Large plastic recycling bins were reported stolen early Friday (Jan. 22) morning from in front of residences on Cypress Drive, Jasper Way, and Sea Otter Lane. All of the bins had been placed curbside and appeared to have been stolen prior to being emptied by the recycling company.
Here are some of the other cases the Anacortes Police Department worked on this past week.
Friday, January 15
Residents of a home on Macbeth Drive who were away overnight, returned home to find that someone had entered their house and defecated in a toilet in one of their bathrooms. All of the doors and windows on the house had reportedly been locked. The residents said that this was the second time that this had occurred while they were away from home. They were encouraged to change their locks.
Saturday, January 16
A 64-year-old man was arrested at his home in the 3000 block of Rye Court after he allegedly argued with his wife and pushed her back over an ottoman causing her to strike her head on a table. The woman then locked herself in a bedroom and called 911. She had soreness to one eye and complained of a bump on her head. The two had reportedly been drinking at a downtown club and the man had gotten upset because his wife elected to take a cab home instead of riding with him. The man admitted to pushing his wife over the ottoman but said that he had only reacted since she pushed him first. He was determined to be the primary aggressor and was booked into jail for domestic violence assault.
A 30-year-old man was arrested for domestic violence assault after he allegedly pushed his wife against a wall at an apartment in the 1100 block of 24th Street causing her to strike her head. The wife had intervened to allegedly try to stop her husband from repeatedly pushing her female friend in the chest after the friend told him to stop using profane language in her apartment. The husband denied having been in an altercation with his wife and said that the other woman had “attacked” him when he entered the apartment to tell his wife to come home. The husband was booked into jail.
Customers arriving at a pub in the 300 block of Commercial Avenue just prior to opening time found a gaping hole in the glass to the front door and called an employee who responded. It was then discovered that someone had entered the pub through the hole in the glass and stole over $400 from the cash register. No alcohol appeared to be missing. The matter is under further investigation.
Approximately 15 gallons of gasoline were reported to have been siphoned out of a vehicle parked in front of a home in the 1100 block of 4th Street during the night. The vehicle’s gas cap was also missing.
Sunday, January 17
A car driven by a 25-year-old Anacortes man ignored road closed signage and barricades, several traffic control vehicles, and an officer who waved at him to stop that were all involved in moving large pieces of refinery equipment on both lanes of eastbound SR 20. Witnesses said that the car came dangerously close to workers who were walking alongside the equipment. The vehicle sped around backed up traffic after almost colliding with another vehicle before an officer was able to stop the car on the highway. The driver smelled of alcohol and claimed that he had not been aware of any traffic backup or equipment blocking most of the road. The man also had watery eyes, slurred speech, was unsteady on his feet, and had his pants unzipped although he denied having been drinking. The man failed field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest. The man offered a police officer “$500 to let him go.” The man was taken to the police station to be processed for drunk driving where he provided breath samples that were approximately two and a half times the legal limit. The man was cited for DUI and reckless driving and released to a sober relative.
Officers contacted a girl sitting at the corner of 29th Street and Commercial Avenue after witnesses reported the girl appeared to be having difficulty breathing and she said that her stomach hurt. The girl was identified as a 14-year-old Bellingham resident who smelled strongly of alcohol. Paramedics responded to treat the girl. The girl told an officer that she had been drinking in a car with friends who had then dropped her off in alley as she had to go to the bathroom. The friends then drove off and left her. The girl said that she did not know where she was and just started walking. The girl was taken to the hospital for treatment where she admitted to drinking “3 or 4” beers. The girl’s mother was contacted but said she could not pick up her daughter and did not seem overly concerned. An officer drove the girl to Bellingham and released her to her mother after being informed she would be referred to juvenile court on underage drinking charges.
A 44-year-old Anacortes man was issued a citation for theft after he admitted to shoveling gravel from a pile near Heart Lake into his pickup and taking it home to use. A witness had seen the man and provided a description of the vehicle. The man said that he did not know who owned the gravel and thought that he could just take some. The man was informed that the gravel belonged to the City of Anacortes.
Officers responded to a domestic disturbance in the 2400 block of Commercial Avenue in which a witness reported a man punching a woman’s car. The man walked away prior to police arrival but the woman involved told police that her 19-year-old ex-boyfriend had dented her car doors by kicking them and broke the windshield by punching it. There were muddy footprints on the dented areas. The woman said that her ex was upset because she had recently broken up with him. Police attempts to locate the man that night were unsuccessful and he hung up when police answered the woman’s phone after he called her. The man was issued a court summons for domestic violence malicious mischief.
An Anacortes man who was attending a concert at a building in the 1000 block of 12th Street reported that someone had flattened 2 of the tires to his SUV and smashed out the windshield. The victim believed that the suspect was possibly an ex-girlfriend who was upset because she saw him with another woman at the concert. The ex-girlfriend had been in the company of an unknown man at the concert. Approximately an hour later, residents of the concert venue reported that they had found two unauthorized people in a small room at the back of the building. The people were identified as a 23-year-old Bothel woman and a 22-year-old Kenmore man who both appeared intoxicated. The woman was also identified as the ex-girlfriend of the victim. The man admitted that he had flattened the tires and smashed the windshield to the victim’s vehicle because the woman had asked him to do it. The woman said that she had been angry at her ex but had not touched his car. The matter is under further investigation and possible malicious mischief charges are pending.
Monday, January 18
A 17-year-old boy was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia after officers responded to a home in the 600 block of I Avenue regarding the boy arguing with his mother. The mother said that the boy was being disrespectful and not obeying her after she had grounded him for recently being suspended from school. An officer contacted the boy in his bedroom where he said he was not going to obey his mother. The officer smelled marijuana in the room and asked the boy about the odor. After initially lying, the boy turned over a marijuana smoking pipe and a small amount of marijuana that was inside of a dresser drawer. The mother was provided with information about how to deal with her son’s behavior.
Someone pried open a garage door at a home in the 4500 block of Blakely Drive and stole approximately $300 in frozen food from a freezer inside the garage. The door frame sustained approximately $50 in damage. It did not appear that entry had been made into the main part of the house.
Tuesday, January 19
An Anacortes woman reported that she had inadvertently left her purse at a business in the 1000 block of Commercial Avenue. She returned a short time later and the purse was gone. Employees of the business said that they had not seen the purse nor had anyone turned it in. The purse contained the woman’s credit cards and approximately $100 in cash.
Officers were dispatched to an apartment in the 900 block of 22nd Street regarding the report that a man and a woman were struggling over a child. It was learned that the couple were married and had two small children, but that the woman had told her husband that she planned on divorcing him. The husband tried leaving the apartment with one of the children at which time his wife attempted to stop him. The husband then began to allegedly flail his arms at his wife which caused him to lose his grip on the child and strike his wife in the chin and lip. The husband then walked away from the apartment, but he was located by police within the complex. The husband denied any wrongdoing but he was placed under arrest for domestic violence assault. He was booked into jail.
A 30-year-old Anacortes man was arrested out of a vehicle in the 1600 block of Commercial Avenue after an officer recognized him and confirmed that he had two warrants for his arrest. The warrants were for previous theft and harassment charges. The jail declined to accept the man due to overcrowding and he was given new court dates and released.
Wednesday, January 20
A 14-year-old student was referred to juvenile court on theft charges after a high school official found a set of keys in the student’s backpack that belonged to an instructor at the school. School officials searched the boy’s backpack after he had been caught smoking at the school. The keys had been stolen from a classroom last December. The student claimed that another student had stolen the keys and that he did not know they were in the backpack. The officer was unconvinced.
A resident of the 4400 block of Blakely Drive reported that she had discovered the mail from her mailbox had been removed, ripped up, and thrown on the ground near her home. The victim did not know if any mail was actually missing, but she was encouraged to check with her credit card companies and the credit bureaus.
Officers responded to an alley in the 2000 block of I Avenue regarding the report of a man yelling, “Help, call 911!” Officers contacted an intoxicated 21-year-old Mount Vernon man in the alley and learned that he had been the person yelling. It was learned that the man had been drinking at a nearby house and had been asked to leave when he became belligerent with the residents. There was no evidence of any crime, but the man was booked into jail when it was discovered he had two warrants for his arrest for previous assault and underage drinking charges that occurred in Mount Vernon.
Thursday, January 21
Shortly after midnight, an officer contacted a 19-year-old Oak Harbor woman and a 22-year-old man from California inside of a car at the top of Mount Erie as they were in the park after the posted hours. The couple’s car was parked right next to a sign that said that park was closed after 10:00 PM. The officer saw a case of beer inside of the car and both people showed signs of drinking. The woman provided a breath test that confirmed she had been drinking and she was placed under arrest for underage consumption. She told the officer that the man had provided the alcohol that they were drinking in the car. (An opened bottle of vodka was also found in the car) The man told an officer that he had supplied the alcohol to “celebrate” as he had planned on proposing to the woman. The man was issued a citation for furnishing alcohol to an underage person and the woman was cited for MIP. They were both then released.
An officer responded to the high school after school staff found a 16-year-old student in possession of marijuana. The boy admitted to an officer that a small baggy of marijuana and some foil shaped into a smoking pipe were his property. The boy was referred to juvenile court for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
A man living in the 800 block of 30th Street reported that his ex-girlfriend walked into his apartment uninvited and started chasing him around. The man said that there was a court order that prohibited him from having contact with her, so he ran outside to get away from her. The man said that he had not seen the woman in months and that he had no idea how she got to his apartment. The woman was found by police a short time later knocking on the door of another apartment. The 24-year-old Ferndale woman was highly intoxicated and it was discovered that she had an outstanding warrant for her arrest out of Whatcom County. She was transported to the county line and released into the custody of a Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputy.
Friday, January 22
A 21-year-old Sedro-Woolley man was arrested for drunk driving after he was stopped for speeding in the 1400 block of Commercial Avenue. Approximately 15 minutes earlier, the officer had contacted the man standing outside of his parked car in the downtown area and warned him not to drive as the man displayed the effects of being under the influence. After the second contact, the man failed field sobriety tests and explained that he thought he was “okay to drive” because he was “only going down Commercial Avenue.” A small amount of marijuana and a marijuana smoking pipe were also found inside of the man’s vehicle. The man was processed for drunk driving and provided breath samples that were significantly over the legal limit. He was cited for DUI and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. A 23-year-old Anacortes woman who was a passenger in the vehicle was cited for possession of marijuana after an officer saw her remove a baggy of marijuana from the center console and conceal it in her purse.
A 3 foot tall, 350 pound concrete statue of a cougar valued at $500 was stolen from the front yard of a home in the 4500 block of Kingsway. There was no sign of drag marks or any other evidence that would indicate a struggle moving it.