The first man received an email claiming to be from the Department of Justice. The email address was on a Yahoo account. The letter claimed that he was under federal investigation and needed to send $198.00 to a man in the Benin Republic in order to avoid prosecution. He did not respond and reported the information to local police. Anacortes Officers referred him to www.ic3.gov. That is the FBI website to report Internet scams.
The second person received a phone call from someone claiming to be his grandson. The caller said he was on vacation in Las Vegas and had been in a DUI collision and was now in jail and needing bail money. The caller asked that the man send money to his attorney David Bell in Henderson, Nevada. The man sent the money via Western Union and received a second call that it wasn’t enough so he sent more. In all the man lost $4,800.00
Citizens are encouraged to call the police if they have any questions about requests for money that they receive either by mail, email, phone, or with door to door solicitors. Officers urge citizens to call prior to dispensing money because once your money is gone there is very little chance of recovering it.
Here are some of the other cases Anacortes Police worked on last week.
Saturday, June 22
3:33 am. An 18-year-old man was arrested after officers responded to a reported domestic dispute in the 1200 block of 17th St. Reportedly, the young man heard his parents arguing in their bedroom. He entered their room to check on his mother and his father told him to leave. He told officers that this enraged him, so he attacked his father. The father received minor scratch wounds on his face and arms. Both parents confirmed that their argument was verbal only.
12:28 am. A man reported his white 1984 Mazda B2000 truck was stolen from the alleyway in the 500 block of “O”Ave. The locked truck was parked behind a business. There are no suspects.
3:32 pm. A woman reported to officers that her car was broken into and her purse stolen sometime after 9:30 in the morning. The passenger side window of the car was shattered and the purse was removed. Nothing of value was in the purse but the purse was in plain view to anyone walking by the car.
4:15 pm. An officer on routine patrol spotted a 26-year-old man wanted for a felony drug warrant riding a bicycle in the 1000 block of 8th St. Upon seeing the officer the man dropped his bike and fled on foot. The officer chased him for several blocks and the man entered a ladies clothing store in the 500 block of Commercial Ave. In order to evade capture the man knocked over several displays before exiting the business. He was arrested outside the store and officers found stolen debit cards, checks, and a marine flair gun that had been painted to look like a shotgun in his possession. He faces additional charges of resisting arrest and several counts of theft.
Sunday, June 23
Two Anacortes women were arrested Sunday night on multiple felony charges following a police investigation into a residential burglary the previous Friday. Officers served a search warrant at an apartment in the 1100 block of 6th St. where the two women live. They located some property from the burglary they were investigating as well as recovered a stolen lap top computer from a recent theft case and additional evidence that implicated the women to another residential burglary from May 20th. The two women were located at the Swinomish Casino a short time later and arrested.
A 32-year-old woman was arrested on numerous outstanding warrants and new charges of multiple counts of Investigation of Burglary, Possession Stolen Property, Unlawful Possession of Firearms, and Trafficking in Stolen Property. Her partner, a 19-year-old woman was arrested for multiple counts of Burglary, Theft of a Firearm, Theft, and Trafficking in Stolen Property. Officers also found narcotics on the women at the time of their arrest. Additional drug charges are pending.
3:52 pm. A resident in the 1400 block of 16th St. reported that their unlocked vehicle was entered overnight and an 8GB iPod taken. There are no suspects.
Monday, June 24
2:16 pm. A man reported that his Mercury 6-hp two-cycle outboard motor was take off of his boat sometime since June 8th. The boat was moored at a private marina in the 1600 block of 5th St.
Tuesday, June 25
1:04 pm. A man reported that his Stihl Chainsaw had been stolen from the back of his truck. He explained the truck was parked in the 1300 block of 6th St. for a week and the pick up had a canopy but it did not lock. There are no suspects.
2:00 pm. A 19-year-old man is facing felony fraud charges after he reportedly admitted to officers that he had forged some bank checks and had his friend cash them so he could pay a debt he had with his drug dealer. A 19-year-old woman complained to police that she and another man had received a number of checks from the man that he requested they cash for him. She said they both cashed the checks using their bank accounts only to be later informed by their banks that the checks were no good. The checks were traced back to a closed account of a local woman. She was contacted and said she knew the man but did not give him permission to write the checks. The suspect told officers he found the checks at the woman’s home, stole them, and wrote them out to his friends to cash for him. Due to jail overcrowding he was not booked into jail but the charges will be filed with the prosecutor.
10:34 pm. Police received a third hand report of a missing swimmer at Whistle Lake. The man reportedly became separated from his friend at about 4 PM Tuesday. At 10:30 PM Officers received a phone call from an Oak Harbor woman who told them that a female friend had come to her apartment and said that a 28-year-old Freeland man had failed to come out of the water when the two were at Whistle Lake earlier in the day. The young women had not notified the authorities. In the dark, officers checked the lake and the surrounding area and did not locate the man. Wednesday officers asked the woman to come in for questioning and requested assistance from the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Dive Team. The woman showed divers where she had last seen the man and divers located his body in about 20 feet of water a short distance from where the woman had last seen him. The incident is still under investigation; however it appears that the man most likely drowned while trying to swim across the lake.
Wednesday, June 26
9:47 pm. A resident in the 500 block of “T” Ave. reported that a teenage girl had just urinated in her yard. Officers contacted two teenage girls a short distance away. Both had obvious signs of intoxication and one had wet pants. A 16-year-old Anacortes girl who is already on juvenile probation was arrested for Minor in Possession / Consumption of Alcohol (MIP). She was released to her mother. The second girl, a 15-year-old from Anacortes was also obviously intoxicated and was released to her mother pending an MIP charge. The girls told officers they got their liquor at a local grocery store.
Thursday, June 27
12:45 pm. A local bank reported that a 25-year-old Anacortes woman had opened an account on June 21 using a fraudulent check. The woman deposited a check from another banking institution in the amount of $2,450. She then made tow withdrawals bringing the account balance down to $50.00. Several days later the bank was notified the check was a fraud and they have been unable to locate the young woman. Officers are investigating the incident.
11:47 pm. A 23-year-old Oregon man was arrested for DUI shortly before midnight after an officer observed the pick up he was driving straddle the fog line several time on SR 20 EB near Sharpes Corner. After stopping the truck the officer smelled the odor of liquor on the man’s person. Reportedly the man told the officer he was adjusting the radio and not paying attention to the road. The man failed sobriety tests and was arrested and taken to the Police Department for a blood alcohol test.