Sumner Police Blotter, Nov. 28-30

November 28

Vehicle prowl and possession of burglary tools

9:04 a.m.: Three officers responded to the Fred Meyer parking lot for a report of a vehicle prowl in progress. A man described as a white male in a black sweatshirt and beanie hat was reported to have a handful of keys and was using them to try to get into a vehicle in the parking lot. The suspect then picked up a female passenger and left in the vehicle he had arrived in.

Officers caught up with the pair on Bonney Avenue and upon searching the vehicle, found four shaved keys, which generally are filed down so they are smaller and smoother and therefore easier to enter and/or steal vehicles.

Upon being arrested, the man admitted that he had been “making a bad mistake” and added that his intent was to take GPS systems out of the cars. He maintained that the woman with him had no knowledge of what he was doing and was inside Fred Meyer while he was in the parking lot.

The woman later confirmed that, saying that the suspect drove her to Fred Meyer to purchase aspirin for a headache and some groceries. She said she is an “auntie” to the suspect, but is not actually related to him. The woman, who was the registered owner of the vehicle, was allowed to leave the scene.

The suspect was later transported to the Puyallup Police Department, where he was booked into jail. During the transport, the officer was contacted by a woman claiming to be the suspect’s girlfriend. She said the man was actually just looking for her car in the parking lot. She wanted to know whether the suspect would be able to be released to her. When the officer told her that the man had already admitted he was prowling cars, the woman responded, “Oh, that’s too bad. Well, can I bail him out then?”

The man was charged with second-degree vehicle prowl and possession of burglar tools.

November 30

Fraud report

1:16 p.m.: An officer contacted the owner of National Car Auto Parts because he was reporting check fraud by a man who had come in the previous week with a BECU check for $312.45 to purchase various tools and miscellaneous items. The owner had taken the check to the BECU main office in Tukwila, where he was told that the account had been closed and the man who wrote the check was not the holder of the account.

The owner told the officer that the man had also written a check that had yet to be returned for a special order that he was supposed to pick up that day, as well as a third check on Nov. 28. He was advised to immediately call 911 and then complete the transaction slowly. The officer requested that the checks be brought into the police station as soon as they were returned.

Another officer observed a booking photo of the suspect and related that on Nov. 28, he was arrested for attempted vehicle prowl and possession of burglary tools at the Fred Meyer complex. The man was booked into the Puyallup Jail, but posted bail later that day. The second officer confirmed that the man was in possession of a checkbook that day, but was unable to confirm whether it was for the same checking account.

6:47 p.m.: Four officers responded to a call from National Car Auto Parts for a report of a suspect in the aforementioned fraud being on the scene. Upon arrival, the officers found a female suspect who had been with a man who she said passed a bad check the night before.

The woman’s vehicle, which was parked outside, was identified as being stolen. A search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of a laptop computer with an unfamiliar woman’s name on the screen, an external hard drive, a camera, police scanner, silver watch and papers with credit-card type numbers on it. Also found in a purse inside the car were multiple syringes and illegal narcotics, including marijuana and hash.

A Washington license plate was found in the trunk; according to the VIN number, the car had been stolen on Nov. 23. The vehicle’s registered owner arrived on the scene and identified that none of the items were hers. The woman who had showed up at the store with the car maintained that she had purchased the vehicle from another woman for $300 in the Rite-Aid parking lot two days earlier.

The woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.