Gatorade dousing: not just for victories

You have probably seen those dramatic movie scenes where the vengeful spouse throws the property out of the house and into the driveway, or onto the car, with a dramatic flourish. Yes, it happens in real life, too.

Officer Dana Clevenger rushed to an address last week in West Bremerton in an ultimately futile effort to repair the shattered relationship of two residents. He arrived and was greeted by a tearful young woman, who described how her boyfriend left her without food or money to play “beer pong” with his buddies. Not cool, and nobody would blame her for feeling angry.

The boyfriend thought he was clever as he chose a location with his buddies that he believed was unknown to his (now former) girlfriend. She was much smarter than he estimated.

She quickly located the boyfriend’s car and proceeded to deposit all of his personal belongings across the car. She then doused the car and his clothes with Gatorade. Officer Clevenger made sure she was safe and they would stay apart.

Driving drunk to a cemetery

Our overnight shift is called “graveyard” and now you can understand why: Last week “graveyard” officers were called to a one-car collision on Kitsap Way in front of Woodlawn Cemetery around 10 p.m.

A suspected drunk driver was speeding eastbound down the hill and lost control, sideswiping two utility poles and finally coming to rest in the parking lot of one of the cemetery buildings at the bottom of the hill. 911 callers reported the SUV to be traveling at over 60 mph in this 35 mph zone.

The damage to the utility poles and associated power lines caused a fire in a building across the street, which required a response from Bremerton Fire Department and Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue. Officer Michelle Griesheimer was first to arrive and saw the driver flee on foot from the crash and into the cemetery.

Due to the very hilly terrain combined with some level of intoxication, the driver had difficulty staying upright, and Officer Griesheimer quickly caught up to her. She was turned over to the Washington State Patrol for processing for drunk driving.

Just because it’s not new doesn’t mean it’s not bad

Two weeks ago, Kitsap County Prosecutors charged two people involved in a death from a heroin overdose.

Last week, we had two separate incidents involving “spice,” the stuff that some stores sell as “potpourri” but everyone knows it is misused to smoke and get high. One man was getting ready to jump out of a window and was talked down, and another was found unconscious and having seizures after smoking spice. Both were taken to the hospital.

A much sadder event involving drugs occurred this past week when a couple apparently bought four cans of keyboard dusting spray to inhale and get high. The wife awoke from the “huffing” session to find her husband unresponsive and blue. He could not be revived, and now she is a widow.

Inhaling these aerosol cans and sniffing solvents has been around a long time, but these events point out how truly dangerous it can be.

One for the books

Officer Chris Faidley had to use all of his negotiation and analytical skills last week when he responded to a residence for a family dispute.

In what sounds like the beginning of a mystery novel, he found several members of a family discussing their deceased relative’s will. The will gave them all ownership of the residence, but allowed a different relative to live in the house for as long as he chooses.

Yes, that is a recipe for lots of contention and disagreement. Faidley did a great job trying to untangle that mess.

Lost and found: weapons of (tiny) destruction

Officers John Bogen and Johnny Rivera conducted a search warrant last week and recovered a large amount of stolen property from a house.

One of the recovered items was a small replica cannon. We will not be trying to keep this weapon for use by our tactical team. But it does look pretty cool.

Training in the Cone of Shame

Corporal Duke Roessel’s K-9 partner Dusty had to have a minor medical procedure for a problem with his ear last week, resulting in 10 days in “the Cone of Shame.” Duke reports that Dusty is very unhappy. The cone didn’t stop Dusty from doing his training, though.

Thanks BCAP volunteers for the vacation check

Finally, our BCAPS volunteers continue to do outstanding work, conducting regular patrols of our parks and businesses as well as checking vacant homes. They also conduct vacation checks for residents who ask. We received this great email last week from a resident who had just returned from vacation:

“Sorry it took us so long to thank you and the volunteer patrol people who may have saved me from a burglary. The volunteer patrol found my garage door was shut but not locked, notified my neighbors with a key, who locked the door. Since I was gone for five weeks, who knows what opportunistic thieves might have tried the doors and taken stuff? So thanks to you, the volunteers and neighbors! I’ll continue to praise the BPD’s vacation home check feature.

— Bremerton Police Chief Steven Strachan