Police Department Monthly Report

To: Lisa Parks, City Administrator

From: Jon

Weiks,

Chief of Police

Date: July 15, 2023

Re: June 2023

Criminal Activity

2023-0902 Hit & Run and Eluding - Tumwater officers were dispatched to a hit-and-run at the intersection of Henderson Blvd at Yelm Highway SE on June 2nd, at 1148 hours. A witness was following the suspect vehicle and updating Dispatch of their direction of travel. The witness also reported the suspect was driving recklessly and appeared to intentionally hit another vehicle while trying to flee The witness then lost visual of the suspect in the area of South 2nd Avenue A second witness called and reported they were following the suspect vehicle and reported the suspect almost struck pedestrians while fleeing During the course of this incident, a second victim called and reported they were struck by the suspect’s vehicle not once, but twice. Officers caught up to the suspect vehicle in the parking lot of Walmart and attempted to stop the vehicle The driver observed officers activate their emergency lights and he fled at a high rate of speed out of the parking lot onto Littlerock Road Due to WA State law, officers were unable to pursue the fleeing vehicle Officers then made contact with several witnesses and obtained their statements Officers learned the suspect had struck multiple vehicles and when briefly confronted, he claimed to be fleeing from pursuing officers, which was inaccurate The witnesses and victims positively identified the driver when they were shown photos of the registered owner (RO) of the vehicle. An officer later connected the suspect, via video surveillance, to a theft that had occurred earlier in the day at Safeway The suspect had stolen two cases of beer from the store, which could have been attributed to his driving and reckless behavior. Probable cause was developed for the arrest of the suspect for Eluding, three counts of Hit-and-Run Attended, and Reckless Driving The suspect was not located, so the charges were referred to the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office for consideration.

2023-0971 Robbery 1st - On June 12th, at 2329 hours, Tumwater officers were dispatched to a report of a “carjacking” that had just occurred at the Fred Meyer fuel station on Trosper Road While en route, the victim reported he had been pepper sprayed and his car was stolen by the lone male suspect Upon the officer’s arrival, they located the victim still at the fuel center and he was being treated for his exposure to the pepper spray The victim reported he had been pumping fuel when he was approached from behind by an unknown male. The suspect sprayed the victim and went to the driver’s compartment of the vehicle. The victim attempted to stop the suspect, as did two other witnesses who attacked the suspect with a squeegee. The suspect threatened the victim with a knife he also had in his hand, so the victim and witnesses backed off and the suspect fled in the victim’s vehicle Officer’s developed probable cause to arrest the suspect for Robbery and an Attempt T o Locate was broadcast An on-duty Sergeant recognized the description provided as someone he had contact with earlier in the evening in the area While talking to officers, the victim advised his phone was still in the vehicle and could be tracked Officers tracked the location of the phone and provided location updates to area agencies. The phone was tracked to a location in Olympia and OPD attempted to stop the vehicle The suspect eventually abandoned the vehicle in the parking lot of Ralph’s Thriftway and then fled on foot A perimeter was established and an OPD K9 team was activated to assist with the search The K9 tracked the suspect and a neighbor reported a possible location for the suspect The suspect was found to be hiding under a nearby residence where he refused to exit Less lethal munitions were deployed by an OPD officer to gain compliance and the suspect surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident A search of the stolen vehicle produced the knife and personal items belonging to the suspect. The suspect was transported and booked at the Thurston County Jail for Robbery 1st degree.

2023-0996 Residential Burglary and Auto theft - On June 15th, at 1608 hours, Tumwater officers were dispatched to a residence on South 2nd Avenue for a report of a residential burglary and auto theft, both clear The responding officer made contact with the victim who reported that while she was away, someone broke a window on the back of her house and made unlawful entry into her residence From the residence, the suspect/s stole a guitar and her car The officer processed the scene, but there was no suspect information at that time, and the car was entered into the system as stolen. The following morning, an Olympia Police Officer located the stolen vehicle in their jurisdiction when a citizen reported the vehicle as occupied and suspicious in their neighborhood. The occupant in the stolen vehicle was contacted and he denied knowing the car was stolen. He reported he was given the car by a friend The suspect was arrested and booked at the Thurston County Jail for being in possession of a stolen auto The investigating officer responded to the jail and interviewed the suspect He again denied knowing the vehicle was stolen and gave the name of a person from whom he claimed to have received the car The officer contacted that person and he denied having stolen the vehicle and denied having contact with the suspect for at least three weeks . The suspect was re-interviewed at the jail by the investigating officer and a detective where he continued to deny having stolen the car and committing the burglary, but he unknowingly admitted to being in the area o, and living in the vicinity of, the victim’s residence Based on the statements provided by the suspect, as well as being found in possession of the stolen vehicle, the charge of Residential Burglary and Auto Theft wwasreferred to the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office for consideration

PRESCRIPTION DRUG DROP BOX

The public deposited 50 pounds of prescription drugs in June The total deposited for the year is 370 pounds.

BUDGET

At the end of the month, the police department budget is 44% spent for the year.

K- 9 STATISTICS

Officer Russ Mize & K9 James

• Narcotics o Assisted the Napavine Police Department with a free-air sniff of the exterior of a vehicle whose driver was taken into custody for criminal traffic violations. K9 James was given a sniff command and he alerted to the presence of a narcotic odor coming from inside the vehicle Officer Mize completed and provided the Napavine officer a probable cause statement to support a search warrant application, then he and K9 James returned to the City.

Officer Chase Grimmett & K9 Thor

• Evidence Search o Assisted the Yelm Police Department with attempting to locate a firearm discarded by a suspect during a foot pursuit Officer Grimmett was advised the suspect had discarded a backpack during the foot pursuit, but they had since recovered the backpack and were unable to locate the firearm Officer Grimmett deployed K9 Thor and was retracing the path of the foot pursuit when he was advised the firearm had been located by a Yelm officer.

Sro Activity

June was a short month for the SROs due to school being released mid-month At the end of the month, the SROs went to the NASRO conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.

SRO Rollman worked with Tumwater Hill Elementary (THE) administration, a student and the student’s parents in reference to an inappropriate photo the student received from a juvenile in another state The student received counsel and the situation was resolved.

SRO Boling was contacted by a Bush Middle School (BMS) parent regarding his daughter being bullied and threatened by another student SRO Boling made contact with the other BMS student alleged to have threatened the victim SRO Boling resolved the situation with counsel and referred the parent and student to school administration for a Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) investigation if they wanted to pursue further.

SRO Boling assisted BMS staff with an HIB investigation. He obtained a statement from a witness and then referred the investigation to staff.

2023-0967 Theft - SRO Boling investigated a report of a stolen Chromebook from a BMS student after the student left it in a classroom SRO Boling was unable to identify who stole the laptop and the case was closed as leads exhausted.

SRO Boling attended, and provided security for, the high school graduations for Black Hills High School (BHHS), Tumwater High School (THS), and Cascadia High School.

SRO Rollman chaperoned the TMS end of the school year field trip to the Rainier’s game.

SRO Rollman was alerted to a possible sex offense that occurred on the BHHS school campus and it was witnessed by other students During the course of the investigation, SRO Rollman determined there was no crime committed and the encounter was consensual . SRO Rollman resolved his involvement in the incident and referred the investigation to school staff.

SRO Rollman assisted a BHHS parent and student with conflict resolution. The student and parent were having issues and the student was not responding appropriately and refusing to go to school SRO Rollman responded to the residence and after providing the parent/student with counsel, SRO Rollman transported to the student to school The situation was resolved with counsel.

SRO Rollman attended the THE career fair He set up his patrol vehicle for the 4th and 5th grade students to come by and ask questions about being a police officer and to take a look at all of his equipment.

Code Enforcement

Code Enforcement opened four cases this month:

• Multiple vehicles and household items being stored outside of a residence.

• Overgrown vegetation from an undeveloped residential property creating a sight-distance traffic obstruction.

• People living in tents and shacks with garbage strewn about a residential property.

• Refuse piled on residential property and abandoned vehicle parked in front of the residence.

Code Enforcement closed two cases this month:

• Garbage on residential property case was closed and included in a new case with additional violations.

• Barbed wire was removed from the bottom of fencing surrounding a commercial property after the issuance of a courtesy letter.

Code Enforcement currently has 19 open cases.

* Self-Initiated includes: investigative follow-ups, civil paperwork service, area checks, business checks, school visits, resident contacts, traffic stops and back-up activity.

PERSONNEL

• Jennifer Kolb, Detective Lieutenant – 23 years of service

• John Kenderesi, Sergeant – 19 years of service

• Ken Driver, Training Lieutenant – 15 years of service