Could have been bad

BPD units were dispatched to Kiwanis Field for a male who had a cut on his arm. Officer Mayfield arrived to check on him, and found that he had several lacerations to his arm that were steadily bleeding. He asked what he cut himself with and the young man removed a folding knife from his pocket, flipped it open, nearly creating a very bad situation.

Fortunately, Officer Mayfield showed great restraint. The man said he was arguing with his girlfriend, who was with him, and that he was only trying to scare her by cutting himself. After talking to her, and seeing the situation for what it was, it was clear that he would not be volunteering to be taken to the ER.

The decision was made for him. He was taken into protective custody and transported to the ER, where he was treated, and saw a MHP. A few hours after he was released from the ER, he told officers he got 54 stitches — and he wanted to get the knife back because it was his brother’s knife, and sentimental to him.

Run from the fast cop, get caught by the slow cop

Officer Berntsen went to arrest a long-time career criminal in East Bremerton for warrants. The suspect started running around his car to get away, and then bolted into his house, only to climb out a back window into another officer’s waiting arms. As the supervisor put it, a much slower officer. They were wishing we had body cameras for this one; it would have been fun to watch.

Hat trick

Due to complaints in the 1500 block of Ninth Street and the 800 block of High Street, officers on the night watch were foot patrolling when they came across a gentleman who had a warrant for his arrest and who just happened to be walking in the neighborhood.

This guy remembered that he just came from a house where there were two people with bigger and better warrants for their arrest. So applying their knowledge of case law, the officers went to the house and were able to arrest both of the wanted subjects.

Thank you State v. Hatchie and Payton v. New York. Had this been hockey, they would have scored a hat trick.

Show it to mom — she will be so proud

Bike officers were on their way to Evergreen Park when they encountered people smoking marijuana in public. One person was issued an NOI while the other filmed the entire contact, challenging the officers to see if they would become upset and say something they would regret on video.

Sgt. Renfro and Officer Forbragd handled the contact in a professional manner. As they departed the area on their bicycles, they observed the NOI subject hold it up with a thumbs up for the camera as if he was proud of the ticket.

Stolen Honda?

Officers Corn and Faidley were following a dark green Honda on Pacific Avenue and it turned eastbound onto First Street. A routine check of the license plate showed the license plates were stolen. A high-risk traffic stop was initiated.

Officer Ditmer responded on foot from the area of Starbucks to assist. The driver was called out of the car and detained without incident. A check of the license plates to the VIN showed they belonged on the stopped car.

“Now for the rest of the story,” to quote Paul Harvey.

The car was stolen and recovered in Tacoma. When it was recovered, the license plates were not on the car, so they were still listed as stolen. The owner of the car got the car back and his father found the license plates hidden under the spare tire, so he put them back on the car.

The driver was cooperative and understood why he was stopped and what had occurred. The license plates were removed from WSIC/NCIC as stolen.

This story is another example of the police using due diligence and needing time to sort an issue out to resolve it well. As you read this, ask yourself: “What if the driver or passenger who knew they had done nothing wrong reacted poorly or violently toward the officers?” This could have gone very bad, very fast. Fortunately, the driver cooperated, a quick investigation resolved the issue, and all went on their way with a story to tell.

Don’t steal on a ferry — there is nowhere to go

A subject on his way to the Seattle-to-Bremerton ferry decided he needed more money while he was in Bremerton. So, he started prowling the cars on the car deck. He was in possession of a stolen wallet when he was confronted by the Second Mate.

Officer Rivera contacted the subject and arrested him. The subject was booked into the Kitsap County jail. A report was forwarded to District Court as the incident happened on the ferry.

Petting while driving?

A male was driving northbound on Highway 304 and was “petting his dog.” He advised he did not see the curve in the road and drove directly into the Kitsap Transit Building. The building was not damaged. The car did not fare as well.

Getting ready for school

Officers are wrapping up the summer well and getting ready for fall. Specifically, they are digging out their ticket books to be ready for the beginning of the school year by helping to slow cars down around the school zones all over the city.

Bremerton Police donated 130 backpacks to the New Life Community Development Center who runs the Opal Robertson Youth Center on Martin Luther King Drive. Employees also donated pads, composition books, crayons, color pencils, water colors, rulers, pre-packaged kits and even glue sticks.

— Bremerton Police Chief Steven Strachan