The following items were taken from Bainbridge police reports by reporter Ethan Fowler. For more blotter, visit bainbridgeislander.com and click on Bainbridge blog link on the right side of the screen.
March 24
Malicious mischief: A resident living on the 200 block of Madison Avenue reported finding six street signs damaged near Finch Road and Wyatt Way. When a police officer arrived, he found a stop sign that had its wooden post broken off at the base lying in a ditch. The officer propped the sign back up and notified the city’s Public Works department to respond immediately and replace the sign. The officer also found a “stop ahead” warning and a speed limit signs pulled out. He also found two sharp curve warning signs shoved sideways and a speed limit sign pulled out on Sportsman Club Road. No suspects were found in the area.
Driving with license suspended: A 21-year-old Centralia man, who was driving with three passengers, was stopped by police after they received a complaint about a suspicious vehicle driving down a long driveway in the Manzanita Road area. The vehicle was spotted at a grocery store on High School Road later by an officer. The driver had a driving while license suspended in the third degree violation and didn’t have proof of insurance. The driver and his similarly aged passengers – who were also from Centralia – said they were going down driveways “looking for the water.” The officer advised the group to stop trespassing down driveways. One of the passengers had a license issued from Kuwait and was allowed to drive the vehicle as all parties were released from the scene.
March 23
Warrant – misdemeanor: A 47-year-old woman was transported to the Kitsap County Jail for a $10,000 driving while intoxicated warrant. The woman, who was well-known to police, was spotted by an officer as she rode as a passenger in a car on the High School Road roundabout with her boyfriend. The boyfriend caught the eye of the officer because he was seen talking on a cellphone as he was driving, a violation of a state law.
March 22
Identity theft: A 67-year-old woman reported that someone had charged more than $700 on her debit card to a body building website that day. She had $500 in her account, so her account was now overdrawn by $200. Because the transactions were listed as pending, the woman was able to report the theft and cancel her card.
Criminal trespass: A woman called police after three young boys were seen fleeing on bicycles from a barn located on the 700 block of Tiffany Meadows. When police arrived, the barn’s front doors were open and an officer found a strong odor of marijuana in each room of the barn. Two park benches that are stored in the barn during the winter were surrounded by trash from candy wrappers, Girl Scout cookies, water bottles, bags of potato chips and energy drink cans. The boys were startled at about 2 p.m. by a woman neighbor, who was walking her large dog. The dog began barking and ran toward the barn. This caused the boys to dash out of the barn and jump on their BMX-style bicycles and head toward the ferry. The boys were described to be between 12 to 15 years old. The barn sustained no damage and nothing inside appeared to be taken. The husband of the woman who had called police later in the day purchased some locks for the barn and “No Trespassing” signs.
Driving under the influence: An 18-year-old man was arrested for driving under the influence-liquor after he was spotted slumped over his car’s steering wheel in front of a house on the 4000 block of Tolo Road. After regaining consciousness, the driver then drove to his residence, which was a few houses up the road. When police arrived at the driver’s home, the man’s mother answered the door. After talking to her son in another room, the teen came to the door and told officers that he had insomnia, which caused him to find it easier to sleep in a car. He also thought he fell asleep in his driveway, but when he awoke and found that he hadn’t he drove his car to his house. As the teen talked to police, an officer smelled a strong odor of alcoholic beverages on his breath. The driver denied consuming alcohol and refused multiple times to take Portable Breath Tests to determine whether he had alcohol in his system or not. Because of the man’s refusal and other objective symptoms of alcohol consumption – dry mouth, bloodshot eyes and the strong alcohol odor coming off of his breath – the teen was placed under arrest for DWI. The mother later started interfering in the investigation and told her son not to say anything as she was calling his attorney.
March 21
Identity theft: A 39-year-old woman reported to police that the Internal Revenue Service informed her that she may have been a victim of identity theft. An unknown person submitted a tax return using her Social Security number.
