Anacortes Police dealt with a couple reports of attempted Internet scam… In one case, a local woman realized too late that she had become a victim.
A local woman contacted police on the 20th to report a recent email guised as an email from an online retailer, confirming an order delivery from out of state. The woman knew that she did not make such an order, so she called a phone number provided in the email. The person on the phone told the woman that she could cancel the order if she purchased a $500 “security card”, so she purchased a gift card and provided the card number and pin. The woman was convinced to purchase several more gift cards and told that if and when the original faulty purchase was “resolved” that she would be reimbursed. The woman later realized this was probably a scam and she was given an APD case number and told to report the scam to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Here are some other cases APD reported this week.
Saturday, October 17, 2020
A 25-year-old Anacortes woman was ticketed for following too close after her involvement in a car crash at the intersection of 25th and Commercial. The at-fault driver admitted to police that she “zoned out”, failed to slow for the car in front of her on Commercial, and rear-ended it, causing reportable damage to both vehicles. No one was injured.
The driver of an older model SUV failed to yield the stop sign at 11th and Commercial and was subsequently t-boned by a sedan driving north on Commercial Avenue. The SUV turned onto its side as a result of the collision. Both vehicle occupants sustained minor injury. The SUV driver was ticketed for failure to yield.
A grocery store manager called police on the evening of the 17th to request that a male suspect be charged and banned for stealing $12 in groceries. Officers arrested the apologetic 24-year-old, charged him with theft and issued him a trespass notice before releasing him at the scene.
Sunday, October 18, 2020
A local resident called police reference a possibly injured male deer on 14th Street. The resident told police that he did not like the way the deer was looking at his cat. The deer later walked off after realizing the cat was not the species he was looking for. There were other bucks competing for a doe in the area, which may explain the buck’s odd behavior.
Two young children playing in a wooded area near Mount Erie Elementary School told their parents that they saw a man with a gun and he was yelling at them to leave. The children ran home and told their mom who called police 30 minutes later. Officers responded and checked the area thoroughly but were unable to locate anyone matching the description provided.
Just before 7PM on the 18th, an Anacortes Police Officer responded to the 32nd Street parking lot of Storvik Park because there was a sedan on fire in the parking lot. The officer made sure that no one was in the car, then deployed his fire extinguisher to slow the spread of the fire before Fire Department personnel arrived to fully extinguish the fire. The sedan owner said he recently had some engine work done by a friend, which may have cause the fire. No one was injured and the car was later towed from the scene.
Over two hundred dollars’ worth of grocery items and alcohol were stolen from a local store late night on the 18th. Police officers caught up with the 33-year-old Hope Island man suspected of stealing the items. A search incident to arrest yielded two prescription pills that were not prescribed to him. The man was released with a copy of a trespass notice. The man also faces theft charges and drug charges are pending based on lab results from the Washington State Patrol crime lab reference the pills found during the search incident to arrest.
Monday, October 19, 2020
A Guemes Island Ferry terminal employee called police the morning of the 19th to report a car was parked there for several days. A 22-year-old woman and 21-year-old man were in the car, and both had felony arrest warrants. Officers took the two into custody without incident and they were booked in jail on their respective warrants.
An APD Sergeant took a vehicle prowl report on the morning of the 19th from an H Avenue resident. The victim told police that his unlocked vehicle was entered sometime overnight and nothing was missing except a one-dollar bottle of hand sanitizer. There are no suspects.
Two Cascade Court residents called police on the 19th to report that they were missing a Japanese Maple valued at $1,000 and a decorative globe from their front yards. The neighbors told one of the victims that they saw someone in the area about 4AM that day, but were unable to provide an ample description of the associated vehicle or individual.
At 9:30PM on Monday, APD Officers responded to Hillcrest Drive per the report of an unconscious 83-year-old female in a hot tub. AFD medics and APD Officers performed life-saving measures but were unable to revive the woman and she was pronounced deceased at the scene. There were no signs of foul play discovered in the course of the APD investigation.
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Two political signs on Oakes Avenue and the corner of Anaco Beach Road and Sunset were painted pink sometime overnight on the 19th. The owner of the signs called police to report the incident, but did not have an idea who was responsible.
At 10PM on the 20th, APD Officers were dispatched to an N Avenue apartment per the report of a physical disturbance involving a lot of screaming. The caller also provided a description of a vehicle leaving the area so an officer stopped it near M Avenue to speak with the male driver. During the conversation, the officer asked the driver about scratches on his neck. The man said that he and his wife got into an argument over discipline for a child in the house and she grabbed his neck and scratched him. He added that he was driving away to stay at a family member’s house to de-escalate the situation. Officers also spoke with the man’s wife, a 28-year-old from Anacortes, and determined that she was the primary aggressor in the altercation. She was taken into custody and booked in jail for domestic violence assault.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
APD Officers interviewed a sports coupe driver who drove the car into an embankment on SR 20 south of South Marches Point Road. The woman told police that she was distracted by her coffee and drove off the roadway. The woman sustained some injuries in the crash. She will receive a ticket in the mail for driving with wheels off roadway.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
A local woman went to APD to report that she was a victim of check fraud. The investigating officer wrote in his report that the woman was sent two checks in the mail and convinced to deposit one of the checks and send the company $100 of her own money. The woman went to her bank with another check and her bank told her that the first check she tried to deposit was fraudulent and she should contact the police.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
A local man called police to report receiving calls from the “social security department” informing him that his social security number was compromised in Texas. The man then gave the caller his personal information, including his social security number. The man reporting the scam was told by APD to report the incident to the Social Security Administration to avoid any future compromise of his identity.