GHPD Blotter: Mysterious Fire, Neighbor Dispute Over Dog & Stolen Cell Phone

The following arrest information was supplied by the Gig Harbor Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.

March 15

2:36 p.m. – A man reported that his car had been broken into while at the Gig Harbor Family YMCA. The suspect stole a gym bag with clothes, books and headphones, as well as 50 CD’s.

March 16

4:20 p.m. – An officer responded to a report of an employee at Safeway who allegedly stole $212.26 worth DVD’s and a Panini from the deli.

March 17

5 p.m. – An officer contacted a resident in the 8700 block of North Harborview Drive who claimed a neighbor kicked her dog. The neighbor claimed he kicked the dog because it came over to his residence and bit him. The officer determined that wind had knocked over a gate and the dog went over to the neighbor’s house. The neighbor caught the incident on a cell phone video camera. It didn’t show him kicking the dog, but it did capture him telling the dog’s owner to keep it on a leash. No crime was committed, and the officer left the scene.

March 19

5:25 p.m. – A woman reported that someone had taken her purse from her shopping cart at Fred Meyer. The purse contained credit cards, her ID and $200 in cash. She cancelled her cards, although it was later discovered that someone made a $26 purchase at Taco Time and a $40 purchase at a Tacoma business.

5:33 p.m. – Officers responded to a report of an employee at H&R Block, located in the 11400 block of 51st Avenue, of a theft. The employee told police that two men and a woman walked into the office. One man left while the woman began asking tax questions. When the employee went to go get another employee, the three left the business. The employee discovered her phone missing from her desk. Officers noted that another cell phone theft was reported two businesses away.

March 24

7:11 p.m. – A man flagged down a Gig Harbor police officer in the 11500 block of Burnham Drive. He was a business owner and told the officer that someone, about a week earlier, had torn open one of the HVAC units in his building. The suspect was apparently trying to take the copper inside of the unit. The suspect wasn’t successful, but there was damage to the unit, which is worth $6,000 and $10,000.

10:22 p.m. – An officer was called to a report of a fire burning in the woods in the 4200 block of 69th Street Court Northwest, which could be seen from the Wollochet overpass. The fire, the officer wrote in the report, was located in an area near scotch broom and was a known dumping location. The garbage was burning, and there was an approximately 75-foot-wide circle burning, and it wasn’t clear how it started.

The officer found a military police traffic vest near the fire, along with a pile of photographs, which appeared to belong to a woman. A check showed the woman was currently homeless with no clear connection to the Gig Harbor area. The officer contacted the MP’s at Joint Base Lewis-McChord to see if they were missing anyone. No one had been reported missing. The officer mailed the vest to the base.