Sumner Police Report: Man Who Stabbed Himself to Face Charges of Making False Statements

When police responded to a , they investigated it as an assault before determining the wounds were self-inflicted, according to the Sumner Police report.

The 26-year-old man told police he had been stabbed by a drug dealer in the Sumner Fred Meyer parking lot and dumped on eastbound SR 410, just west of the Valley Avenue off-ramp. 

Evidence from the following investigation revealed that he stabbed himself in the stomach with a razorblade at home then walked to the freeway off-ramp and climbed over the fence, where he was found.

According to Chief Brad Moericke, the man was kicked out of his grandmother’s home in the Rainier Manor Mobile earlier in the night. He asked his mom for a ride, so she drove him to get gas at the Shell gas station on Meridian Ave. in Puyallup, then dropped him off at the Sumner Fred Meyer, where he told police the assault happened. He told officers he met a man from Bremerton in the store parking lot and paid him $4,000 to settle a drug debt for a friend. The man allegedly stabbed him there.

However, police retraced his steps and learned that two hours after being dropped off at Fred Meyer, he returned home and spoke with his family, then left on foot and was found on the side of the road about an hour later.

His family found a razorblade in his toilet and bloody towels in the bathroom the next day. At the scene, there were sandbags found stacked up next to the fence. The fence itself had dried blood on it, indicating he had climbed over. His injury was non-life threatening and consistent with self-infliction.

Because he told officers he was assaulted by a drug dealer from Bremerton, Sumner police worked with that agency to find the mystery assailant, who did not exist. Moericke said Sumner detectives also spent a considerable amount of time studying the Fred Meyer surveillance footage and followed up with Puyallup Police after the Shell station gas receipt in his pocket indicated he had been there right before his injury.

Because of the resources used in this case, charges of making false statements to a police officer will be forwarded to the Sumner Municipal Court.