‘O,’ no! Man accused of vandalizing Tacoma police headquarters sign
The Tacoma Police Department arrested a man Monday on suspicion of vandalizing its headquarters’ sign and attempting to damage its entry gate.
At about 2 a.m., TPD officers received notice of a person damaging the headquarters’ gate by wedging large pieces of concrete into the structure that would cause it to break if opened, according to the arrest affidavit.
An officer arrived at 3701 S. Pine St. and observed a 45-year-old man holding a piece of concrete over his head and throwing it over the gate into TPD property, the affidavit said.
When the officer approached the man and told him he was not free to leave, he responded, “I can’t put rocks in dirt?” documents say.
The officer said he was investigating to see if the gate was broken. The man said it wasn’t and suggested the officer try to open it, court documents state.
“As of this time the concrete pieces had not been removed from the gate,” the officer’s report said. “It appeared that [the defendant] solely wanted me to open the gate so that it would become damaged.”
While frisking the man for weapons, the officer found a piece of black coated metal in his front hoodie pocket, the affidavit said. The man told the officer he found it by the Police Department sign near the parking lot and asked him if he wanted it back.
The officer later observed the sign and found the word “POLICE” was missing the letter “O”, which matched the letter that he found in the man’s pocket.
Several other letters were freshly damaged with shiny scratches, the report said.
The man was arrested and booked into the Pierce County Jail. He faces a charge of trespassing, as well as malicious mischief in the second and third degree.
The second-degree malicious mischief charge, a felony in Washington state, was due to placement of the concrete in the gate.
“Due to this being the main entry/exit to the police department it would have caused a delay in response times to 911 calls from the citizens of Tacoma,” the officer’s report said.
The man’s trial date is set for July 27 at the Pierce County Superior Court.
