All suspects in the police blotter are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

STUMBLING: At 11:42 p.m. Jan. 19, officers were dispatched to the 20800 block of state Route 410 to check on the welfare of a reportedly intoxicated man staggering along the highway. An employee of the nearby Arco station had seen the man walk through a red-signal crosswalk, and called it in out of concern for the man’s safety. An officer searching for the man observed him staggering down the sidewalk near Papa John’s. He walked up to the front door and tried to open it; when he realized the door was locked, he shook the door several times. The officer made contact, but the man was intoxicated to the point that he was unable to communicate his home address. A records check revealed the man had a $10,000 misdemeanor warrant out of of Enumclaw for causing a public disturbance. Enumclaw Jail was advised the man was in custody and agreed to take him in. The officer met with Enumclaw police shortly after midnight at the state Route 410 weigh station to transfer custody.

CRYING WOLF: At 6:18 p.m. Jan. 23, officers were dispatched to a possible driver under the influence traveling eastbound on state Route 410 from Veterans Memorial Drive. Two drivers called in a car swerving all over the roadway with its headlights off, at one point nearly hitting another traveler. The first responder found the vehicle parked three-quarters of the way into a parking stall in a lot near the intersection of SR 410 and 208th Avenue East. The officer contacted the driver and noted that she appeared disoriented and under the influence of something; her eyes were droopy and bloodshot, and her speech was slurred. She denied taking medication or alcohol, and said she was lost on her way to Kent Station. She said she was diabetic, and the officer called East Pierce firefighters to the scene in case she was experiencing low blood sugar and required medical attention during the stop. Later, when firefighters arrived and the officer asked the driver to step out of her car, she asked why the emergency personnel were present. The officer said it was in case she had a low blood sugar attack during the stop, and she responded that she did not have diabetes. Confused, the officer asked her why she told him she had the condition, and she said she had self-diagnosed herself with pre-diabetes. At this point, the officer began to smell alcohol on her breath and said so. She changed her story and said she had one drink of vodka prior to driving. The driver agreed to the voluntary field sobriety tests. She completed the eye Nystagmus test, which indicated some clues of intoxication, but the officer did not have her perform the walk-and-turn or one-leg stand due to already apparent difficulty standing in place. The preliminary breath test registered a .195 BAC and the driver was arrested for DUI. Processing at the station confirmed the high BAC. The officer cited the driver for DUI and she was booked into Puyallup Jail.

GUIDED BY THE LIGHT: At 7:13 a.m. Jan. 24, an officer patrolling the 21400 block of state Route 410 observed a truck with a very bright white light coming from the license plate area. The officer initiated a stop and discovered the driver’s license was suspended in the third degree and he had no insurance. The man also had a Bonney Lake warrant for his arrest. The man was taken into custody and booked into Enumclaw Jail on the warrant. He was issued a criminal citation for driving while suspended and a notice of infraction for the defective license plate and lack of insurance.

OBSTRUCTING AN OFFICER: At 10:56 a.m. Jan. 25, an officer stopped a vehicle for cracks in the windshield running through the driver’s line of sight, a violation that warrants a verbal warning. The driver was found to have his license suspended. The officer asked the passenger if she had her license, and she said she did not have it on her, nor any other form of picture ID. She gave a name to the officer, then another maiden name; the officer noted she seemed nervous as she gave the second name. With traffic, it was difficult to hear much of what she said and she was relaying information through the driver at the officer’s request. The driver said the two of them were brother and sister. The officer ran a records check on the name the passenger gave and found that none of the physical traits listed matched the person. The driver had a no contact order with his wife, and a check of the wife’s name showed that her description matched the passenger. After calling backup, the officer confronted the vehicle occupants about the discrepancy. They told him they knew about the order and the trouble it could bring if the officer knew, and that they were trying to have the order dropped and get their lives back to normal. The officer arrested the driver for his suspended license, violation of the no-contact order and obstructing a public servant. He counseled the passenger about the dangers of lying to police and released her on the scene. The charges against the driver were forwarded to the prosecutor.

SHOPLIFTING: At 9:47 p.m. Jan. 25, an officer was dispatched to Safeway in reference to a shoplifting incident that had just occurred. The suspect left the scene in a vehicle. A witness saw the man run past him as he made his escape, and provided his physical attributes. The employee who called in the theft told the officer another employee had told her a young man had likely stolen a bottle of liquor and fled the store. They were not sure what had been taken, and called primarily in case police could locate the vehicle. The case was closed for the time being.

WARRANT: At 4:30 a.m. Jan. 27, an officer was dispatched to meet a Pierce County deputy to take custody of a man in custody on two misdemeanor warrants. The man was taken into BLPD custody and booked into Enumclaw Jail.

VANDALISM: At 10:51 a.m. Jan. 28, an officer was dispatched to the senior center in reference to vandalism of the reader board. A city employee had noticed the damage earlier that morning and advised it must have happened over the weekend. The damage consisted of the word “daycare” written in red spraypaint. Photographs of the damage were placed into evidence.