A Tacoma police motorcycle officer was struck by another car Friday morning while he was responding to an accident.

The officer had the lights and sirens of his motorcycle activated as he and his partner headed to the collision at 84th Street and Pacific Avenue, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

A driver pulling out of an apartment complex near South 84th and Alaska streets struck the motorcycle.

The officer initially tried to get out of the way but the side of his motorcycle was hit, Fulghum said. He hit the curb and went up on the

Read more »

Kudos to a Kent girl who helped catch a man suspected of trying to lure her into his car.

The quick-thinking teen took a cell phone picture of the suspect’s license plate.

Other doings in the courthouse caused me to miss most of the testimony Thursday in the trial of suspected serial rapist Anthony Casper Dias.

I caught about 30 minutes of testimony at the end of the day, when Pierce County evidence expert Robert Creek was on the stand.

Creek processed a Tacoma condo for evidence following a home-invasion robbery there on Oct. 31, 2005.

Authorities believe Dias committed the robbery as part of a crime spree that spanned Pierce and King counties during the summer and fall of that year and included several brutal rapes.

Under questioning from deputy prosecutor Lori Kooiman, Creek described photographing the scene, collecting various pieces of evidence and testing that evidence for fingerprints.

Creek testified he didn’t find any usable prints on the evidence he collected, which included a screw driver he found outside the condo and wads of duct tape that the robber used to hog-tie two men who lived in the condo.

He said he didn’t look for any suspect fingerprints inside the condo because the victims of the robbery said the armed intruder who terrorized them that day wore gloves the entire time he was inside their home.

Read more »

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a 25-year-old man with stabbing an acquaintance in the chest, critically injuring him, last week.

Robby Lee Robinson pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted second-degree murder. He was ordered held in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $250,000.

Court documents say the victim was found just before 11:45 a.m. Friday at a home in the 1800 block of Broadway Avenue South.

The victim had been stabbed in the chest. The wound damaged his heart. He was in critical condition but was expected to survive.

Through interviews, sheriff’s detectives learned the

Read more »

A reader called dying to know whether John Donovan (whose license plate reads WLRSLVR — “Walrus Lover”) considers the Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus” his favorite song. Donovan appeared on the front page of today’s paper surrounded by a throng of walruses he’s collected.

Dear reader(s), the answer is “no.”

I’d like to take this opportunity to plug our reader-submitted vanity plate gallery. You can submit your own photo and story by following the link or e-mailing vanity@thenewstribune.com

I took a quick read through the charging documents from Monday’s police chase on the Eastside.

Here’s a few more tidbits from those of you who got stuck in traffic or witnessed the crazy, complex incident.

(This information comes from charging documents filed Tuesday by the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office

Prosecutors charged Darlene Fantasia Byrd with theft of a motor vehicle, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, residential burglary and duty in case of damage to attended vehicle or other property.

According to charging documents, Byrd is a prostitute. She was picked up by

Read more »

Dean J. Koepfler/The News Tribune

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies are on the scene this morning of a car that smashed into a duplex in the 10100 block of Park Avenue.

The Cadillac had been stolen in Tacoma this morning, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. A deputy spotted the car and got behind it.

It took off and crashed into the duplex. The three people in the car have been taken into custody.

It was not immediately known how much damage was done to the duplex or whether

Read more »

I reported in my dispatch yesterday that testimony would continue today in the trial of suspected serial rapist Anthony Casper Dias.

I was wrong.

Further testimony has been put off until Thursday due to some scheduling problems among the lawyers and the judge.

So look for an update Thursday afternoon.