Police Beat: Danger with a stroller, sexual extortion and a fighting couple

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

July 27: Most parents know a standard trick to quiet a fussy baby — a ride in the car. However, tying a stroller to a moped for the same purpose is not recommended.

The dispatch call reported someone trying the second method. Officers drove to an address near Roosevelt Elementary School in Tacoma. They found the moped and a stroller tied to back, secured with a cord and an umbrella. A 2-year-old child was sleeping in the stroller. Nearby was the child’s father, who was 25.

Hearing the reason why police were talking to him, the man slumped.

“She’s my daughter,” the man said. “I do this all the time. This is how I put her to sleep.”

Officers tried to explain that the technique was dangerous.

The man disagreed. He said he drove on the sidewalk. Officers saw no sidewalk in the area the man indicated.

The man asked if officers were checking his background for arrest warrants. He said he had one.

Officers found it: a warrant out of Lakewood. They told the man he was under arrest for reckless driving and the outstanding warrant. They gave him a citation for the driving violation, drove him to the Lakewood Police Department and handed him off to other officers.

July 28: The woman wasn’t interested in love — just sex. But the guy wanted more, and he was prepared to shame her if she didn’t agree.

A county sheriff’s deputy picked up the report: a claim of extortion by phone. He called the woman, who said she’d dated the man for three weeks. He wanted to get serious. She didn’t.

At one point, she said she’d had sex with the man and another woman at his apartment. The man had just called her and said he’d filmed the encounter, the woman said. He threatened to show the tape to her co-workers unless she paid him $40.

The woman told the deputy she wasn’t sure if the man was telling the truth — she had no proof — but she didn’t want anyone at work to see a tape if it existed.

The deputy called the man. At first he denied filming the encounter. Then he said maybe he did and maybe he didn’t, but it didn’t matter. The deputy said filming sex wasn’t illegal, but extorting money was. The man said he wouldn’t show the tape to the woman’s co-workers. Then he tried to say there was no tape.

The deputy called the woman back and explained what he’d heard. He advised her to break off contact with the man, and explained the process of obtaining a no-contact order. The woman said she understood.

A little later, the man called the deputy back. He said the deputy was sexist for believing the woman’s story. The deputy said he didn’t believe anyone’s story — he was just documenting what the two parties were telling him.

The man said he didn’t want to go to jail. The deputy said he didn’t plan on arresting anyone, but he was going to write an informational report explaining what had happened.

July 30: The neighbor told police about the couple fighting next door. It sounded like children were getting smacked around, the neighbor said.

A second call came in. It was the male half of the couple. He said he was in a physical dispute with his girlfriend.

Officers drove to an address in the 2900 block of North Stevens Street. It was 2:10 a.m. They saw the man, 37, standing in front of the house and a woman, 35, standing in the front yard and shouting.

“I will never forgive you,” the woman said, and hurled a bottle of water at the man’s head. It missed.

One officer spoke to the man. The other spoke to the woman.

The man had scratches on his face and bruises on his neck. He said the woman was his ex-girlfriend. They weren’t a couple anymore, but they still lived together, he said. They had a 5-year-old child who lived at the house, along with the man’s 15-year-old daughter.

The woman had a drinking problem, the man said. She would go out late and not come home until the early morning. Tonight the same thing had happened. The man confronted the woman and accused her of cheating on him. The woman got mad, punched the man and threw things at him, he said.

The man started saying less. He wanted officer to calm the woman down, not take her to jail. He wouldn’t sign a statement and said he didn’t want to press charges.

The woman admitted she was drunk. She said she and her boyfriend had an argument, nothing more. Officers told her she was under arrest and cuffed her.

The woman unleashed a string of insults. She did nothing wrong, she said. They were arresting her for no reason. Asked if she understood her rights, she responded with a profane burst.

Officers booked the woman into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of misdemeanor assault.

This story was originally published August 1, 2015 at 6:05 AM with the headline "Police Beat: Danger with a stroller, sexual extortion and a fighting couple."