Sumner Police Blotter, July 28 - August 3

July 28

Commercial Burglary

5:43am: Officers responded to the vacant QFC building for a report of a burglary. The alarm company advised they could see a male exit through one of the doors. Upon arrival, the officers noticed the front door of Mercadito del Valle Mexican store, adjacent to the QFC building, smashed out. Pierce County K-9 was dispatched to the scene to search the building, along with assistance from Bonney Lake PD. The officer discovered the west part of the door partially open but found no one inside. The door’s lock plate, however, had pry marks on it.

Officers entered the Mexican store through the shattered window, which was destroyed by a red brick. No one was inside, but they observed the candy display knocked off the counter onto the floor. The owner said that approximately 60 packs of cigarettes and about $30 was missing. The owner estimated the damage at $900.

The suspect appeared to be a tall male, large build with collar-length hair wearing a baseball cap, long-sleeved shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. He seemed to be carrying some type of bag. There are no leads at this time.

Minor Intoxicated in Public, DUI

11:13pm: Officers were dispatched to a report of a Volkswagen in a ditch with a Toyota assisting it on the 5700 block of 166th Ave. Upon arrival, officers located the vehicles and found three females on the side of the road.

The 16 year-old VW driver said she got a flat tire and called her friend, who was driving the Toyota, to assist her. She said her parents were en route. The officer walked to the front passenger corner of the vehicle and noticed that the front bumper and the front passenger side headlight were partially broken. The front passenger side tire was completely shredded, with extensive damage to the front wheel. Based on training and experience, the officer determined that the marks were not consistent with a simple blown tire, but rather a front-end impact.

The officer asked the girl what she hit, but she said she insisted she had a flat and was just trying to go home. The officer could smell intoxicants emanating from her and her eyes were bloodshot and they observed a Keystone beer under the drivers seat.

The girl said she was coming from Dike 4 at Lake Tapps and she was driving home. She said she had nothing to drink but agreed to a sobriety test. She couldn’t find her license in her bag after searching for a while and performed extremely poorly on her sobriety test. Her BAC level registered at .191.  The girl was arrested for DUI and MIP. Eventually, she admitted to drinking two tall beers but said she didn’t hit anything. Her passenger also appeared intoxicated and her BAC registered at .057. The driver’s parents arrived at the scene and drove her friend home.

The 16 year-old driver said she was headed to the Jack in the Box in Puyallup, but her car was pointed toward Orting. When officers asked if she had ever arrested before, she said no. However, she had been arrested and processed by the Party Patrol in Orting, but the charges were dropped.

The girl and her passenger were both cited with DUI and MIP. Officers were unable to locate the scene of the collision.  

July 30

Minor Intoxicated in Public

12:42am: Officers were dispatched to a report of several juveniles drinking at Sunset Stadium. Upon arrival, they noticed two or three subjects running northbound from Sumner High School into the Norwester Apartments. Officers did an area check and caught up with one suspect, who was 18 years old. The officers asked why he was running, and he told them that he and a group were coming from SHS after watching “the breast cancer walk.” He had watery, bloodshot eyes and smelled of intoxicants. He had a backpack on and opened it for the officers – inside was a third-full bottle of Pinnacle Whip Cream vodka and a partial bottle of cola. He blew a BAC of .128 and was charged with minor in consumption in public.

After they released the man, officers turned westbound and observed another male who matched their earlier description. They advised he was not free to go and asked take a seat in the police car. The 18 year-old male said he said he and some friends went to drink at Sunset Stadium because he knew that “at the breast cancer walk, there would be girls and boobs.” He had watery, bloodshot eyes and smelled of intoxicants. His BAC registered at .103. He was cited with MIP.

July 31

Employee Theft

10:04pm: A local business owner called and wanted a report taken on an employee theft involving a Bonney Lake woman. The owner advised that the woman, a manger at her store, had stolen money from two stores in Bonney Lake and Auburn and she wanted to file a theft report on the Sumner store. She said that she watched the surveillance video and saw the manager enter her store at approximately 12:04 a.m. and take $40 to $60 out of the till, then tried to set up the area as if other employees left the money out.

The owner confronted the manager and was going to leave it at that, and took her keys. She said she thought she took all the keys, but the woman had other sets and did the same thing in the Auburn store. The owner believed the manager kept her spare keys in the Sumner store. She provided police with the woman’s address and vehicle information. Police will file charges, pending the video surveillance cameras.

False Statements to a Public Servant

12:31am: Someone called Sumner PD to report that an unknown person stole and wrecked his vehicle in the Log Cabin parking lot. Upon arrival, officers located the vehicle, which was stuck in a ditch on the south side of the tavern parking lot.

The car owner said he found out his buddies were at the tavern and needed a ride home and he went to pick them up so they wouldn’t drive drunk. Upon arrival, he parked in the handicapped spot and left the vehicle running with the key in the ignition. He told police he did this because he had to have a new key made after someone broke into his car recently and wore down the ignition.

The bouncer told him to not park in that spot, but he said he would be gone less than 15 minutes. When he came back, his car was gone. Another patron was able to describe the man that took his car to the owner, but officers were unable to locate that witness. Officers could not locate any witnesses to the crash and the bouncers said they did not speak with him regarding parking in the handicapped spot.

While the man worked with a tow company to collect his vehicle, officers ran his name in their database, which showed that his vehicle was stolen from his home over a year ago. According to the report, he said his key was stuck in the ignition because the locksmith just made a new key. The report further stated that the man later located his vehicle in a ditch.

Officers felt the two incidents were more than just coincidence and said they believed he was lying. He denied making the same claim a year before and said he didn’t remember making that statement. Police talked to the man’s friends, who were obviously intoxicated. They said they had been at Wayne’s Tavern with the man and he drove them all to the Log Cabin over two hours prior.

The man denied lying but regardless of who drove the vehicle into the ditch, it was apparent he made false statements. The man was charged with making false statements to a public servant.

August 3

Beer Run

An officer was dispatched to ampm for a report of a beer theft. Communications advised that the subjects stole beer and were running toward a maroon car in the McLendon’s parking lot. Officers were unable to locate any subjects in that area.

 As the officer entered the ampm, he observed an 18 pack of Coors Light on the floor next to the door, numerous bags of licorice scattered everywhere and a gray hoodie and purple Air Jordan T-shirt on the floor in front of the checkout counter. The employee said that two males he recognized as regulars entered the store and they were estimated to be between 15 and 17 years old. The two subjects approached a display of beer in the middle of the store, grabbed two 18 packs of Coors Light and ran out of the store.

The employee chased the subjects and one of them dropped one of the 18 packs. The employee grabbed one of the subjects, wearing the grey hoodie, and pulled him to the ground. He pulled the subjects’ gray hoodie and T-shirt off but both continued running into the McLendon’s parking lot where there was a third male subject in an older maroon car. They jumped in the vehicle and exited. The hoodie and T-shirt were placed into evidence but no arrests were made at this time.