In an unusual case, police pulled over a driver for failing to signal during a lane change on Commercial Ave. at around 2am one morning this week.
Just before 2AM on Sunday, a silver Subaru was pulled over by APD for failure to signal during a lane change on Commercial Ave. The 19-year old male driving the car provided a vehicle registration but was unable to find his license. The driver made slow, deliberate movements and he smelled of alcohol and later admitted to consuming alcohol. He asked to be let go since he was just driving to a friend’s house nearby. He was not let go, but was asked to perform roadside sobriety tests which he initially said he would do, then he decided not to take them. He was taken into custody for DUI and transported to the police department where he was processed, then given a copy of his driver under 21 years old consuming alcohol citation and released to a friend.
Here are some other cases Anacortes Police reported on this week.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Just after midnight on Saturday morning, an APD Corporal was dispatched to the hospital per the report of a man who had just been assaulted by his ex-girlfriend. The victim told police that the woman got upset when he tried to adjust their child’s car seat so she grabbed him by the shirt to pull him out of the car, then slammed the door on him before driving off. The suspect was not on scene, but will be cited for domestic violence assault.
An APD Sergeant was on patrol on 38th Street about two o’ clock on Saturday morning. The Sergeant observed a black Honda sedan with what appeared to be an expired registration and she made a traffic stop on the car. As she got closer to the back of the car, she observed a trip permit in the back window with an expiration date that appeared to be altered by hand with a marker. The 36-year old female driving the car was unable to provide any documentation for the vehicle or a driver’s license, and explained that she purchased the car a while ago. A routine background check revealed that the woman had a warrant out of the Anacortes Municipal Court for possession of drug paraphernalia, and one out of Skagit County District Court for trespassing. She was arrested and taken to APD where she was booked and released on her warrants and cited for a trip permit violation and given an infraction for no valid operator’s license.
A white Giant brand mountain bike worth approximately $350 was stolen from a house on the 1600 block of M Avenue. The owner told police that the bike was chained to another bike in front of his house and someone broke the lock, then took his bike. There are no suspects.
An APD Sergeant was monitoring the four-way intersection at 6th Street and Commercial Avenue due to several complaints of vehicles driving through the intersection without stopping. After a short time, a beige Jeep driving northbound on Commercial approached the intersection and turned west on 6th Street without stopping. The Sergeant pulled the Jeep over to speak with the 45-year old man driving the vehicle. The man had slightly slurred speech and watery, bloodshot eyes and he admitted that he had consumed alcohol earlier that evening. He was taken into custody for DUI after failing several of the voluntary roadside sobriety tests. A breath test taken at the police department revealed that the driver’s blood alcohol level was approximately twice the legal limit to safely operate a vehicle. He was cited and released to a sober family member after agreeing to appear for court in late January.
Sunday, January 14, 2018
A 16-year old juvenile male from La Conner was arrested and charged with theft and minor in possession of alcohol early Sunday evening. The arresting officer was dispatched to a local grocery store per the report of a stolen bottle of vodka. Based on a physical description of the suspect, the officer was able to locate the juvenile in the parking lot and after a short conversation, the male admitted to stealing the vodka and it was taken out of his backpack. The juvenile was arrested and told the officers that the car he drove to the store was parked nearby. An officer went to speak with a passenger in the car who claimed he did not know his friend intended to steal alcohol and did not know anything about two open bottles of alcohol in the back seat. With permission from the vehicle owner, officers searched the car and removed the bottle of alcohol as both vehicle occupants were under 21.
A 46-year old Bow, Washington man was arrested on a warrant for drug possession late Sunday night. An on-duty officer recognized the man while he was shopping at a local grocery store and took him into custody without incident as he exited the store. He was transported to jail and booked on his warrant.
Monday, January 15, 2018
Anacortes Police Officers arrested a 40-year old Anacortes man early Monday evening after his girlfriend dialed 911 on her cellphone, yelling and screaming for help while doing so. The first officer on scene heard loud screaming from the man and woman, and observed the man push the woman to the ground and strike her on the head with a clenched fist. Backup units arrived shortly thereafter and officers gained entrance through an unlocked door and called the man and woman to them. The man was taken into custody for assault and searched incident to arrest. During the search, a small strip of LSD was found in his wallet and taken as evidence. He was booked in the county jail on an investigative hold for the assault, drug possession, and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence for taking the woman’s phone away during the altercation.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
A local resident called police to report that he had just received a call from a phone that appeared to be out of New York state. The voice on the line was a recording and claimed to be the IRS. The call recipient then hung up the phone. Several Anacortes residents have called police to report similar incidents in January.
Just after 3PM on Wednesday, an APD Corporal on patrol on Q Avenue observed an older model SUV known to police and pulled in behind it to speak with two occupants in the back seat. While speaking with the two occupants, he observed uncapped needles and aluminum foil in the back seat of the SUV. These items are commonly associated with the ingestion of illegal narcotics. APD’s K-9 Unit arrived for an exterior sniff of the vehicle and after T-Bone alerted on the car for the presence of illegal narcotics, it was impounded and taken to the police department to be searched. Numerous needles, pieces of burnt foil, spoons, and other paraphernalia were located in the car and both vehicle occupants and the owner, who stopped to speak with the Corporal during the investigation, will be cited for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Just before noon on Thursday, APD Officers were dispatched to 21st and Commercial for a two-car, non-injury accident. A Ford pickup was stopped on Commercial at the red light and was rear ended by a Jeep Cherokee driven by a local 25-year old woman who was looking at business addresses and did not realize the vehicle in front of her was stopped. She was cited for following too closely.
Note: Anacortes Police Department policy is to not include names or addresses of businesses or individuals that call 911 for police assistance, though this information is a matter of public record.