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

UNNEIGHBORLY: Shortly after 11 a.m. Oct. 15, two officers responded to a threats complaint on 217th Avenue East. A man described in the report as “uncooperative” had called dispatch claiming to have been threatened by a man armed with a knife. The caller refused to identify himself, only identified a suspect by his first name and hung up early, stating he had to go chop down some trees. Officers believed they knew who the suspect was, based on other calls  in the neighborhood. They found the suspect riding his bike as they arrived at the scene. The suspect—who had an unrelated misdemeanor warrant out of Tacoma—was cooperative and admitted to a verbal disagreement with his neighbor. An officer placed him under arrest and found a folding knife in his pants pocket; he said he didn’t think he had threatened his neighbor with the knife, and clarified that he has memory issues due to post traumatic stress disorder. The suspect said he has asked his neighbor to leave him alone following past incidents of yelling and general accusations of child molestation. Officers requested the neighbor come in and fill out a statement. The neighbor and a friend/witness each provided officers with their side of the story. Both said the suspect had approached their truck brandishing a knife and saying something in a threatening manner. The neighbor tried to exit the vehicle to confront the suspect, but his friend held him inside. The neighbor told an officer his plan was to use a cast on his arm as a shield from the knife and punch the suspect in his face multiple times. The knife the neighbor described did not match the knife confiscated from the suspect. The officer told the man that because of the discrepancy, because he did not seem fearful, and because he had been more concerned with chopping wood than meeting with officers five minutes after his initial call, police would not file Harassment or Threat charges against the suspect.

POSSESSION: At 2:13 a.m. Oct. 19, an officer pulled over a vehicle with a headlight out. There was an immediate odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. The driver said he was aware of the headlight outage and was unable to provide registration or proof of insurance for the truck. He had purchased the truck in May, but had failed to transfer the title; information the officer was able to confirm during his records check. The officer asked the driver about the marijuana smell, and he replied that he had not smoked marijuana but had marijuana present in the car. He said he had medical marijuana authorization from a previous back injury, but the card he provided had expired in March. The officer confiscated a freezer bag full of the suspected marijuana. The driver was cited for failing to transfer his title and for unlawful possession of marijuana. He was additionally given a notice of infraction for failing to provide proof of insurance. The driver did not appear to be under the influence or otherwise impaired, and he was released. A chemical field test of the green vegetable matter at the police station confirmed it was indeed marijuana.

DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED: At 10:02 p.m. Oct. 19, an officer observed a vehicle make an illegal left turn onto state Route 410 East. The officer stopped the driver, who stated he had just gotten his license back. He also said he had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant, but had a court date set for November. The records check returned a warrant out of Pierce County District Court for DUI and a license suspension in the third degree. The officer arranged a meet with Washington State Patrol and arrested the driver. He was issued a citation for the license suspension, and a notice of infraction for crossing the yellow markings on the highway. The driver was released into Washington State Patrol custody on his warrant.

JACKED O’ LANTERNS: At 2:09 p.m. Oct. 20, an officer was dispatched to Safeway, where an off-duty employee reported the theft of several pumpkins. The witness said she observed a male driver pull into a disabled parking space, take six pumpkins from the front of the store, and leave. The officer was able to pull the registration on the described vehicle and contact the owner. The owner told the officer his son was the usual driver of the car, and promised to get in touch with him regarding the incident. Approximately an hour-and-a-half after the initial report, the suspect spoke with the officer by phone. He said he had been at Safeway earlier and picked up four pumpkins on behalf of his sister, who had bought several but could not fit them all inside her car. The suspect offered to return to Safeway and either pay for the pumpkins or return them. The next day, Safeway confirmed the suspect had returned to the store and the matter had been satisfactorily resolved. No further police action was needed.

HURTFUL ASSUMPTION: At 9:08 p.m. Oct. 20, an officer was dispatched to a residence in regards to a text message received by a 13-year-old. The girl advised the officer she had participated in a class discussion about family ancestry and shared that her father was from Iran. She later received a text message that read “Are you gonna blow up the school at the end of the year?” The sender was not known, and the girl sent a response asking “Who is this?” The officer photographed the phone screen to create a record of the conversation. The girl had no suspicions as to who might have sent the message. The officer noted in his report that the context and exchange made it apparent the message sender assumed the girl was associated with terrorist organizations based on her lineage. A database search returned no suspects, and the case was forwarded to the BLPD Investigations Unit for follow-up.

ATTEMPTED BURGLARY: At 9:30 a.m. Oct. 21, an officer contacted a renter about an apparent attempted entry into her home. She stated that at some time on Oct. 19, an unknown person had pried open her front door. The door jamb had been damaged to the point the door would no longer latch. However, nothing inside the home had been disturbed. The renter contacted her landlord, who requested she call the police. The officer provided a case number and phone number, but there were no suspects or investigative leads at the time of the report.