BPD's Little Hero
This week Officer Mayfield, who is still recovering from his gunshot wounds, received a wonderful note of encouragement from a young man from Las Vegas named Jake Rieger. Jake wrote:
Officer
I saw that you were hurt and I'm glad you'll be ok. I hope people start to be nicer to police and keep you safe too. I want to write to you to let you know people still care. I leave these notes on patrol cars around Las Vegas and I want you to have one too. When I grow up I want to be an officer and I hope to be as brave as you.
I did a little on-line research and it turns out Jake is a 10-year-old lad who views police officers as his heroes. Jake has made it his mission to let officers know how he feels through his thoughtful cards. Well, Jake is now my little hero. He will shortly be receiving a nice Bremerton PD patch. I have a hunch that with his caring nature, he will make an excellent police officer. An article about Jake can be found at the link below:
Interesting incidents from the past week:
Wrong Way Corrigan?
On Monday, we had a house fire in the 1200 block of 6th Street. As is typical in these situations, Officer Shaw closed westbound 6th Street to allow the Fire Department to battle the fire. There were subtle hints that the road was closed, described as follows Officer Shaw's report:
"I was parked facing southbound with four barricades, two with "Road Closed" signs attached and 6 large orange traffic cones. Caution tape was also attached and stretched across the entire two westbound lanes of travel. My vehicle had its overhead emergency lights activated to also signal the road was closed."
Evidently missing all of this, a car drove around the barricades and proceed west in the eastbound lanes, continuing as he crested a blind hill. Our errant driver continued driving west in the east lanes long after clearing the closed area of the road. Officer Shaw stopped the vehicle and Shaw pointed out to the driver that he was driving the wrong way, west in the east lanes. The driver replied, "There's two lanes," just in case Officer Shaw hadn't been aware of that or something. It may surprise you that the driver was arrested for DUI. [Corporal Vertefeuille].
[Note: a free BPD patch to the first member of the public to email me and explain who wrong-way Corrigan was. No looking on Google - on your honor. City employees need not apply
James.burchett@ci.bremerton.wa.us]
Crisis Averted
Officer Forbragd initiated on Tuesday at Kitsap Way at Highway 3. The vehicle did not have a front bumper or required front plate on it. The rear license plate displayed an expired registration in June 2017. When Forbragd attempted to stop the car, it turned the wrong way on the one-way ramp to Highway 3. Fortunately, the violator came to a safe stop before a head-on collision occurred. The driver did not have a driver's license, insurance, and or a registration for the vehicle. Officer Forbragd's keen senses detected a trip permit in the window of the car that was altered. A plethora of charges resulted from the stop. [Corporal Vertefeuille].
*Extra Credit of you can name this movie, name the character and define plethora* [Note: The extra credit for answering Corporal Vertefeuille's question was shared by Kari Mann of the Prosecutor's Office and the brilliant word-smith, Corporal Schaefer. Their prize is our admiration for their trivial knowledge, whatever that's worth. - JB]
The evidence techs are going to love this one....
I arrested a guy on warrants down at the ferry terminal this morning. Pretty mundane stuff except for his belongings I had to check into the property room. One giant suitcase, one hula hoop and one vacuum cleaner. The things people tote around...... [Corporal Jeff Schaefer]
Splish Splash, I was taking a bath:
A man whose exploits frequently grace the pages of the BPD update was reported to have been bathing in Evergreen Park every day for the past five days. And not bathing with his clothes on either. The Bike Guys set up to catch a glimpse of our streaker and will likely be scarred for the rest of their careers. They spotted him by the boat launch and approached him only to be greeted with him in a towel asking, "How may I help you?"
Really dude?
After gathering statements from spectators, they placed the man under arrest for indecent exposure. In his statement, our nudist said they wouldn't allow him to shower at the Mission so he asked where he was supposed to bathe. Um, how about NOT in a public park? [Corporal Jeff Schaefer.]
Another Trip Permit?
A vehicle was spotted traveling southbound on Warren Ave. It was a bright and beautiful day in the City of Bremerton, and the sunlight clearly illuminated the doctored trip permit in the back window of a 1995 aqua-green Subaru coupe. The writing was in blue pen (wrong), the date was not marked off in a 3-day block (wrong), and the entire back side of the trip permit was left blank (wrong). The trip permit was also covered with packing tape which made it into a make-shift dry erase board (wrong). The individual was stopped and the trip permit was seized as evidence. Oh, and the driver did not have insurance. He was issued an infraction and charges will be filed for the doctored trip permit. [Corporal Jeff Schaefer]
Man Down!
The Bike Guys and Sergeant Cronk spotted a guy wanted for an assault from last week. When he realized he was about to be hemmed up, he took off running with a Cannondale in pursuit. The suspect bolted into the old JC Penney building and out onto 2nd Street, back southbound and then dashed into one of the parking garages in the 500 block of Burwell. Approximately 382 cops showed up (give or take) to look for him, but it was the trusty shipyard workers across the street that yelled out "THERE HE IS!" The sprinter ran low on gas, but had just enough left in the tank to resist arrest when caught. Officers had to use reasonable and necessary force to take him into custody. While on the ground, the man yelled "MAN DOWN!" referring to himself and said he just smoked weed. I thought that stuff was supposed to make you docile. Anyway, he went to jail on several charges. Thank you to the hardworking men and women of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. [Corporal Jeff Schaefer]
I thought the school mascot was a squire, not a wildcat
A month or two ago a middle school student ran from the school office and into the classroom to slapped the teacher. That same student set off a fire alarm at the school a couple of weeks ago. Well, she was back at it today. She went nuclear on the assistant principal who stepped in to stop her from assaulting a fellow student. He tried to restrain her but she popped him in the face a few times. She ended up in the office but wasn't finished. She trashed the entire area and took a golf club to a window. The young lady continued her derision when the cops showed up and dropped a couple dozen F-bombs and kicked over a potted plant. She had to be assisted to the patrol car and ended up going to juvenile detention for a PLETHORA of charges.
Rough Night
Sergeant Heffernan responded to McCloud's for a fight involving a patron and security. When he arrived, security officers had the suspect wrapped up on the ground. The man was detained and statements were gathered. According to the security guys, the suspect was cut off in the bar and told to leave. They went the extra mile and even bought him something to eat and were going to pay for his taxi ride home. How did he repay their generosity? By peeing on their fence and punching one of the security guys in the face and calling them some vulgar names. I wasn't there but, I'm going to go out on a limb here and fathom this is why the cops arriving to find Drunky Drunkerton on the pavement. The guy blew a .220 into the PBT and threw up on himself on the way to jail.
That Crossfit stuff really works
A BPD update repeat all-star was pounding on the back door of a sleeping citizen's house in the wee hours of the morning. When he wouldn't go away, the homeowner called 9-1-1. Enter Officer Ortona and Corporal Byers. They located suspect in the citizen's yard and told him to stop. The man decided he didn't want to stop and walked away. When officers tried to physically detain him to investigate the incident, he took off. Avid Crossfitter Officer Ortona booked after him, but Corporal Byers who we know is all about finesse, hopped into his patrol car and raced ahead to cut the suspect off (I cannot confirm nor deny that Corporal Byers wiped out on the pavement before deciding to hop in the car). They were able to catch the prowler who went to jail.
|
Crossfit speedster Officer Samantha Ortona and Corporal Todd Byers...not so much. |
I
t's Not All Funny Stuff
I try to put a light hearted spin on the news of the week but to keep things real and in perspective, without going into the details, our officers spend much of their day dealing with things that are not so light hearted or amusing. This week we've:
- Arrested a man for raping his niece.
- Investigated another heroin death.
- Arrested a man for biting his wife and baby. The baby also suffered broken bones.
- Assisted in investigating an officer-involved shooting on Bainbridge Island.
Stay safe out there, Folks!
Jim Burchett
Jim Burchett, Interim Chief
Bremerton Police Department
1025 Burwell Street
Bremerton, WA 98337
360-473-5224
Fax: 360-473-5890
Assistant: Barbara Forbes
|