Latest news with #TacomaPoliceDepartment
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Tacoma DUI stop leads police to MAC-11 submachine gun
This story was originally published on A DUI stop in Tacoma led to the seizure of a MAC-11 submachine gun, the Tacoma Police Department (TPD) reported. Officers pulled a driver over for speeding and suspected impairment. 'Upon contacting the driver, officers quickly became concerned due to his erratic behavior and alarming statements,' police stated in a Facebook post. 'The driver, a convicted felon currently out on bail for burglary and subject to multiple protection orders, admitted to recent methamphetamine use and made disturbing comments about being radicalized and possessing a firearm.' In police body camera footage included in the post, the man admitted to having a MAC-11 in the car. Officers recovered that weapon and others from the vehicle. 'I'll be under the influence, I can't recall like what I've been doing, but when I smoke meth I just sit there for like 10 hours,' the man said on the video. 'And it's like I'm just being sexually assaulted, and I feel like I'm being radicalized to go on a mass shooting. Hence the gun in the car.' Officers subsequently obtained a search warrant for the driver's home after concerns about his mental state and the possibility of additional weapons. Police found more firearms and an abundance of ammunition, TPD stated. The man was booked into the Pierce County Jail on seven counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen firearm, and DUI.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
City of Tacoma shouldn't withhold Moore records on a technicality
C'mon. That's the thought that keeps popping into my head as I go over the City of Tacoma's reasons for denying a public records request from The News Tribune. When the news team here learned the city had investigated former police chief Avery Moore's use of leave while at the Tacoma Police Department, they made a request to see the records of that investigation. Now, the city has taken that straightforward ask and headed for the nearest loophole. It's part of a larger pattern of unnecessary delay on public records requests coming out of City Hall. And it comes at a time when the public has every reason to wonder what happened. Here's the city's reasoning: it hasn't made a final decision in its investigation into Moore's use of leave, so the city is exempted from providing the records. Based on state public records laws, the city is shielded from revealing notes and other records that would reveal opinions shared as part of the 'deliberative process,' before a final decision has been made. That has the ring of sense to it. But hold on, didn't Moore depart the Tacoma Police Department with a nearly $500,000 severance package in February? And wasn't another investigation into Moore's personal use of his work phone already concluded (and revealed to have cost the city $11,000 to conduct)? Yes, those things did just happen, which leaves one more question. What is there left for the city to decide when it comes to its investigation into the former chief's use of leave? Moore is gone. It's not like they can discipline him, let alone fire him. The City of Tacoma didn't indicate to The News Tribune's reporter when there might be a final decision. I can't help but wonder if the city shelved its questions into Moore's use of leave after he agreed to resign. That would leave a permanent ellipses at the end of its investigation, and an eternal cop-out from handing over any records. I asked City of Tacoma spokesperson Maria Lee whether the investigation had been shelved due to Moore's departure. She referred the question to the city's public records office, which did not provide additional information. It's not the first time the city has stonewalled public records requests. In 2021, two groups sued the city over withheld records, and won. The first group wanted to see documents from the Tacoma Police Department's use of cell phone location technology called a Stingray. A judge ordered the city to hand over the records and pay a penalty plus the group's legal fees. The second lawsuit concerned the city's records surrounding Puget Sound Energy's plans to build a liquid natural gas plant near the Port of Tacoma. A judge in that case ordered the city to implement public records training for the heads of all city departments, finding the city's previously existing training inadequate. Declining to provide answers based on a cute interpretation of public records laws doesn't serve the public interest. Sure, records of the investigation into Moore's use of leave could be a nothingburger. The News Tribune first learned of an investigation into Moore's use of leave from records of the city's investigation into a $1,000 charge Moore racked up on his work phone while using it for GPS during a family vacation to Sweden. Those records noted that city manager Elizabeth Pauli opened the HR investigation into Moore's use of leave in response to rumors. It could turn out that those rumors were unsubstantiated. But that's not the point. When a high-profile city hire takes a huge payout and leaves town without explanation, it's going to raise questions. Even more so when another investigation into that same hire cost more than 10 times the amount of the inappropriate phone charges it was looking into. So c'mon, City of Tacoma, it's time to give a real answer.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Death investigation underway in Tacoma, WA
The Brief Police are investigating after a man died in Tacoma. The shooting happened near South Wilkenson Street and South 37th Street. Officers responded after reports of an unresponsive male with a possible gunshot wound. TACOMA, Wash. - Police are investigating the death of a man who was found unresponsive in Tacoma early Wednesday morning. What we know After 1:30 a.m., officers responded to reports of an unresponsive man with a possible gunshot wound on South Wilkenson Street and South 37th Street. When officers arrived at the scene, they found the man and started life-saving efforts. Medics with the Tacoma Fire Department responded to the location and determined the man had died at the scene. Detectives are investigating the death as a possible homicide. The Source Information in this story came from the Tacoma Police Department. Sweltering weather in store for Seattle this week Motorcyclist killed, driver arrested after Puyallup crash Mom of slain Idaho victim Xana Kernodle asks for help attending Bryan Kohberger trial Seattle Memorial Day weekend 2025: Your guide to events, traffic, more Tears, heartbreak at Chase Jones sentencing—teen in fatal Renton, WA crash Seattle police make arrests at counterprotest to 'Mayday USA' event in Capitol Hill Tree-sitter enters third week in WA's Olympic Foothills to halt logging Free housing for a felon? Kirkland, WA neighbors concerned over homeless hotel plans To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Recent search at Tacoma home was part of Teekah Lewis investigation, police say
A 3-day search at a Tacoma home for clues into the disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis ended Wednesday with no results, police said. The Police Department received a tip that was related to the on-going investigation into Teekah's disappearance. She was last seen at an arcade at New Frontier Lanes bowling alley on Center Street on Jan. 23, 1999. Police believe she was kidnapped. The recent tip led detectives to a home in the 3200 block of South Gunnison Street, according to the department. 'The past three days of work on Gunnison Street represented one avenue this recent tip led detectives to pursue,' the department wrote on X. Teekah was not located, nor any evidence related to the case, the post said. 'The Tacoma Police Department remains steadfast in its commitment to seeking answers for Teekah's family and to resolving all of the city's cold cases. Every tip and lead we receive is taken seriously and pursued completely,' the post said. There are 147 unsolved homicides in TPD's cold-case files and 20 missing-person cases with strong possibility of homicide. Teekah was playing in the bowling alley's arcade before she went missing. She was reported missing to a police officer who was working there off-duty 20 minutes later at about 10 p.m. She was last seen wearing a Tweety Bird T-shirt, white sweatpants and red, white and black Air Jordan shoes. A maroon 1980s or '90s Pontiac Grand Am with tinted windows and a spoiler was seen speeding away from the bowling alley parking lot shortly after Lewis disappeared. Over the years, detectives followed up on more than 700 tips in Teekah's disappearance, The News Tribune reported in 2020. Cadaver dogs have been used to search the homes of sex offenders, and a small area in Point Defiance Park was dug up in 2010 after a man reported having a vision of where the girl was buried. A lack of evidence and no clear eyewitnesses have been the main challenges in the investigation, according to a Tacoma detective interviewed for a previous News Tribune story. Since her disappearance, Teekah's mother, Theresa Czapiewski, has held candlelight vigils for her daughter every year. She also got Teekah's missing-person's poster displayed on the side of semi-trucks used for shipping and transportation. Anyone with information on Teekah's disappearance is asked to contact the Tacoma Police Department.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Recent search at Tacoma home was part of Teekah Lewis investigation, police say
A 3-day search at a Tacoma home for clues into the disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis ended Wednesday with no results, police said. The Police Department received a tip that was related to the on-going investigation into Teekah's disappearance. She was last seen at an arcade at New Frontier Lanes bowling alley on Center Street on Jan. 23, 1999. Police believe she was kidnapped. The recent tip led detectives to a home in the 3200 block of South Gunnison Street, according to the department. 'The past three days of work on Gunnison Street represented one avenue this recent tip led detectives to pursue,' the department wrote on X. Teekah was not located, nor any evidence related to the case, the post said. 'The Tacoma Police Department remains steadfast in its commitment to seeking answers for Teekah's family and to resolving all of the city's cold cases. Every tip and lead we receive is taken seriously and pursued completely,' the post said. There are 147 unsolved homicides in TPD's cold-case files and 20 missing-person cases with strong possibility of homicide. Teekah was playing in the bowling alley's arcade before she went missing. She was reported missing to a police officer who was working there off-duty 20 minutes later at about 10 p.m. She was last seen wearing a Tweety Bird T-shirt, white sweatpants and red, white and black Air Jordan shoes. A maroon 1980s or '90s Pontiac Grand Am with tinted windows and a spoiler was seen speeding away from the bowling alley parking lot shortly after Lewis disappeared. Over the years, detectives followed up on more than 700 tips in Teekah's disappearance, The News Tribune reported in 2020. Cadaver dogs have been used to search the homes of sex offenders, and a small area in Point Defiance Park was dug up in 2010 after a man reported having a vision of where the girl was buried. A lack of evidence and no clear eyewitnesses have been the main challenges in the investigation, according to a Tacoma detective interviewed for a previous News Tribune story. Since her disappearance, Teekah's mother, Theresa Czapiewski, has held candlelight vigils for her daughter every year. She also got Teekah's missing-person's poster displayed on the side of semi-trucks used for shipping and transportation. Anyone with information on Teekah's disappearance is asked to contact the Tacoma Police Department.
