Police Blotter, August 18 & 24, 2018

Anacortes Police followed up on an advisory from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department that they were aware of loitering near the public restrooms at 22nd Street and Q Avenue.

The police were made aware of a similar issue on Thursday, Aug. 23, and the individuals were asked to move along. At that time, various trash items were left behind and the parks department decided they now wanted the individuals banned. An APD Sergeant was first on scene on Friday and she contacted five people in the bushes near the restrooms. One of the individuals, a 41-year-old Anacortes man known to police, was in possession of a glass meth pipe and two lighters. A backup officer arrived and 4 of the 5 people were given their ban notices and asked to move along. The man with the glass pipe was taken into custody and transported to APD. Officers searched his backpack and found a small baggy containing methamphetamine and a used hypodermic needle. The man was released with a copy of his ban notice and told to look for felony drug charges in the mail.

Here are some other cases Anacortes Police reported this week.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

APD Officers were dispatched to Washington Park just before 3AM on Saturday to investigate a yelling match between a man and woman in the campground. Once on scene, an officer contacted a 46-year-old man, later determined to be the suspect in this case. After interviewing the man and his girlfriend, it was determined that the two had gotten into an argument on the short drive to their camping spot and the man began striking and yelling at her so she asked him to get out of the vehicle. The woman then continued on the drive to the camping spot and the man arrived a short time later via taxi. The argument continued and culminated in the man grabbing his girlfriend and holding his hand over her nose and mouth. The woman struggled to break free and another camper called 911 for help. The male suspect was taken into custody and booked in the county jail on an investigative hold for assault; theft—for taking his girlfriend’s purse when he left the campground; malicious mischief—for tampering with her car; and drug possession charges—for a small bag of a crystalline substance, possibly methamphetamine, that was found in his backpack at the time he was arrested.

Just after 7AM on Saturday, officers responded to Skyline Way in response to a 911 call from someone wanting to report suspicious activity. After locating the SUV described in the call, officers contacted a local 41-year-old man known to police and ran a routine records check via dispatch. The check returned with a felony arrest warrant for possession of a controlled substance and he was informed to step out of the vehicle. As the man stepped out, he placed a food wrapper and breath mint tin on the front seat of the car. Further examination of the tin contents revealed a small amount of a crystalline substance, possibly methamphetamine. A search of the man incident to arrest revealed that he had a glass pipe containing an unknown substance. He was booked in the Skagit County Community Justice Center (aka county jail) on his warrant and an investigative hold for drug possession.

A $300 rear window was broken out of an older model pickup parked on 11th Street in a malicious mischief incident that occurred sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. There are no suspects.

A 55-year-old Anacortes man known to police was arrested on a Superior Court warrant early Saturday evening. The man was driving a car in the area of 32nd and M Avenue and he was pulled over at 35th and M after the officer received information from dispatch that the man had an active warrant. He was taken into custody without incident and booked in the county jail on his warrant. 

An Anacortes Police Officer on patrol on the 2900 block of T Avenue on Saturday afternoon observed an older model SUV with expired registration tabs idling and occupied in the lane of travel so he initiated a traffic stop. Startled, the driver quickly pulled to the curb, nearly striking it when doing so. In speaking with the 55-year-old woman driving the vehicle, the officer noticed that her eyes were bloodshot and her speech was slurred. The woman admitted to consuming a “teeny bit” of alcohol and agreed to perform a portion of the roadside sobriety test. After performing poorly on the roadside tests, the driver was arrested for DUI and transported to the police station for processing. She was later released to a sober friend.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Just after 8PM on Friday, an APD Officer on patrol in the area of H Avenue and 41st Street observed an older model SUV traveling 14 mph over the posted 25 mph speed limit. The 33-year-old Anacortes driver told the officer that she thought the speed limit was 35 mph. She was given the correct information by the officer who later ran a routine check on her license that returned with a suspended status due to a recent accident. The officer then arrested the woman for driving while license suspended and cited her on scene before releasing her.

Construction in and around Anacortes can lead to impatient drivers and may have contributed to a traffic stop that took place on Friday night in the 1100 block of Commercial Avenue. An on-duty APD Corporal was waiting for the stop light at 12th and Commercial when he observed a Honda sedan run the light so he turned around to pull her over. The driver, a 30-year-old woman from Anacortes, was told why she was stopped and she stated that she understood and provided her driver’s license. A routine check revealed that the woman’s license was suspended as of March 2018 for an unpaid ticket. The Corporal returned to the car to inform the driver of the news and she said that she already knew about it because she was pulled over the day before and issued a citation for the same issue by another law enforcement agency. She was arrested and cited on scene for driving while license suspended.

An APD Officer involved in a DUI emphasis was patrolling on Friday evening when he observed an older model sports car driving erratically along H Avenue, crossing the center line and fog line multiple times in a short distance. The officer pulled the car over in the Heart Lake parking lot entrance and spoke with the driver, a 38-year-old woman from Anacortes. In speaking with the driver, the officer noticed that her speech was very slurred, to the point of almost being unintelligible. The driver took voluntary roadside sobriety tests, but had a difficult time keeping her balance and at one point had to catch herself on the open car door to keep from falling onto the road. After the tests, the woman was taken into custody for DUI and placed in a patrol car to be taken to the police station for processing. She was later released to a sober friend.

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.