Last week featured a profligacy of "you really can't make this stuff up" incidents. The proximity to Halloween may be coincidental but I don't know...The week started with Officer Bill Prouse locating a pickup truck that had apparently crashed into the woods on Belfair Valley Road. He checked it and found it unoccupied, cold, and with severe front end damage. Not that unusual, but as Bill waited for a tow truck, a full sized truck with a trailer pulled up. The driver explained he had purchased the crashed truck in Montana. He was bringing it home to his address on in Mason County, where he was planning to repair it. He got it within a few miles of home when the straps broke and the truck rolled into the woods. So, the pickup was actually "pre-crashed" and had now been involved in a second, less severe collision. The man made arrangements to get the cursed pickup pulled out of the woods.
Officers Steven Forbragd and Samantha Ortona stopped a "routine" speeder on Warren Avenue. It was one of our frequent flyers who said they were "running late to get their passenger to school." Officer Forbragd looked at the passenger who was doing her very best to hide her face, and he engaged her in conversation while the driver tried in vain to run interference. Seeing past this chicanery, Officer Forbragd caught a glimpse of one of our "Unlucky Seven" A-listers, who by the way is way too old for school. She was arrested on her four, count 'em, four arrest warrants.
Also last week, Officer Chris Faidley stopped a vehicle for expired tabs. As he approached the driver, he shined his flashlight in the back window and saw a temporary trip permit. There was something odd about it, especially as the beam of his flashlight reflected off of it. He had the driver hand him the permit to see that packing tape had been adhered to it over the date, thus making it a handy "dry erase" reusable trip permit - diabolical! Don't want to pay those pesky registration fees? Just erase and renew! The driver went to jail for the trip permit violation, along with the fact that his driver's license was revoked.
Later in the week, our Bike Officers attempted to arrest a man they had contacted frequently; he is a career criminal with an outstanding Department of Corrections arrest warrant. The man has 132 listed contacts with law enforcement. He predictably attempted to flee and got into a fierce struggle with Officer Brandon Greenhill. During that struggle the man pulled Officer Greenhill over a five foot retaining wall. Officer Derek Ejde arrived and the two were able to get the man into custody, who was found to be in possession of burglary tools, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia. Officer Greenhill was in considerable pain after the altercation and was seen at the hospital. The man's response as the officer was sent to the hospital was that getting hurt "was part of the officer's job". It seems that resisting arrest and defying law enforcement is becoming more common as it is celebrated and reinforced on social media. Fortunately, the officer's injuries were not severe in this case.
Our last example of "you can't make this up" occurred just a few days before Halloween when Sgt. Kelly Meade walked into McCloud's Bar and Grill for a routine bar check. A female patron, who had consumed a few adult beverages, walked up to him and told him he had a great costume, "very, very realistic!"
Finally, kudos to the officers and deputies from around Kitsap County who participated in this year's "Tip a Cop" event to benefit Special Olympics. This year, we raised a whopping $6,300.00 in the nine hour event, which is $1,000.00 more than last year. As coordinator Lt. Genie Elton of the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office pointed out, this $6,300 equates to a full year scholarship for ten local athletes.