Anacortes police investigated the case of a car crash that took down powerlines on Oakes, but the driver fled the scene.
An officer was dispatched to a vehicle-versus-power pole collision in the 3000 block of Oakes Avenue on Saturday, Jan. 28. The officer arrived and located an unoccupied gray SUV that had crashed, and the power lines and pole were blocking both lanes of traffic on Oakes. The officer verified that the car was unoccupied. A woman called dispatch and said she saw a man running from the area. A 37-year-old Anacortes man later called dispatch and advised that he was the driver and that he did not want to give his location because he had warrants, but he said he would talk to officers. An officer called the man, who said he was driving down Oakes, and the next thing he knew “It was me and the pole.” He said he didn’t know what happened because it happened so fast. He said he was not under the influence of anything at the time of the crash, and he did not answer when asked why he did not contact law enforcement at the time of the crash. A tow employee later called and advised that he had found a baggie of pills in the impounded vehicle from this case. They appeared to be “Perc 30” pills containing fentanyl, and they were on the driver-side floorboard visible from the window. Officers later served a search warrant on the vehicle. The investigation continues.
Friday, January 27, 2023
Officers were advised of a theft that had just occurred at an Anacortes grocery store. Employees called to report that a man and woman in a silver vehicle had just stolen flowers from the store. Officers responded and checked the area for the vehicle before contacting the employees. They reported seeing the vehicle parked in front of the store when they arrived to work and later saw subjects outside the doors of the store with merchandise in their hands. The employee knocked on the window of the store, and the suspects ran to the vehicle and left.
Dispatch advised of a vehicle prowl in the Whistle Lake parking lot. The reporting party was not the owner of the prowled vehicle, but wanted to report that an SUV had three windows broken out in the parking lot. An officer responded and located the vehicle, finding the driver side window and both passenger side windows had been broken. The officer photographed and documented the damage and left a card with contact information and a case number after contacting the registered owner vie phone. The registered owner called and reported several items stolen.
A 76-year-old Seattle man reported that his storage unit on Molly Lane had been burglarized sometime over the past month and that two long rifles and a Porsche wheel and jack had been stolen. The suspects had pried the latch away from the track of the roll-down door and gained access. The officer provided a case number and searched for pawn activity related to the taken items. Another case took place later on Jan. 27 at the same storage facility in which a customer’s gun safe was damaged, but nothing was able to be taken from the safe.
Sunday, January 29, 2023
An officer located a car with its front end in a ditch at the intersection of West 2nd Street and Erie Avenue. The vehicle was in the ditch with reportable damage, and it appeared as though the driver, later identified as a 69-year-old Anacortes woman, had attempted to navigate across the grass field from Dakota Avenue to Erie Avenue due to the detour posted on Oakes Avenue. An officer drove to the registered owner’s address. She confirmed that she was the driver and that she had turned off Oakes under the impression that she could cross over to Erie Avenue. She realized that she could not, but she decided she would cross the field connected Dakota and Erie anyway, as she had made the trek before on her bicycle and was comfortable with the task. She did not, however, recall a stormwater ditch on the opposite side. She ultimately crashed her vehicle in the ditch and contacted AAA to get it towed. She did not wait on the scene, as it was cold out, and returned to her residence. Because of the reportable damage, documents located in the vehicle were needed, so an officer transported the woman to the site of the crash. The tow truck that initially responded became stuck while trying to extricate the woman’s vehicle. The driver tried again, successfully removed the car from the ditch and loaded it onto the tow truck’s bed. However, the tow truck became stuck as it attempted to leave. Hydraulic tools were not successful in getting the tow truck free. At this point, an officer transported the woman home. Upon his return, he found the tow truck was still stuck. Numerous attempts later, the officer contacted another tow company to extract the tow truck. The officer was then able to escort the first tow truck to the woman’s residence to drop off her car.
Monday, January 30, 2023
Dispatch advised of a malicious mischief complaint at a business in the 900 block of 23rd Street. The business owner advised that someone had shot out the window of a customer’s vehicle. The owner advised that the window was likely destroyed sometime after business hours Jan. 27. The back window had been shattered and shards of glass were laying on the ground. The officer searched for surveillance footage and documented the case.
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
A 42-year-old Oak Harbor man reported of a malicious mischief incident in which juveniles on a bike threw a rock at his motorhome in the area of T Avenue and 28th Street. The driver’s side mirror was broken, as well as part of the windshield, with an approximately fist-sized rock. The man said he was sitting in the driver’s side seat earlier when he noticed two subjects on an electric bicycle yelling something unprovoked and throwing the rock before heading toward the skate park on the Tommy Thompson Trail. Footage was obtained of the incident; the investigation continues.
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
A 63-year-old Anacortes woman reported that mailboxes were knocked down sometime the previous night. An officer responded and noticed a cluster of mailboxes removed from a post and laying on the ground with scattered mail nearby. The woman said she had heard a loud sound sometime around 12:30 a.m. She also noted that her vehicle and fence had been damaged. The officer checked the area for surveillance and provided the woman and her neighbors with the relevant case number.