Taken from Port Orchard Police Department incident reports:
February 2
2:09 p.m.
• A hardcase at the hardware store. Officers were dispatched to McLendon’s Hardware store on Mile Hill Drive for a reported violation of a protection order. On arriving, the officers were greeted out front by the store’s owner, who pointed out a man sitting in a nearby car as the suspect. The store owner said the suspect had been married to one of his female employees, who worked at the McLendon’s Hardware in Belfair, and she had a restraining order against him. The woman was then questioned, and she said she had been at the Belfair store earlier that morning to run a few errands and her ex-husband had showed up at the same time. She assumed he was either following her or recognized her car in the parking lot and stopped by. When she later went to the Port Orchard store, he showed up there, too. The store’s owner confronted the suspect, told him not to bother the employee anymore and called the police. Officers arrested the suspect and charged him with stalking his ex-wife. His bail was set at $50,000. He was also barred from entering any McLendon’s Hardware store.
7:24 p.m.
• Prowler caught in the act. Cencom advised officers of a reported burglary in progress in a house for sale on Sidney Avenue. When they arrived, the officers were confronted by a neighbor who reported seeing a thin, white male with a baseball cap and dark jacket on the home’s back porch. When the witness yelled at the suspect, he turned and ran down Melcher Street. Officers checked the residence and found nothing missing. The witness said the home’s owners hadn’t lived there for six months and he had no way of getting in touch with them.
February 3
12:53 p.m.
• Things that go bump in the courthouse. Cencom reported a woman claimed to have been assaulted at the Kitsap County Courthouse. When they arrived, officers were told by a 25-year-old woman that she had been bumped by a lawyer while she and her significant other were outside the courthouse smoking. She said she had asked the lawyer for his business card but he said he didn’t have one and chest-bumped her so hard she toppled into her male companion, who had back problems so severe he was expecting to have surgery in a few days. The woman gave officers the lawyer’s name and they responded to his office. On questioning, the lawyer denied he had made contact at all with the woman. In fact, he said, he was handling the eviction from her Silverdale apartment and he assumed the complaint was her way of retaliating. The case was closed.
February 5
12:07 p.m.
• Shoplifter says “Charge it.” Officers were informed the Sedgwick Avenue Fred Meyer store’s loss-prevention specialist had a shoplifter in custody. The officers were informed store security employees observed the suspect put two car batteries, a shop vac and two gallons of antifreeze — a total of $373.27 worth of merchandise — in his shopping cart and walked out of the store past several pay points. The suspect said he hadn’t intended to steal the goods; he said his father was waiting for him in the parking lot and he just wanted to confirm he’d bought the correct size battery. The suspect said his father was waiting in a black Honda Accord, but no such vehicle was seen in the parking lot. The suspect was cited for criminal trespass and third-degree theft and released.
1:23 p.m.
• I must have forgotten to pay for it. While officers were investigating the above shoplifting incident at the Sedgwick Avenue Fred Meyer store, they were informed the store’s loss-prevention specialist had another shoplifter in custody. The officer was shown a 58-year-old Silverdale woman who authorities said had tried to exit the store without paying for the $518 worth of groceries in her shopping cart. She claimed it was just an oversight and offered to pay for the merchandise, but store employees say they have seen her at Fred Meyer before and suspected she was shoplifting but hadn’t been able to catch her in the act. She was cited at the scene for criminal trespass and third-degree theft and released pending a trial date.
4:48 p.m.
• These shoes were made for stealing. Officers were dispatched once again to the Sedgwick Avenue Fred Meyer store for a reported shoplifting. On arrival, the store’s loss-prevention specialist told them a 21-year-old male had asked a friend to borrow his knife in order to cut the security band off a pair of $65 sneakers. After he’d opened the box, the suspect put the new shoes on his feet, put his old shoes in the box and attempted to leave the store. He was detained when two store employees watched him make the switch. The suspect to the officers the friend who’d loaned him the knife was someone he’d picked up hitchhiking only a little while before coming to the store and that his friend had thrown the knife in the woods. He was arrested for retail theft with extenuating circumstances and transported to Kitsap County Jail.
9:51 p.m.
• OK, you can arrest me now. A 26-year-old male turned himself in to the Port Orchard Police Department. A check revealed he had a no-bail warrant from Snohomish County for possession of a controlled substance. He was booked into Kitsap County Jail to await extradition.
February 7
1:17 a.m.
• Baby, it’s cold outside. Officers responded to a 911 call from someone in the Arbor Terrace Apartments regarding a domestic disturbance. They were concerned because the caller hung up in mid-call. On arrival, they noted a 23-year-old male exiting the apartment. On questioning, he told the officers he and his girlfriend had been arguing and she decided to leave. He said he didn’t mind her leaving, but thought it was a bad idea for her to leave at 1 in the morning, particularly given that the couple had a 4-year-old daughter and it was 30 degrees outside. There were no signs of violence and after speaking with the girlfriend, officers decided not to issue any citations.
