Violent and property crime in Tacoma dropped last year, mirroring a national trend.

Violent crime – murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, decreased more than 3 percent, going from 2,008 incidents in 2008 to 1,943 in 2009, according to a preliminary report issued Monday by the FBI. Property crime – burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson – fell more than 7 percent, going from 15,110 incidents in 2008 to 13,962 in 2009.

The preliminary report only listed crimes in cities with populations of 100,000 or more. Besides Tacoma, Bellevue, Seattle, Spokane and Vancouver were listed in Monday’s …

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The public face of the Seattle FBI office – special agent and public information officer Robbie Burroughs – is retiring.

The Seattle Times wrote about her career as an agent and as the PIO for a federal agency that typically doesn’t like to release much information.

Federal and local authorities are announcing the results today of a two-day nationwide takedown of several members of a violent Mexican drug cartel.

Among the nearly 1,200 individuals arrested in “Project Coronado,” 16 have been charged federally in Western Washington. The grand jury indictment against those 16 was unsealed Wednesday. Fourteen of those charged have been arrested. Two remain fugitives. Another four are charged by criminal complaint in federal court.

The 16, who live in King and Snohomish counties, California and Mexico, have been charged with methamphetamine, cocaine and money-laundering conspiracy charges.

A local DEA-led task force served search …

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Federal authorities arrested five people today in connection with a ring suspected of dealing Oxycodone from Indian smoke shops in Pierce County.

The five are charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Among those charged are Billy Miranda Flores, a 40-year-old Puyallup resident, and his father, Bill Celeya Flores, a 59-year-old Tacoma resident. The two were arrested earlier today and are scheduled to make their first court appearance this afternoon.

The Flores father and son operate the Indian Smoke Shop on Puyallup Tribal Trust Land in Milton and the …

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Federal authorities have taken custody of a man charged with robbing a downtown Tacoma bank earlier this month while armed with what appeared to be a bomb.

Michael Fenter, a 40-year-old Port Townsend father, is scheduled to make his first federal court appearance this afternoon, the FBI reported this morning. He’s been charged by criminal complaint with bank robbery and being armed in the commission of a violent felony.

Fenter had been sitting in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $10 million bail since last week. He initially refused to tell authorities his real name and had been identified in …

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Federal law enforcement authorities believe they have identified the man who robbed a downtown Tacoma bank branch and claimed he had a bomb last week.

The man, who’s refused to tell authorities his name, was arrested as he left the Bank of America on Thursday afternoon. Prosecutors charged him Friday with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault and threatening to bomb or injure property. In court documents, the 40-year-old man is identified as “John J. Doe.” He’s being held in jail in lieu of $10 million bail.

FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said today, “We believe we have him identified. The investigation …

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The U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the superintendent of the Special Commitment Center will be holding a press conference in a little more than an hour to discuss police activity this morning at the SCC on McNeil Island.

The press advisory states arrests were made at the Special Commitment Center, which houses sexually violent offenders. No other information was released.

The press conference begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Steilacoom ferry deck. I’ll report back when I know more.

Violent and property crime dropped across the country last year, according to statistics released this morning by the FBI.

It’s the second year of decline in violent crime and the sixth year for property crime.

As previously reported in The News Tribune, overall crime increased in Tacoma and Pierce County last year. Crime dropped in the state.