A section of downtown Winslow was shutdown April 28 while law enforcement investigated a suspicious package left outside the post office. The box, which was marked “Pray for Boston,” was determined to be empty.
Also this week, a real bomb blew up a mailbox on Ward Avenue and a Craigslist poster offered a gun “good for a gangster.”
The blotter is below:
April 28
Suspicious package: Police closed down the Winslow post office parking lot at 12:30 p.m. after a resident reported a suspicious package outside the building. The package in question was a cardboard box marked with the words “Pray for Boston.” Fire crews and police set up a perimeter around the package and the Washington State Patrol responded with bomb sniffing dogs and a robot. The robot was used to pull apart the box, which was found to be empty aside from a plastic bag. Shortly afterward the addressee of the package, a Bainbridge woman, called police and explained the situation. The woman said the box had been full of t-shirts which were shipped to her from Boston to be sold in a fundraiser. The box was too large to fit in her car so she left it in a dumpster outside the post office.
April 26
Vehicle prowl: The manager of a Ferncliff Avenue repair shop reported the possible theft of gas from five vehicles on the property. The manager said employees noticed the gas caps removed from the vehicles when they arrived at work that morning. It was unclear whether gas had successfully been siphoned from the tanks.
April 24
Bicycle crash: A 54-year-old Bainbridge woman was bicycling west on High School Road at 4 p.m. when she was suddenly ejected over the handlebars. No other vehicles were involved. The woman was wearing a helmet but suffered facial fractures and a head injury. She told a witness she was having trouble with the brakes on her bicycle.
Theft: Two flags were reported missing from the Rolling Bay post office. The American and POW flags were valued at $40.
April 23
Collision: A good deed turned sour in the Aquatics Center parking lot when two people tried to push a disabled Volkswagen sedan closer to another vehicle so it could be jump started. The Volkswagen was on an incline and rolled away from the people pushing it. The unmanned vehicle jumped a curb and crashed into a second car, which collided with a third. The vehicles were unoccupied and no injuries were reported.
Found: An iPhone 4 was found at a Winslow Way shop and turned in to police.
April 22
Dog bite: Police were contacted by a 56-year-old woman who said she was bitten on the leg by an dog at Pritchard Park on April 21. The woman said she was walking at the park when she encountered two off-leash dogs. A small white dog bit her on the calf, breaking the skin and drawing blood. The dog’s owner, a 68-year-old Bainbridge man, gave her his contact information. Police forwarded a report to animal control.
April 20
Malicious mischief: A Ward Avenue woman reported her mailbox destroyed by an explosive device. The woman said she had returned home shortly after 11 p.m. the previous evening and collected her mail. A few minutes after entering her house she heard an explosion. The next morning she found the door to the mailbox taped shut and the back end blown off. The woman said she was glad to have collected her mail before the blast occurred because she’d received some important documents.
Suspicious incident: A Kirkland resident sent police a link to a suspicious Craigslist ad posted on Bainbridge. The ad was titled “need a gun?” and was posted in the personals section. The poorly-spelled listing read: “Got a 38 special for sale. 1000 bucks. good preotection. comes with extra bullets. no paper work, untraceable. Good for a gangster ;-p.”
