Police Blotter, September 20 - 26, 2024

Police Blotter, September 20 - 26, 2024

This past week in Anacortes, more political signs disappearing and another cyberscam victim.  

Friday, September 20, 2024

An Arizona woman called to request a welfare check on her 86-year-old father. She stated that he lived on a boat. The responding officer received consent from the man’s wife to open the front door and call out for him. The officer did so, and the man answered. He said he did not need medical or law enforcement assistance. The officer called the man’s daughter and relayed the relevant information.

An officer was dispatched to a disorderly complaint at an Anacortes bar. Officers responded and contacted the reporting party, who reported that a woman had pushed a man inside the business. The woman had also reportedly threatened to kill the man. The employee said he did not feel she would follow through with that threat and that he wanted her banned. As officers approached the woman outside another business shortly after contacting the reporting party, she fell to the ground. She showed signs of being intoxicated and had trouble keeping her balanced. One officer stayed with her, and another contacted the business to complete trespass paperwork. Both parties were provided with copies of the trespass notice. Officers provided a courtesy transport for the woman and her husband to their hotel.

Saturday, September 21, 2024

An officer conducted a traffic stop on South March Point Road after observing a vehicle traveling with a driver’s-side headlight out. The officer approached the vehicle and saw that it was heavily damaged on the driver’s side. The officer suspected that the man was impaired, and the driver consented to some test after admitting that he had “Smoked a little weed awhile ago.” Probable cause for DUI was developed, and the officer placed the man under arrest. The officer acquired a search warrant for the man’s blood, and the blood draw was performed at Island Health. The officer provided the man with citations for DUI, the out headlamp on the motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle without insurance. He was then released to his girlfriend.

Sunday, September 22, 2024

An officer was dispatched to a theft complaint in the 1600 block of 14th Street. The reporting party reported that someone had taken a political sign from his front yard sometime the previous night. He said the sign was valued at about $20. The officer documented the information.

Monday, September 23, 2024

An officer was dispatched to a theft complaint in the 1700 block of 8th Street. The reporting party reported that her two political signs had been stolen, valued at about $20 apiece. Other neighbors had also had their signs stolen, the reporting party said. The officer documented the issue, and extra patrols were requested in the area. Numerous other reports of this nature were called into the APD in recent weeks.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

An officer was dispatched to a fraud complaint in the APD lobby. The reporting party reported that he received an email regarding an erroneous charge that he needed to call about. He called the number and the person who answered the call said they would refund the money to his bank account. The reporting party checked his account and discovered that $8,800 had been placed into his account. The person on the phone said the transaction was an error and that he would need to repay the money. The reporting party said he could not pay the requested amount over the phone, and the person on the phone said the reporting party could purchase gift cards instead. The reporting party did so, purchasing a $500 gift card and providing the info to the person on the phone. The man initially went to a local grocery store, which refused to sell him gift cards because they were aware of gift card scams. He realized he was scammed and called APD to report the scam. The responding officer provided a case number and documented the fraud.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

An officer dispatched to a theft complaint in the 1200 block of 12th Street. The reporting party reported that his cargo rack had been stolen overnight. The man said he had parked his car the previous night and then noticed the cargo rack missing when he returned. The responding officer documented the theft and provided a case number.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

The reporting party advised that he was viewing, offsite via a camera, a man dressed as a landscaper looking around the reporting party’s house. The reporting party was concerned that nobody was scheduled to be working on the house that day. Officers contacted an employee with a landscaping company who advised that they were doing a yearly irrigation flush at the residence. The officer called the reporting party back and learned that the issue appeared to have been a scheduling discrepancy.