2014 Year in Review: Best of the police reports part 2

July 26, 10:43 p.m.: An officer walked out of the police station to his marked patrol car, noticing on the way two men standing next to a parked car at a nearby business. As the uniformed officer watched, one of the men took a swig from a bottle of wine he was holding. The officer exchanged the man’s bottle for a criminal citation charging him with drinking alcohol in public. The 24-year-old Custer resident apologized and explained he had not noticed he was drinking next to the police department.

August 3, 11:55 p.m.: A concerned wife called police for help when her intoxicated husband wandered away from home on a walkabout then called her say that he had fallen and could not get up. An officer talked with the inebriate by phone, and the man directed police to him by shouting and flashing SOS using the light on his cell phone. He was perched on an embankment between the railroad tracks and Peace Portal Drive so officers cleared a path through the blackberries to the man to help him to his feet. He was released to his wife for safekeeping.

August 17, 10:30 a.m.: A man called police to keep the peace at his house, where his girlfriend was really mad at him for staying out all night drinking. Police responded and determined no crimes had occurred between the pair. Police were able to save the man from his girlfriend’s wrath by discovering that Everett police wanted him on an outstanding assault warrant. He was arrested and taken to the quiet confines of the county jail.

August 30, 5:22 p.m.: Blaine police were called to the I-5 freeway bridge across Dakota Creek in Blaine where a pedestrian was threatening suicide. Officers arrived and found a man standing on the bridge, threatening to commit suicide by leaping from the structure. The gentleman spoke briefly with the officer and then jumped, landing in the creek a second later. He was neither killed nor injured by the fall and apparently decided drowning was unacceptable because he started swimming upstream. Officers re-engaged with him from the side of the creek and negotiated for another couple of hours. Ultimately the 28-year-old Blaine resident agreed to accept protective custody and sheriff’s deputies transported him for evaluation at hospital.

September 7, 3:08 p.m.: Store employees observed a young man stealing alcohol from their business. When they attempted to intercede, the man fled and made it to the adjacent street before taking a stand against the growing throng of helpful pursuers. The suspect realized shortly that his bid for freedom was ill advised. When police arrived they found the suspect lying prone in the middle of Grant Street under the watchful care of several people. The 23-year-old Blaine resident appeared relieved to be taken into custody and transported to the police department. After processing, he was released with a mandatory appearance date in municipal court and a trespass letter that prohibits him from re-entering the store’s property.

September 20, 10:18 p.m.: An officer on routine patrol was stopped behind a vehicle at the traffic light on H Street at the truck route when he noticed the car’s back-up lights come on. The officer was not able to get his own car into reverse before the vehicle backed into his fully marked police car. The violator’s low speed and the patrol car’s push bumper prevented either car from being damaged. A conversation between motorist and officer ensured, bringing to light the motorist’s suspended driver’s license. There was no licensed driver available to take the wheel, so the 22-year-old Blaine resident’s car was impounded before he was booked into jail.

September 24, 9:45 p.m.: A woman called police dispatch to request a restraining order on her brother. The woman reports her brother won’t stop calling and he is harassing her and their mother. After speaking with all the involved people, the officer determined no crime of harassment has occurred. This outcome upset the lady, who retaliated by continually calling police dispatch. Ultimately she was warned that she would be arrested if she continued to disrupt emergency services with her own harassing phone calls.

October 5, 7:21 p.m.: An officer was dispatched to a Blaine business for a report of a man yelling obscenities towards patrons and store workers. The officer made contact with the transient who advised that he was working for the CIA and conducting interviews for them. The man was trespassed from the business property and he advised the officer he would catch a bus out of town first thing in the morning to his next secret assignment.

November 10, 5:17 p.m.: Shortly after 5 p.m., neighbors and passersby phoned 911 to report a house fire on D Street. Blaine police responded and a Border Patrol agent nearby confirmed seeing flames in the front of the home as the first officer arrived in the area within a minute of the call.

Neighbors near the back of the house saw a gasoline container near the back door, and told the officer they did not know if anyone was in the house. Through the broken pane of a window, the officer spotted an unconscious person lying inside and forced open the rear door. With the help of a Border Patrol agent the officer pulled the man outside to safety before fire engulfed the room. The man was the owner of the house, and upon regaining consciousness he complained about having been rescued from the blaze as he had intended to die. He became combative and had to be restrained by the officers.

Fire units arrived on scene to extinguish the fire, and their aid personnel evaluated the man before he was transported to hospital for treatment of minor injuries and observation. Police remained on scene overnight. Initial evidence indicates the blaze was deliberately set and an arson investigation is underway. U.S. Border Patrol and Blaine City Light assisted in the response. The Whatcom County Fire Marshal’s Office and NWFR are assisting Blaine police in their investigation.