Sumner Police Blotter: Pit Bulls Attack Sheep in Puyallup Pasture, Parent Threatens SHS Teacher in Email

MARCH 4, 2012

THREATS TO SHS TEACHER

A Whidbey Island woman called police on behalf of her mother, who got a suspicious email from her husband, a Sumner resident. The email was a forwarded conversation between the man and a Sumner High School teacher, who had contacted him because his son was having trouble paying attention in class. The man responded to the email by getting defensive about his son and threatening to kill the teacher.

The woman told police her stepfather has severe PTSD from serving in the military and that he drinks heavily and abuses drugs. She was afraid he would carry out the threat due to his strange and escalating behavior.

Officers went to the man’s residence in Sumner and spoke to him about the messages. He admitted it was a “stupid thing to do” and he “messed up.” The man said he was drunk when he wrote the email and that he is having a hard time connecting to and supporting his teenage son. He said he wasn’t serious about threatening the teacher, just that he’s an “angry drunk.”

Police searched his house for guns and didn’t find any. He was told he was not allowed on school property until contacted by school administration and police.

The next day, police went to SHS and spoke with the principal, who said the boy had already spoken with the teacher and apologized for his father.

Later that day, the man sent another email to school administration that wasn’t threatening, just extremely odd. The man was trespassed from the school.

About a week later, an officer filed a report saying the man had left a voicemail on his phone and called another city employee. His messages were almost direct threats to law enforcement. When officers contacted him about it, he said he was drunk and didn’t remember making the calls.

ASSAULT

Officers responded to a call of disorderly conduct on the 6100 block of Parker Road E. Dispatch advised there was a language barrier so the details of the situation were hard to get. 

The officer arrived at the home and was greeted at the door by a 10 year-old girl. She said her mother didn’t speak English, but that she was sleeping when her ex boyfriend was drunk and came into the room and hit her in the face a couple times. He then locked the bedroom door and grabbed the woman by the neck and choked her until she couldn’t breathe.

The man who called police is a gardener who was working outside when he heard the little girl cry for help. He went into the apartment and heard the assault happening in the bedroom. The door was locked so he kicked it in and saw the suspect choking the victim. He punched the man a couple times in the face and the suspect fled. The suspect was later arrested at his work and booked at jail for burglary, assault and felony harassment.

MARCH 7, 2012

PIT BULLS ATTACK SHEEP

Animal Control was called to the Manorwood neighborhood in Puyallup for a report of two pit bulls on the loose. The owner has had several run-ins with Animal Control in the past for not taking care of his dogs.

Officers visited the man at his home and saw the fence had two large holes in it. The man admitted he didn’t know where his two pit bulls, ‘Buddy’ and ‘Spanky,’ were.

A week later, a call came in to Animal Control that the dogs were seen attacking sheep in a pasture off 7th Ave. SE. The caller was a 77 year-old woman, who owned the property.

Police found Buddy and Spanky attacking a sheep in the pasture. The dogs had ripped the sheep’s wool and skin off before police were able to stop them. The two dogs let the sheep go but attacked another one before police could catch them.

The woman’s granddaughter owned the sheep and was told by Animal Control officers that both would have to be put down.

An officer contacted the dog owner and told him what happened. He went to Metro Animal Services the next day and was shown photos of the sheep. He was visibly shaken by the images and released the dogs into to police custody. He said he had an 8 month-old son at home and he did not want to take the chance of that happening to his son.

Both dogs were euthanized at the shelter and the man was cited for two counts of animal running at large.

MARCH 9, 2012

WARRANT ARREST

An officer was in the neighborhood of the 15000 block of Elm St. E. when he heard someone yelling in an apartment nearby. He knocked on the door and the man who answered said he had been fighting with his girlfriend because he wanted to take her truck on a trip with his mother and she wouldn’t let him. He said the fight only lasted a few minutes but that it had not become physical.

The girlfriend came out of the house and was adamant that her boyfriend couldn’t borrow the truck. The officer ran both names in his database and both had warrants out for their arrest. They were both arrested.