I’ll be in court most of the morning, listening to closing arguments in a civil lawsuit against the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
Dino Johnson was injured when a suspect being chased in a high-speed pursuit crashed into his motorcycle.
Read Adam’s first story about the case here.
The trial started last week.
Rescuers are out searching for a possible missing person in the water between Fox Island and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
According to Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer:
A woman called police around 7:45 p.m. to report she had been watching the water with binoculars and saw a man in a plastic rowboat disappear.
The Sheriff’s Department, Tacoma Police, Coast Guard and a State Patrol helicopter equipped with infrared are aiding in the search.
No one has been reported missing or overdue, Troyer said.
MORNING UPDATE: There’s not much new to report as
The folks who took police cars, an ambulance and other emergency medical equipment to Mexico a year ago will be returning with another delivery next month.
Nicknamed “Mission to Mexico” by The News Tribune, the group will be hoping a ride with the 446th Airlift Wing on Sept. 19, the reservists announced today. They’ll be taking a fire truck and 12 pallets of emergency equipment to the small town of Ayutla.
As you may recall, idea for this mission began during a vacation to Mexico. The News Tribune hitched a ride with the group when they delivered the equipment to Ayutla.
Find my original story below.
Pierce County sheriff’s deputies arrested a woman Tuesday after a high-speed chase.
Prosecutors charged Melissa Rae Mendez, 27, on Wednesday with second-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, taking a motor vehicle without permission, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.
According to court documents, deputies spotted Mendez driving at a high rate of speed. She blew through a stop sign without stopping. The car bounced violently as it went over two large speed bumps. (Charging documents don’t give a specific geographic location for this incident.)
She eventually stopped but
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A group of children suffering from life threatening and chronic illnesses will have a day of their lives today.
They’ll be named honorary police chiefs, don uniforms and badges and get to interact with motorcycle officers, police dogs and other specialty units.
It’s all part of the annual Chief For a Day celebration this afternoon at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission in Burien.
Fifteen law enforcement agencies, including the Tacoma Police Department and the Washington State Patrol, are participating. Tacoma is the only Pierce County agency involved
…Then you’re not one of those affected by the power outage.
Here’s the press release from the Valley Regional Fire Authority:
Swaying poplar trees connected with 115,000 volt electrical lines causing a power outage through Algona, Pacific and south Auburn. This has interrupted the evening commute as the crossing gates at various railroad crossings have come down. Representatives from both the Union Pacific Railroad and Puget Sound Energy are on scene working to restore operations. They anticipate the power being restored around 7:00 p.m. this evening.
Here’s the press release from the Kent Fire Department:
…At 1302 hours today, units from the Kent Fire Department, Valley Regional Fire Authority and South King County Fire & Rescue responded to a reported apartment fire in the 700 block of 1 Av S.
The first Kent fire unit on location reported a kitchen fire, with smoke coming from the second floor window.
Fire was confined to the kitchen, thanks to the help of the neighbors, who used fire extinguisher on the fire before the fire department arrived.
No one was home at the time
A cook at the women’s prison in Purdy has pleaded guilty to inappropriate sexual contact with three inmates at the facility.
Eddie Garbitt, 57, entered Alford pleas to two counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct and one count of second-degree custodial sexual misconduct during a hearing this morning. An Alford plea allows him to maintain his innocence while admitting that sufficient evidence exists to convict him at trial.
Garbitt was immediately taken into custody and booked into the Pierce County Jail, pending his sentencing on Oct. 15, deputy prosecutor Tom Howe said.
Garbitt worked as a cook
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