The Newcastle Police Blotter features selected crime reports. This is not a comprehensive list of incidents in Newcastle. Questions? Contact Police Chief Houck at [email protected].
A MESSAGE FROM POLICE CHIEF JASON HOUCK
I've got to be honest, Newcastle. I am pretty disappointed. In the picture you will see one of those hidden meaning riddles like they have on a Snapple cap. Sadly, if you guessed that it translates into “three guns that were left unsecured were stolen from unlocked cars here in Newcastle in the last two weeks,” you would be correct. “How does this happen?” you ask. Because people still, for some reason, think they can leave things like this unsecured in their unlocked vehicles... WHY?!?!?! Maybe those of you reading this are not the group that needs to hear this. If anyone knows how to reach those folks, please let us know. NPD has been asking people to stop leaving things in their cars, and especially to stop leaving unsecured guns in unlocked cars... ( I can't believe I even need to say that). Yes, we should be able to leave stuff anywhere and come back the next day to get it, but that is not reality ANYWHERE, not just here. In addition to the three guns, several thousand dollars in cash and checks as well as loan documents with SSN's etc. were also taken. Please, people, will you help us out? We are trying to catch the folks doing this, but if people keep leaving things like this in cars, these folks are going to keep coming back. TAKE EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR CAR AND LOCK IT!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
Police Blotter Highlights
Tickets: A total of 24 tickets were written during this time period for various traffic offences as well as 1 DUI arrest. There were 4 traffic collisions.
Shooting—NPD officers along with several KCSO deputies responded to the scene after receiving reports of a shooting in the area. When officers arrived, they found 1 man inside an apartment who had been shot. There was one witness inside as well as another possible witness outside who were interviewed by KCSO Major Crimes Detectives about the events surrounding the shooting. At this time, no arrests have been made and NPD is not looking for any outstanding “suspects.”
Vehicle Prowl—A man called to report that sometime overnight, his vehicle, which had been parked and left unlocked in his driveway, had been gone through and items had been taken. NPD was able to get video surveillance showing 3 suspects getting into the vehicle around 510am. NPD is working to identify them.
Vehicle Prowl—NPD officers responded to the area after the RP daughter woke up and saw people rummaging through their vehicle. The RP said the daughter screamed and the suspects ran away. The RP noted that some paperwork and a pair of sunglasses were missing but did not notice anything else. The vehicle was not damaged, indicating it had been unlocked at the time of the incident. NPD officers recovered paperwork in this RP’s vehicle from what was likely another victim’s car, as it was from an unknown person with a Renton Address. NPD is investigating.
Vehicle Prowl — A man called to report that he went outside to his truck this AM and noticed the rear window had been broken out. On further examination he noticed that two guns he had stored, unsecured underneath the backseat (Chief’s note: PLEASE TELL ME I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO READ THIS AND THOUGHT….. WHY?!!!!!!!!!) had been stolen. NPD is investigating.
Catalytic Converter Theft—A woman called to report that at around 2am she heard a noise outside her apartment and looked at the window and noticed a male getting up from the ground next to her vehicle. When she yelled the man jumped into a car a left. On further inspection of her vehicle she noticed her catalytic converter had been stolen.
Shoplift—While NPD was at this location speaking with a shoplifting suspect, they observed a female walking to the front of the store from the back, past all of the check stand but carrying bags that appeared to be full. The woman saw the two officers, turned around and walked back toward the back of the store, then returned just seconds later with what now appeared to be empty bags. Officers contacted her and issued a trespass warning. The other person whom they had originally come to the store for was also issued a trespass warning.
Vehicle Recovery—An NPD officer on routine patrol spotted a vehicle in this area that appeared to be partially stripped of body parts and some interior parts. On further inspection, the officer was able to determine that the vehicle had been reported stolen from the Renton area a few days prior. The officer processed the vehicle for any evidence. NPD is investigating.
DUI—NPD officers came upon a 2 vehicle accident. The drive of Veh. 1 had been traveling S/B in the NB lanes when the collision occurred. Thankfully there were no injuries, but NPD was able to determine the driver of Veh. 1 was intoxicated. He failed field sobriety tests and was subsequently arrested for DUI.
Vehicle prowl—A man called to report that his vehicle had been prowled sometime overnight. The vehicle was likely left unlocked as there was no forced entry or damage to the locks. The man reported that his wife’s purse and his briefcase were stolen. A $4000 cashier check along with $300 in cash and several personal document containing privileged client information was taken. Again, it was likely left unlocked…
Vehicle prowl— NPD took a report from a man after he got a called from Marysville PD asking him about a bag of personal documents they found on the side of the road. The man went out to his vehicle and found it had been prowled and called NPD. It is likely that the vehicle was left unlocked as there was no sign of forced entry or damaged locks. Inside this unlocked car, the RP had left his fully loaded 9mm pistol, unsecured in the center console…
Stolen license plate – NPD was sent to this location for an assist to Federal Way PD. Federal Way located a stolen vehicle in their City and the stolen car had a license plate on it belonging to this address. When the NPD officer arrived he determined that the Newcastle’s resident’s license plate had not only been stolen, but replaced with a stolen license plate from a different vehicle. The stolen license plate was confiscated and Federal Way PD was updated with the results.
6900 blk Coal Creek Pkwy SE
Commercial burglary – Sometime during the night, an unknown suspect broke into a business stealing several items, including a cash register and several bottles of alcohol. There is video surveillance of the suspect from inside the business. This case is actively being investigated by NPD.
6400 blk Lake Washington Blvd SE
Vandalism – During the night someone broke the glass front door of a business. Once the glass broke, the business security alarm went off and the suspect fled. No one made entry into the business.