PORT ORCHARD — The following summaries are derived from reports filed over the last two weeks by the Port Orchard Police Department. The summaries are not intended to be a complete recounting of incidents under police investigation.
May 7
An officer responded to the 500 block of South Street on a report of possible narcotics activity. The caller reported one of the suspicious parties involved as being a white male wearing a white shirt and a white baseball hat. Another officer on the scene contacted a male matching the description in the vicinity of West Avenue. One of the officers patted down the man for weapons and had him remove his backpack, sitting it on the hood of the patrol car. The male was found to be moving his body erratically. When asked what was wrong, the man said he was coming down from a high on the meth he had taken the day before. The man said he was fine, but just needed to come down from his high so he could sleep.
The officer noted that inside the backpack was an unsheathed hatchet tucked halfway into the front backpack pocket. He removed it and asked the man why he had it. The man said it was for protection, to which the officer replied that it was considered a dangerous weapon and was unreasonable for him to be carrying it unsheathed.
The officer advised the man that he would be confiscating the hatchet, but it could be retrieved from the evidence room, so long as the man kept it at home. The man told the officer he was homeless and didn’t particularly like the police, so he wasn’t likely to be coming by to retrieve it.
An officer on patrol driving west on Lund, west of Carl Pickel Road, observed a vehicle on Lund traveling eastbound. It had just traveled over the Lund bypass bridge heading in his direction. The vehicle appeared to be speeding.
The officer activated the radar, locking the speed at 47 in a 35 mph area, but the driver didn’t stop. Instead, it traveled several hundred feet past Carl Pickel. The officer noted that there was plenty of shoulder space to pull over, but the vehicle continued eastbound. After turning onto Bethel, the driver finally rolled to a stop at a bank parking lot, near the entrance.
After calling for backup support, the officer contacted the driver and observed a male passenger in the front seat.
The officer reported smelling the odor of intoxicants. When the driver was asked if she had been drinking, she replied, “I can neither confirm or deny that.” When asked if she was on any medications or was diabetic, she again replied, “I can neither confirm or deny that.”
A Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputy who was on the scene in a support role reported he could see an open container of alcohol next to the driver in a cup holder. The officer told the driver that she was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and asked if she would allow for a preliminary check of her eyes. She refused. Asked if she would be willing to perform some sobriety tests, she refused. Asked if she would provide a voluntary breath sample into a breath test machine, she again refused.
The driver was placed under arrest for DUI and ordered to step out of the car, was handcuffed and put into the patrol cruiser. After being read her Miranda rights again, she was transported to Kitsap County Jail. The tipsy driver was booked and bail set at $10,000. She also was cited for speeding and having an open container of alcohol.
