swept a guardrail, the officer reported, and at one point shifted into reverse.
Then the driver didn’t fully stop at Stinson Avenue and Grandview Street, and he continued on Stinson.
The roundabout was a struggle.
The officer pulled him over in front of a business at 4101 Harborview Drive.
He had trouble opening the door, didn’t have insurance or registration, and refused sobriety tests and later a breath test.
The officer thought he smelled like alcohol and showed signs of impairment. He didn’t answer when the officer asked how much he’d had to drink. When the officer told the driver he suspected he was impaired, the driver told him that was his opinion.
He wasn’t concerned about the impound of the Jeep, the report said, because it would be his ex wife’s problem.
The driver didn’t have any prior DUIs. He was cited and released, and got a courtesy ride home.
Vehicle stolen from church parking lot
A 74-year-old visited the police station April 5 to say his vehicle was missing.
He left it about 8:30 a.m. in the church parking lot at 7400 Pioneer Way. It wasn’t there when he returned at 11:30 that morning.
He didn’t know if the church had surveillance footage. The police department’s front desk staff logged the vehicle as stolen in their system.
Deli shoplifting ends in fight
Officers responded to the Safeway about 3:45 p.m. March 24 at 4831 Point Fosdick Drive, where a shoplifting suspect was fighting with a loss prevention officer.
The loss prevention officer had a cut to his lip and said the 18-year-old suspect punched him in the mouth.
The teenager had allegedly pocketed a $4.80 chicken item from the deli and left without paying.
The loss prevention officer confronted him outside, and he handed it over. As the loss prevention officer took him back inside, other security workers were busy detaining another shoplifting suspect (a 19-year-old accused of taking two deli items, totaling $8.20).
That’s when the 18-year-old tried to run. The loss prevention officer grabbed his shirt to try to stop him, and the 18-year-old allegedly punched him in the mouth. The loss prevention officer wrapped his arms around the teenager and brought him to the ground.
That’s when police arrived and arrested the 18-year-old. They booked him into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of second-degree robbery. The loss prevention officer told police he wanted him charged for the assault.
Police arrested the 19-year-old on suspicion of third-degree theft. They gave him a citation, his court date, and released him.
Illegally parked car gets keyed
A 73-year-old reported March 16 that someone keyed the passenger side of her vehicle.
She parked illegally outside 8812 N. Harborview Drive, she explained, to walk an elderly woman to a coffee shop across the street about 12:15 p.m., because there hadn’t been any parking available.
A woman came into the coffee shop and complained about the illegally parked car. The 73-year-old said it was hers.
Then about 1:15 p.m. the 73-year-old returned to her car and saw someone had keyed it.
Surveillance video showed the woman who complained about the illegal parking was near the car and took photos of it, but it didn’t show her keying it.
Vandalism at marina
Officers responded about 11 a.m. March 22 to a burglary at Arabella’s Landing Marina at 8217 Dorotich St. An employee there told police someone broke into the bathrooms and shower at the marina. They found a cellphone, pliers and what looked like purple hair dye spread across the bathroom. It was a mess.
Only tenants and guests at the marina can use the restrooms.
The employee said a woman kept calling and leaving messages to ask if they’d found a phone in the bathroom. She called again while police were there, and the employee told her they did find the phone and that she could come get it.
The woman arrived and police saw she had purple hair. She wouldn’t give her name, and said she was picking up the phone for a friend. Police detained her.
She allegedly said that she did use the bathroom and shower, and that they weren’t locked.
She had an outstanding warrant for malicious mischief out of Gig Harbor Municipal Court.
Police arrested her on suspicion of third-degree theft for the services she used (water, toilet paper, shower, the report said). They also suspected her of second-degree criminal trespass, and of malicious mischief, because of damage to the doors and to the tile from the hair dye, the report said.
They booked her into Kitsap County Jail, where staff found a small amount of methamphetamine in her pocket.
This story was originally published April 9, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
