A man living in an apartment in the 800 block of 26th Street called police on Wednesday and said he was trapped after another man nailed a large piece of plywood across the front door to his apartment, blocking his only exit other than a second story window that was approximately 30 feet off the ground. Police arrived and assisted in detaching the plywood that had been secured to the doorframe. The trapped man informed officers that he was having problems with a 45-year-old Anacortes man who had been collecting rent money for the new building owner. He added that he had been paying his rent, but that since he didn’t know if the other man was even giving the money to the building owner, he had stopped payment. The man said that he had been awakened by the sound of pounding and then found his door blocked by the plywood. The man said that the suspect told him that if he “couldn’t stop him from living in the apartment he could at least stop him from coming and going.” Police are seeking to speak with the suspect who resides near the victim. He faces possible charges of unlawful imprisonment.
Here are some of the other cases Anacortes Police worked on last week.
Friday, May 10
12:26 pm. A 33-year-old Mount Vernon man who was a witness to a shoplifting at a store in the 900 block of 11th Street had the misfortune of also having a warrant for his arrest from a previous DUI charge. The man was placed under arrest and since it was the fifth issuance of the same warrant, the jail agreed to accept the man for booking.
12:33 pm. A 36-year-old Anacortes man was booked into jail on domestic violence assault charges after he allegedly grabbed his mother by the arm and pried the phone out of her hands as she was attempting to call 911 from her home in the 2300 block of 23rd Street. The mother suffered pain to her arm. When officers asked the man to step off the porch and speak with them, the man said “no” and tried to walk away from the officers. The man was told that he was under arrest and when an officer reached for the man’s arm he began to aggressively fight with the officers as they were trying to get him into handcuffs. The man was taken to the ground where he continued to struggle with the officers before they were finally able to get him handcuffed. The man was also charged with resisting arrest.
4:38 pm. An officer on patrol saw a 59-year-old man outside of his wife’s home in the 1600 block of M Avenue and knew that a domestic violence protection order prohibited the man from being within 100 feet of her home. The man had been approximately 30 feet from the front door. The man was placed under arrest, and after he initially denied being at the home he eventually admitted that he had even spent the previous night at the house. The man said, “I know I’m not supposed to be there, but she’s my wife.” The man was booked into jail for violating the court order.
Saturday, May 11
8:45 am. A 64-year-old Anacortes woman was issued a traffic ticket for negligent driving after she veered from her lane of travel in the 2000 block of M Avenue and struck two vehicles that were parked curbside. Both of the parked vehicles were unoccupied, but one vehicle was hit with enough force to push it over the curb. The driver said that she had looked down while driving to put away her credit card that she had just used to purchase gasoline. Fortunately she was not injured.
3:08 pm. A 35-year-old Anacortes man was booked into jail on domestic violence assault charges after he allegedly went to his ex-girlfriend’s home in the 1500 block of 7th Street and got into an altercation because he was mad about her having her new boyfriend at the residence. The suspect yelled at the woman when he arrived and then allegedly spit on her new boyfriend through an open window. The suspect then went to the front door and pushed the woman out of the way to gain entry. The suspect then entered a bedroom and attacked the new boyfriend including allegedly biting the other man on the arm before fleeing. The new boyfriend had a distinctive bite mark on his forearm that was bleeding and he also complained of head pain due to the suspect pulling out a clump of his hair. The suspect was located a few blocks away and placed under arrest. The new boyfriend declined to press charges, but the suspect was charged with pushing the woman.
9:16 pm. Police arrested a 36-year-old Anacortes woman who was walking in the 600 block of O Avenue after confirming that she had two warrants for her arrest. One was a felony warrant for two counts of third degree assault and bail jumping. She was booked into the county jail.
8:28 pm. Police responded to a home in the 2300 block of 15th Street regarding the report that a 68-year-old man had just assaulted his wife. Police learned that the couple had been drinking and got into an argument over their dogs. The argument culminated with the man allegedly throwing his wife to the ground and smashing her phone when she attempted to call 911. The woman was able to call for help from a second phone. The man told police that his wife “threw herself to the ground” and that he had just been “taking out his rage” when he broke her phone. The man was placed under arrest and booked into jail on charges of domestic violence assault and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence.
Sunday, May 12
5:46 am. Police were dispatched to a home in the 700 block of 41st Place after a woman reported that her husband had assaulted her. The woman said that she and her 29-year-old husband had been drinking earlier and that he was very intoxicated. An argument ensued when the woman determined that her husband was too intoxicated to care for their one-year-old child. The woman reported that the man kept following her around the house arguing with her and that he had slapped her on the bottom causing her pain. The man told police that he had been intoxicated and that he did not recall the details of what had happened. He was determined to be the primary aggressor and he was arrested and booked into jail on domestic violence assault charges.
11:06 pm. A resident of the 900 block of 23rd Street reported that someone had stolen two bottles of prescription medication from her unlocked car within the past hour. The woman was advised to seek more secure locations to store her medication than an unlocked and unattended vehicle.
Monday, May 13
9:58 am. Police are investigating the theft of a purse from an office at a church located in the 1200 block of M Avenue. There were a number of people in and out of the church during the timeframe of the theft. The purse contained the victim’s debit and credit cards, her checkbook, and a cell phone. It was also learned that several unauthorized charges had been made using the stolen credit cards at businesses in Anacortes that totaled almost $2,000. The matter is under continued investigation.
11:11 am. The owner of a business in the 600 block of Commercial Avenue discovered that someone had pried open a window that was accessed off of the alleyway and entered the building. A burglar alarm then activated and the intruder fled. It did not appear that anything had been stolen.
8:49 pm. An Anacortes woman reported that when she exited a grocery store in the 900 block of 11th Street she discovered that the entire roof of her car was covered with smashed watermelon. The woman said that she suspected her ex-boyfriend, a 21-year-old Anacortes man, of making the mess as she had seen him walking through the parking lot when she first arrived at the store. Fortunately there was no permanent damage to the car. The man denied having smashed the watermelon even though his shirt was wet with what appeared to be watermelon. The man claimed that he had spilled “strawberry lemonade” on his shirt. Store security video showed the man taking the watermelon and walking in the direction of the car, but the car’s parking spot was outside of the camera’s view. However, since the man never attempted to pay for the watermelon he was charged with theft.
Tuesday, May 14
1:07 am. Officers responded to a motel room in the 2900 block of Commercial Avenue after witnesses reported hearing loud screaming coming from the room. Officers spoke with a man and woman who were in the room and both denied any altercation or argument. The 31-year-old woman said that she and the man were friends and had just been having “loud sex.” The romance for the night ended when it was learned that the woman had a no-bail warrant for her arrest for a previous disorderly conduct charge. The warrant had a three-day jail commit. The woman was arrested and booked into the county jail.
2:04 pm. A worker checking the Anacortes Senior Center discovered a screen to an exterior window at the rear of the building had been removed and placed on the ground. The glass contained a smudged handprint in an apparent effort to force open the window. Nothing appeared to be broken or missing from the property.
3:24 pm. A family member checking on a home in the 4400 block of Saint Mary’s Drive found that the glass to the front door had been shattered by what was believed to be a large rock. Closet doors and drawers were discovered to have been opened inside of the house, but a preliminary check showed that only an iPod was missing. There are no suspects at this time.
4:40 pm. A 22-year-old Fidalgo Island man was charged with domestic violence malicious mischief and theft after he allegedly took his ex-girlfriend’s iPhone without her permission from an apartment in the 1100 block of 29th Street and then smashed it in the street. The man told police that he was upset because the woman was “already with another dude” four days after she had broken up with him. The man also told police that he thought he had the right to take and break the phone because he had given it to the woman as a gift earlier in their relationship. He then admitted that his actions had been wrong.
Wednesday, May 15
8:26 am. A resident of the 1500 block of 8th Street reported that her car had been stolen from in front of her house during the night. The keys had been left in the car. A short time later the car was located unoccupied at the corner of 8th Street and L Avenue. The car was undamaged, but the thief is unknown.
9:40 am. Ten “double tunnel” crab pots valued at $120 each were stolen off of a dock at a marina in the 1000 block of Q Avenue. The pots had orange and black colored buoys attached.
2:15 pm. A blue with yellow trim “Kline Pulse” brand mountain bike and a black and gray Specialized brand “Enduro” mountain bike were stolen during the night from the garage of a home in the 1900 block of Orchard Place. The garage door had inadvertently been left open.
3:55 pm. The alert owner of an antique shop in the 2700 block of Commercial Avenue saw a woman pick up a quilt from an outside display and then go to her car as preparing to leave. The owner ran up to the car and demanded the return of the quilt and the woman complied. However, after the car left, the owner discovered that four net floats were missing from a display on the front porch of the business. A small girl and an older woman were also with the suspected thief. Their car was described as a four-door black Honda.
7:55 pm. An officer stopped a car in the 2100 block of Commercial Avenue for speeding and using the center turn lane to pass another vehicle. The female driver told the officer, “Yeah I’m suspended so write me the f ---ing ticket so I can leave.” The officer confirmed that the 35-year-old Anacortes woman’s license was suspended and informed her that she was under arrest. The woman refused to exit her car and the told the officer that he would have to “drag her out.” Another officer arrived and the woman then quickly opened the door striking the first officer in the leg. The woman then started a profanity-laced verbal tirade while actively struggling against the officers who were trying to handcuff her. She was eventually handcuffed but then refused to get into the patrol car. She was issued citations for driving while suspended and resisting arrest and infractions for having no insurance and passing in the center turn lane. She was released to a friend who arrived at the scene. When the officer tried to return the vehicle registration to the woman, she gave him the finger and told him he could “burn it.” It was the woman’s fourth arrest for suspended driving in a two-week period.
The next day she was arrested again (5th time) for suspended driving and her car was impounded. The woman told the officer that she was not going to stop driving and that she would just borrow someone else’s vehicle. She again yelled profanity and was verbally abusive.
Thursday, May 16
8:35 am. A 17-year-old boy exited his home in the 4800 block of Cypress Drive to go to school and found that someone had poured paint all over the exterior of his vehicle. Some profanity had been painted on the window in a different color. The victim was able to wash off the majority of the paint and a damage estimate is pending. The victim provided the name of a possible suspect and the vandalism is under further investigation.
11:47 am. An Anacortes man who was sitting in his vehicle in the 900 block of 20th Street felt a severe impact to the rear of his car. The man then saw an SUV that had been parked behind him quickly leaving the area. The man’s vehicle sustained significant damage and he suffered possible whiplash. The owner of an adjacent bar witnessed the collision and recognized the female driver of the fleeing vehicle. The 56-year-old Anacortes woman was later contacted at her place of employment in Oak Harbor where an officer noted fresh damage to the front of her SUV. The woman immediately told the officer that she had “nothing to say” and she was placed under arrest. The woman was taken to APD where she then agreed to speak to an officer in the presence of her attorney who was then summoned. The woman then admitted that she had struck the man’s car but that she was unaware of any damage or injury. She said she realized that she should have stayed at the scene. The woman also admitted that she had a few beers and had taken some pain medication prior to the collision but that she “couldn’t say” if she was intoxicated. Due to the man’s neck injury, the woman faces charges of felony hit-and-run.
8:28 pm. An officer stopped a car for speeding on D Avenue and identified the driver as a 49-year-old Louisiana woman. It was then learned that the woman had a confirmed felony warrant out of the Island County Sheriff’s Office for an original charge of theft and she was placed under arrest. She was booked into the county jail.
9:55 pm. A woman reported that her 31-year-old ex-boyfriend had entered her apartment in the 1100 block of 24th Street without permission and then fled when he realized that the woman was home and had seen him. The man had been repeatedly told in the past that he was not welcome at the apartment. Police checked the area and saw the man at the back of the apartment complex, but he took off running when he saw the officers. Officers then checked a nearby motel where the man was reported to be staying, but the man was not found. The man was later sent a court summons charging him with criminal trespass.