Kent Police Blotter: June 13 to July 10

A sampling of Kent Police incidents June 13 to July 10:

June 13

Senior Center fire: 11:50 p.m., officers assisted Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority with a fire that occurred at the Kent Senior Center, 600 E. Smith St. The suspect walked up to the front doors, kicked over an igloo cooler of clothing and then lit its contents on fire with a lighter.

June 14

Dollar Tree fire: 1:45 p.m., an officer was called to assist with a fire that occurred at the Dollar Tree, 23406 Pacific Highway S. Video surveillance showed two suspects putting together a couple wood pallets against the business using them to shield the view of them using narcotics. One of the suspects was then seen lighting a piece of cardboard on fire, pushed the wood pallets against the building and then lit them on fire.

Residential burglary: In the 26200 block of 114th Lane SE, victim called after reviewing Ring camera and when she arrived noticed the blinds moving. Several officers responded and found a juvenile male outside the unit holding what later turned out to be a stolen Nintendo Switch. The suspect fled over a fence and into a neighboring apartment complex. Officers quickly apprehended the suspect.

June 16

Carjacking: 4:24 a.m., officers were dispatched to a carjacking in the 700 block of Washington Avenue N. The victim met the two suspects at a gas station in Auburn who agreed to pay her with gas money if she took them to their apartment in Kent. Upon arrival, the suspects eventually produced firearms and robbed the victim of her vehicle, purse and cellphone. The vehicle was located by Seattle Police on June 19.

June 17

Felony harassment: 1:53 a.m., officers responded to what started as a civil standby and turned into a felony harassment case at the Arterra Townhomes, 10031 SE 258th Place. The suspect threatened his child’s mother with a gun and initially refused to come out of the residence, which was also occupied by the shared child and many other children. The male was eventually convinced to come out peacefully and taken into custody without further issue. Suspect was booked into King County jail for felony harassment domestic violence.

June 19

Barricaded in apartment: 11:57 p.m., officers were dispatched to a domestic violence in the 24800 block of 96th Ave. SE. The suspect barricaded himself inside the apartment with a 1-year-old baby he has in common with the victim. The suspect was saying officers were going to have to shoot him, and he was not going back to jail. Officers made PA announcements for approximately 30 minutes until the Federal Way Hostage Negotiation Team arrived on scene. Negotiators spoke with the suspect and was eventually able to get him to surrender the child to his mother and allow himself to be taken into custody.

June 22

Apartment shooting: 3:55 a.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting within the Phoenix Court Apartments, 23913 111th Place SE. The victim was seen crouching down near a tree line by one of the buildings when another subject walked out of an apartment. The victim and the subject got into an altercation which led to the shooting. The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The victim was transported to the hospital.

Commercial burglary: 10:19 a.m., an officer was dispatched to a commercial burglary from Cut Pros Barber Shop, 25453 104th Ave. SE. The owner reported the suspect(s) forced entry through the back door and took the ATM machine from within the business. Video surveillance was obtained of the incident which showed two suspects (male and female) committing the crime.

June 23

Kent-Meridian burglary: 7:13 a.m., a Kent School Resource officer was notified of a burglary that occurred overnight at Kent Meridian High School, 10020 SE 256th St. Video surveillance showed the suspect entered onto the property, tipped over trash cans, defecated, and urinated in an alcove, broke up a track hurdle and eventually broke into the snack bar and stole food. The suspect dropped his wallet in the snack bar that contained his ID. The suspect also smashed the scoreboard control box. The suspect created $10,000 to $15,000 in damages.

June 26

Residential burglary: 11:21 p.m., officers were dispatched to a residential burglary in progress where the suspect broke into a home armed with a knife. The victim and her daughter were in their home when the unknown suspect randomly broke in by smashing the front door. The suspect used a metal pipe, collected a kitchen knife, and continued to break items inside their residence. The suspect went outside and damaged multiple vehicles as well. The officers located the suspect and safely took him into custody.

June 27

Man shot: 6 a.m., officers responded to Valley Medical Center in Renton to contact the victim of a shooting which allegedly occurred around the 21400 block of 46th Ave. S. The victim had been in his driveway at 3:30 a.m. when he felt what he described as being hit with a baseball bat. He did not hear or see anything when this occurred. He went inside and later discovered that he had been shot near his clavicle area. Officers searched for a crime scene but were unable to locate one.

SCORE jail death: 4 p.m., Kent Valley Independent Investigative Team Detectives were sent to the SCORE jail in Des Moines for an in-custody death investigation. Multiple inmates tested positive for having fentanyl in their systems. One inmate died.

Apartment shooting: 6:39 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting within the Vibe Apartments, 25220 109th Place SE. The victim was at the apartment complex visiting a coworker when he was randomly confronted by 5 or 6 males. A verbal confrontation ensued. When the victim drove out of the complex, he saw one of the suspects begin to fire multiple rounds at him and his vehicle. No injuries were reported.

Kent Bowl shooting: 11:48 p.m., officers were dispatched to Valley Medical Center regarding a subject who had been shot while at Kent Bowl. The victim and others were celebrating a birthday party. When they were leaving for the night, the victim and others were getting into a vehicle when they heard gunfire. The victim was struck once and no one saw who, where or under what circumstance the shooting occurred.

June 29

Apartment shooting: 3:38 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting at the Phoenix Court Apartments, 23913 111th Place SE. The victim had multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. Video surveillance was obtained which depicted the specific suspect vehicle used during the shooting. A few hours later officers located the vehicle and a lengthy pursuit ensued. Officers were able to capture the two subjects in the vehicle and book them into jail.

Gunshot victim: 10:41 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting in the 6800 block of S. 228th St. The victim was near a bridge and stepped into a small culvert when he heard a gunshot and was struck in the leg. He did not know who shot him or where the shot came from. The victim was immediately transported to the hospital to treat his injuries.

July 1

Shots fired: 1:50 a.m., officers were dispatched to an illegal discharge/shooting that occurred at the Burger Meister, 23221 Pacific Highway S. A bullet entered the building from the north, and it was now laying on the ground. No one was injured when this occurred.

July 4

Female shot: 12:14 a.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting near the intersection of SE 240th Street and 104th Ave. SE. The victim had been shot in the arm. The victim was driving her vehicle turning northbound on 104th Ave. SE when she heard what she first believed to be fireworks. After making the turn, her vehicle was struck by random gunfire. Officers located 20 casings in the Taco Bell parking lot.

Shots fired at vehicle: 5:15 a.m., officers contacted a shooting victim which occurred in the 25200 block of Pacific Highway S. The incident happened around 9:30 p.m. on July 3. The victim stated he was driving along Pacific Highway when he thought he heard fireworks. However, he stated his vehicle began to get hit by gunfire and at least one bullet was still embedded in his vehicle.

Shootout between vehicles: 7:57 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting that occurred at the intersection of Washington Ave. N and West James St. The shooting occurred between two vehicles, both of whom had left the scene. Officers were able to locate one of the involved vehicles and detained the occupants. During the investigation they found that the vehicle they stopped was involved in a traffic accident with the other vehicle that fled. After the accident, the juvenile subjects who the officers detained allegedly got out of their vehicle and fired at the other vehicle. Casings were located on the street. The juveniles’ attorney advised them not to talk to officers, so they were released, and their vehicle was taken as evidence.

July 5

Lowe’s burglary: 1:17 p.m., officers were dispatched to a burglary report at Lowe’s, 24050 Pacific Highway S., on the West Hill. Loss Prevention reported that overnight their fenced yard had been burglarized and approximately $20,000 in riding lawnmowers had been stolen. Video footage revealed three suspects took the mowers out of the fenced yard and they appeared to head towards the homeless encampment behind Lowe’s. A man who lived in the homeless encampment and saw the suspects return to the camp with the stolen mowers. He was able to point out where they were stashed in underbrush and well hidden from sight. Officers went into the encampment and were able to find all the stolen items and return them to Lowe’s.

Million dollar scam: 2:12 p.m., officers responded to a reported fraud in which an elderly woman had been scammed out of nearly $1.5 million dollars of her retirement and nest egg. The suspects were able to clone the Kent Police Department main line number and used it to call her, threatening arrest for a variety of crimes. The suspects used several different individuals, some pretending to be FBI agents.

Bicyclist shot: 11:12 a.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting in the 1700 block of W. Meeker St. The victim was riding his bike down the street when he was randomly hit by gunfire. The victim was transported to the hospital due to his injury. Officers were later advised that medical personnel removed a BB from the victim’s neck.

July 6

Man shot: 3:37 a.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting that occurred at the intersection of West Smith Street and Thompson Avenue. The victim indicated he was shot by someone in a vehicle and provided a description. One spent casing was located in the parking lot of the Blinker Tavern, and the victim was transported to the hospital.

July 7

Vehicle shootout: 1:53 a.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting in the 24800 block of Pacific Highway S. Two vehicles were driving down the street shooting at each other. Officers located one of the involved vehicles which was parked in the 24400 block of Pacific Highway. The other involved vehicle allegedly shot at a different vehicle in Des Moines prior. Then, as the vehicle passed the victims in Kent, someone from the same suspect vehicle fired at them as well. No injuries were reported.

July 8

Shooting victim: 3:40 a.m., Renton PD reported a shooting victim showed up at Valley Medical Center who had been hit in the chest. The victim had been dropped off by someone in a vehicle and indicated the shooting occurred in Kent near South 180th Street and East Valley Highway. Officers responded to the area and located a vehicle that was involved in a prior armed robbery in Renton and subsequently pursued by Kent.

Apartment shooting: 11:36 p.m., officers were dispatched to a shooting that was first reported to have occurred at the Safeway in the 13100 block of SE Kent Kangley Road. The victim sustained a gunshot wound to his arm. He had been inside the Birch Creek apartments with his girlfriend, and they had just got out of the vehicle when he was shot. The victim and his girlfriend got back into the vehicle and fled to Safeway to call 911.

July 9

Chevron robbery: 2:25 p.m., officers were dispatched to a robbery at the Chevron, 27121 Military Road S. A male suspect came into the store and eventually pointed a firearm at the employee. The suspect forced him to open the cash registers and ended up taking $300 in cash along with numerous vape pens.

July 10

Motorcyclist strikes officer: 6:38 p.m., officers responded to Thea Bowman Apartments, 23920 32nd Ave. S., for a report of four subjects associated with a motorcycle and a shotgun were seen shooting a firearm at the trees. As officers arrived there were two subjects, one male and one female standing near the motorcycle. The female was compliant and backed away, but the male jumped on the motorcycle and revved the engine. Officers gave multiple commands to stop and get off the motorcycle, but he refused and drove straight at an officer who was on the sidewalk. The officer single handedly took out the male as he tried to speed away causing the motorcycle to fall to the ground. The officer’s left leg was struck by the motorcycle, but he was able to hold the subject on the ground while other officers rushed to assist. The male was taken into custody and Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority arrived to evaluate him. The subject swallowed fentanyl and had to be rushed to the hospital. A male also contacted at the scene and was arrested for an outstanding state Department of Corrections warrant. A loaded firearm was recovered from the person. The officer was examined and then transported to MultiCare Covington Medical Center. He sustained a small fracture to his left leg.

Major emphasis patrol

Street racer emphasis June 30 to July 2: 5 arrests/citations, 4 infractions, and 1 impound.