For the safety of highway workers, drivers are obligated to move over a lane (if possible) when the workers are working on the roadway’s shoulder. On Monday, March 10, an alert officer observed a vehicle drive past some Department of Transportation workers without moving over a lane. He made a traffic stop on the offending vehicle on Highway 20 and discovered that the driver, a 36-year-old La Conner man, had a suspended license from a prior DUI arrest. In addition, he had three warrants out for his arrest stemming from the prior driving offense. The warrants had commit orders indicating that he was due to serve more than a hundred days in jail, but had failed to appear. The officer took the man in to custody and transported him to the Skagit County Jail. He was also issued a new citation for driving on a suspended license.
Here are some of the other cases Anacortes Police worked on this week.
Saturday, March 8
1:28 pm. A downtown market called to request that a man who was acting oddly be contacted and removed from their property, as he was not shopping and was also verbally confronting customers in the parking lot. He had left the property just prior to an officer arriving, but was found nearby. The officer checked on the welfare of the man and found that he was intoxicated, but was capable of taking care of himself and did not need medical attention. At the store’s request, the officer issued the man a trespass notice barring him from returning to the store for a year.
2:25 pm. Officers responded to the area of the 2400 block of 30th Street after a man reported hearing several gunshots and then seeing some juveniles running in to the nearby woods. The area was extensively checked, but no juveniles and no evidence of gunfire was found.
5:17 pm. An officer made a traffic stop on a vehicle in the 2200 block of Commercial Avenue and found that the driver’s license was suspended for unpaid tickets. When questioned, the 52-year-old Anacortes man admitted that he knew that his license was suspended and that it had been for approximately 20 years. He claimed that he had once been arrested 7 times in one night for driving on a suspended license, and that since that time he had given up on trying to keep a valid license. He was issued a citation with a future court date and instructed not to drive. He was also issued a ticket for not having proof of insurance.
Sunday, March 9
6:15 pm. A woman who was walking along R Ave in the downtown area discovered a small baggy on the ground that she suspected contained some illegal drugs. She contacted 911 and an officer was dispatched. He was able to confirm that the contents of the baggy were methamphetamine. There are no suspects, so the baggy and contents were logged in to the police department evidence area for destruction.
9:55 pm. Anacortes officers were dispatched to a disorderly patron complaint at the Country Corner Bar. Upon arrival, they contacted the upset woman, who had already been escorted outside of the bar and was speaking with her husband. The bar requested that she be removed from the premises. While the officers were completing the trespass warning paperwork, the woman suddenly lunged out and punched her husband in the face. She was wrestled in to custody by the officers and secured in handcuffs. The assault on her husband earned her an arrest and a night in the county jail. Her husband was not seriously injured.
Monday, March 10
12:50 pm. A woman on C Ave called the police department after receiving several unwanted calls from telemarketers. These calls can be very frustrating, but they are not typically illegal. The officer suggested blocking the number that the calls are coming from, and also referred her to the federal Department of Commerce website. Dept. of Commerce operates the national Do Not Call Registry. By entering your phone number in the registry (which is free) you are indicating that you do not want calls from telemarketers. Telemarketing companies are prohibited from calling numbers on the Registry list.
4:17 pm. The manager of an apartment complex on 24th Street called to report a trespassing complaint. She explained to officers that a woman who was visiting the complex had previously been evicted from an apartment on the property and she was no longer welcome there. The officers contacted the 25-year-old woman and spoke with her, learning that she felt that the property manager had a grudge against her. At the apartment manager’s request, the woman was instructed to leave the property and not return. She was issued a trespass warning and left.
Tuesday, March 11
3:00 am. A passerby called to report that a man was lying on the ground in front of a business in the 2900 block of Commercial Ave. Responding officers found a transient 27-year-old Anacortes man that was highly intoxicated. He was deemed unable to care for himself and an aid unit was called to the scene. They transported him to Island Hospital.
11:15 am. A resident called enquiring about whether there was a city ordinance concerning garage sales. She mentioned that a neighbor had been running a continuous garage sale for several weeks and she wondered if that was legal. She was advised of city ordinance 17.080.010, which states that persons having garage sales are limited to no more than 12 days per year (consecutive or individual dates). The neighbor was contacted and advised of the city ordinance.
1:24 pm. Officers observed a man that they knew had confirmed warrants for his arrest as he was standing in the parking lot of a business on Commercial Ave. They contacted him and took him in to custody on four outstanding warrants, including one for failing to appear in court after being charged with Possession of a Dangerous Weapon. Once he was in handcuffs, the 24-year-old Anacortes man was searched. He was found to be carrying two knives, including an illegal butterfly / martial arts knife. He was issued a new citation for once again being arrested while in Possession of a Dangerous Weapon. He was then transported to the jail and booked on his warrants, which also included prior charges for Vehicle Prowling and Possession of a Controlled Substance.
Wednesday, March 12
1:22 pm. Another Anacortes resident fell victim to a popular phone scam this week. The man received a call from a convincing woman who claimed to be his granddaughter. She used his granddaughter’s name and told him that she was in the Dominican Republic and that she needed money wired to her because she had been arrested.
The woman instructed him to wire the money through MoneyGram as soon as possible. After he wired the requested $1,800, the caller recontacted him and asked for more money. The victim was able to confirm with family members that his granddaughter was not in the Dominican Republic and realized that he had been scammed.
These types of phone scams are very common right now, with people receiving calls claiming everything from a need for bail money to the need for cash to pay for an unplanned hospital visit. You can be almost certain that they are scam calls if the caller is requesting that money be wired out of the United States. In addition, the callers are usually calling on phone numbers with an 855 area code. Those 855 calls are made with pre-paid toll-free numbers and they are hard to trace, therefore very popular with scammers. For more information regarding preventing and / or reporting phone scams, go to www.IC3.gov.
2:28 pm. Residents on 24th Street called because they were concerned about the recent increase in foot and car traffic associated with an occupied trailer on the property of a neighbor. There were suspicions of criminal activity, including possible drug sales and use. After examining the situation, the City Building Inspector was contacted and met officers at the trailer. They contacted a woman who confirmed that her boyfriend, who was not home at the time, was living in the trailer on the property. She was advised that per city ordinance, a trailer or RV may not be used as a separate dwelling from a single family residence on the property. She agreed to advise her boyfriend of this information and to have him contact the city Building Department if he had questions. The City Building Inspector stated that he would be following up on the situation next week.
4:34 pm. A call was received requesting that an officer check the welfare of a man lying on a bench near the Anacortes Library. Upon being contacted, the officer found that the 25-year-old man Seattle man was in good health and spirits. He stated that he was merely lying on the bench and enjoying the sunshine.
Thursday, March 13
11:30 am. A 47-year-old Mt. Vernon man was taken in to custody during court proceedings in the Anacortes Municipal Court when court staff realized that the man, who was appearing in Anacortes on a misdemeanor court matter, had a felony warrant out for his arrest. The warrant, for Possession of a Controlled Substance (drugs), had a $5,000 Bail. The man was taken in to custody and transported to the Skagit County Jail.
4:03 pm. An Anacortes Officer stopped a vehicle in the downtown area for a minor traffic infraction. The 20-year-old California man behind the wheel was found to have a suspended license out of California. He explained that he was only in town to work the refinery shutdown. The officer advised him that he was not allowed to drive and told him that he needed to contact the state of California to get the issues with his license straightened out. He was told not to drive any further or else he would be arrested and cited. He agreed and stated that he would walk the rest of the way to his hotel. Approximately ten minutes later, he was stopped driving the same car by a different officer. He was issued a citation with a future court date for Driving on a Suspended License. And this time, he did actually walk to his hotel.
Friday, March 14
1:56 pm. An Anacortes Middle School student was contacted by school officials after he showed up late for class and smelled of tobacco smoke. Subsequently, it was discovered that he was in possession of a marijuana smoking pipe and that he had synthetic marijuana, known as Spice, in his possession. The police and his father were summoned to the school.
6:00 pm. A resident of Sea Otter Lane called to report a phone scam in which a male called her and advised that her grandson had been arrested while traveling in Mexico and he needed bail money to get out of jail.
8:34 pm. The Washington State Patrol requested that an APD officer check an address on 35th Street to see if a vehicle that was suspected of having fled the scene of a hit and run accident might be there. The residence was checked, but the vehicle was not found. Officers will continue to check until the vehicle is located.