Sumner Police Blotter: Port-A-Potty on Fire, Teens Arrested at 'Gigantic' Party and More

APRIL 20, 2012

HUGE PARTY, MINORS IN POSSESSION

Sumner Police, the Pierce County Sheriff and other jurisdictions were dispatched to a residence on the 3000 block of West Valley Highway because the renters there were having a “gigantic” party. There were more than 75 cars parked alongside the road, some in a no-parking zone.

The ages of the people in the party were estimated to be between 18 and 23. There were three cars in no-parking zones and the officers waited for almost an hour for someone to claim their vehicle before calling a tow. When the tow truck showed up and started hooking up the first car, a 19-year-old girl and her 18-year-old friend ran out to try and stop them. They were both drunk.

One of the girls said she only had two shots of vodka, her friend admitted to six. They both were arrested for MIP (minor in possession of alcohol).

The other car that was impounded belonged to a 21 year old man who also came out to get his car as the tow truck was hitching it up. He asked if he could get his car back and the officers asked him why he didn’t come out during the two hours they were there. He thought he would get in trouble and the officer advised him that he was allowed to drink – all he needed was a sober person to move his car. They towed his car.

A third vehicle was blocking a neighbor’s house and no one claimed it, so the car was towed.

APRIL 21, 2012

PORT-A-POTTY ON FIRE

An officer was dispatched to the Daffodil Sports Complex for a report of a port-a-potty on fire. A man who was passing by reported that he saw a “tweaker-looking” guy in his 30s riding a bike and leaving the scene of the fire. The fire department arrived and extinguished the blaze.

APRIL 22, 2012

CAR STUCK ON TRAIN TRACKS, DUI

An officer responded to the intersection of Pacific Avenue and the Union Pacific railroad tracks for a report of a vehicle high-centered on the tracks. An officer called Union Pacific and all trains that passed through Sumner were stopped.

A witness told police he was sitting with his wife in an RV on their property when they heard a crunching noise coming from the railroad tracks. When he approached the car, the female driver looked confused and asked for help.

The vehicle was pulled off the tracks by a pickup truck with a tow strap and several nearby residents came from their homes to help. The officer called Union Pacific and advised the roadway was clear.

When the 37-year-old female driver approached police, they could immediately smell alcohol on her breath. She said she was driving home from a friends’ house in Puyallup where she had a “few beers.”

The woman was arrested for DUI and she was over double the legal limit. Police also found an unopened beer can in the passenger seat.

APRIL 24, 2012

TELEPHONE HARRASSMENT

A woman came to the police department to report that her ex husband might burn her house down. She got a call from her daughter, who got a text message from her father saying he was going to burn down their house. She was hysterical and thought her father might try and kill her mother.

Very soon after the phone call, the woman got a threatening call from her ex-husband.

The couple had broken up two years prior and she thought he might have a drinking problem. He had sent her threatening messages in the past but she never reported it to police.

She said that she recently filed for divorce, which might have set him off.

Police called the man, who didn’t answer, returned the call then hung up when the officer identified himself as police. The man was charged with telephone harassment.

APRIL 25, 2012

THEFT

A woman reported that her 17 year-old son’s 18-year-old friend stole from him. She said they had invited her son’s friend from Spokane to come stay with them and he had been at the residence for a week. They left him alone that day and when they returned, several of his things were missing. His friend left a message that he’d gone to Oregon – he did laundry and took his things with him.

An X-box, two controllers and 3 games had been stolen. There was also a change jar from the woman’s bedroom missing that contained about $50.

The woman said that the teen had been looking on her computer for someone interested in buying an X-Box off Craigslist.