Coulee Cops

Grand Coulee

Police

5/23 - Police observed a loose chihuahua-type dog in front of a home on Roosevelt Drive. Police knew the dog to belong to the house. The dog snarled and barked at the officer, who drew his baton, causing the dog to retreat into its home. The owner didn’t appear to be home. The dog is said to frequently get loose. 

- A resident of a Federal Avenue apartment was upset when another resident’s young children shot the screen to his window with a Nerf dart, made of foam, causing him to become upset and tell the other residents to be quiet. Police photographed the Nerf dart and his screen.

- Someone reported a person taking hits from a bong in a red Chevy on Burdin Boulevard. The car was gone when police arrived.

- Police responded to a report of a deer with an electrical wire around its neck. Police saw the deer with some kind of rope around its neck, making it appear it had been tied up but had broken loose. No Fish & Wildlife officers were available to respond. The rope didn’t appear to be bothering the deer.

5/24 - Police responded to a report of teenagers driving unauthorized vehicles on SR-174. Police saw a couple of “miniature motorcycles” not registered for traditional roadways and better suited for off road activities parked by the city park where teenagers were playing basketball. Police warned them to stay off of the highway to prevent traffic hazards, and talked with them a bit further about unrelated topics.

5/25 - A bay door was left open on the city shop, and police secured it. It didn’t appear that anyone had been inside, but had simply been left open.

- Police found a suspect who had been seen trespassing at a building under construction on Martin Road. The suspect had a large roll of paper and a lawn ornament that he admitted he took from the construction site. Police told him not to root through other people’s trash and that he should know he’s not allowed on construction sites unless he’s working there. The man conceded the point and also admitted to being in the building. Police placed him in cuffs and took him back to the site where they continued their investigation while the suspect remained with a Coulee Dam officer. The report doesn’t state anything further, such as if the man was charged with anything. 

- A tribal officer requested assistance with a man  whom he’d arrested and was banging his head inside the patrol car. A Grand Coulee officer came and offered the man a bike helmet, but the man refused it. Officers didn’t press the issue. The man was taken to the hospital where the Grand Coulee officer stood by to assist in case there were any issues.

5/26 - Someone hit a small deer on Midway Avenue near city hall, got out to look at damage, dismissed witnesses who told him he hit a deer, then drove off. Police decided it was best to kill the deer. Witnesses didn’t have a license number of the vehicle to provide to police.

- Police were unable to find an elderly driver reported as swerving and hitting the curb while driving North on SR-174 towards the Grand Coulee Dam.

- An Infinity crashed into a 1984 Chevy Pickup on Federal Way and then into the front door area of a residence, causing extensive damage to the front door area and “totaling” the truck. The woman driving the Infinity said the gas pedal got stuck and she used the brake, causing her to fishtail and lose control of the vehicle leading up to the crash. She is being charged with reckless driving.

5/28 - Police helped a man who said his wife violated divorce paperwork because she was supposed to have left a Butler Square residence in a clean and orderly manner but had left trash and debris in the residence and her vehicle parked out front. Police marked the vehicle, which had expired tabs, to be towed, and photographed the debris and provided further advice to the man on how to obtain a copy of a police report regarding the matter.

5/30 - A patient at the hospital acted belligerently when refused opiates. He had been on fentanyl, staff said. The patient was discharged and refused to leave, at one point slamming open a door causing the door handle to hit a plastic device meant to keep the door from hitting the wall. The device worked, but was broken in the process. Police hadn’t learned yet if the hospital wanted to press charges, but the charge of interference with a healthcare facility would apply as the patient’s behavior delayed the care of another emergency room patient.

- Nothing appeared disturbed at the Mexican restaurant on SR-174  where an alarm had been activated. Police told the owner about the circumstances.

- Police checked on a woman on Pearl Avenue in Electric City who had fallen, couldn’t get up and, sounding in distress, had tried to call a friend using an automated assistant on her cell phone. Instead, it called a sheriff’s office in Indiana, which alerted local police. She had been able to get up by the time police arrived and thanked them for checking on her.

- Police responded to a report of men fighting at the bar on Main Street. A man outside the bar told police he was upset that he was denied a drink and asked to leave, leading to some kind of altercation. The man was told he was banned from the bar and left the area.

5/31 - Police noticed a Ford pickup that had driven off of Alcan Road and dropped off a hill onto the Grand Coulee City Shop property, ending up front end down over the edge of a large sand pile. The property didn’t appear damaged. The keys were in the ignition and the vehicle was still in drive. The vehicle was registered to a man whose wallet and ID were found, as well as a partially empty Fireball Whiskey bottle, under the gas pedal. Police then heard of a report of a suspicious person outside of the Trails West Motel. It was the man who owns the truck, whom police took to the scene of the collision. He refused to talk about it and never said that he had been driving it. After speaking with other officers, including a Grant County sergeant, it was determined no probable cause existed to charge the man with a hit and run nor with driving under the influence. The man was told his vehicle would be towed and he left on foot.

6/1 - A man was cited for consuming liquor in public after being seen doing so by police near the library. The man had been warned about doing so multiple times.

- Police found a broken window on a Second Street empty residence where it appeared someone had gained entry. The owner said they would board up the window. 

6/1 - Someone reported two baby turkeys near Safeway. The report doesn’t say if police responded to the report.

6/2 - A woman on Roosevelt Drive reported someone egged her home, and believes it to be neighborhood children. She also reported that the city crew was rude to her when she asked them to remove chalk graffiti from the basketball court at the nearby city park, and wouldn’t allow her to do so herself. The city crew told police that the woman harasses them every time they are working at the park and her husband yells obscenities and yells profanities at one of the workers. Police said they would talk to her and ask her to leave them alone while working, and if the problem continues she could be banned from the park or the city could petition the courts for an anti-harassment order. Police spoke to the woman again and she seemed to understand when police asked her to not bother the city crew while working. In a separate case, two teenagers were banned from her property after one honked a horn while driving past. And in another case on the same day, the woman reported people at the park drinking and smoking pot with vehicles blocking the alleyway and people approaching her residence. Police spoke to people at the park who said the woman had come to the park taking videos and pictures of everyone to annoy them. The people who had been approaching her residence live in the same area. Police told people at the park that vehicles parked in the alleyway would need to be moved to allow for someone trying to travel through. Several officers played basketball with the kids before leaving the area.

6/3 - After being pulled over for driving with erratic lane travel on Alcan Road, a driver  was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. She was given a ride home after being charged.

Coulee Dam

Police

5/30 - After hearing something, someone observed a shed open on River Drive. Police saw that it looked like someone pried a lock off the shed’s wooden door. Police didn’t find any suspects in the area.

- Someone locked their keys in their vehicle at Lake Roosevelt Schools. Police told them about a company they can call as police can’t help with lockouts.

5/31 - Police told a man they would keep an eye on the area of Taylor Street for drug dealing after a suspected drug deal was reported there.

- A woman reportedly shattered a rear window on a man’s car after hitting it with a garden tool during an argument on Kelso Avenue in Electric City. Police passed the case onto Colville Tribal Police because the woman was a tribal member and the incident occurred “within the geographical boundaries of Colville Tribal land,” although not on the reservation.

6/2 - Someone reported a deer stuck in the “city yard” near Stevens Avenue in Coulee Dam couldn’t get out. Police said they didn’t have the keys to the area.

- Police went to Lakeview Avenue in Electric City where a vehicle was parked in a private driveway. The occupants said they were from out of town, had been down at the lake and were unaware they were breaking a law by parking there. Police told them to use public parking to access the lake.

- Someone reported a suspicious person wearing all black with a black backpack walking down the street in Electric City. Police found a man matching the description near Kelso Avenue. He said he was just walking down the street. Police determined he wasn’t breaking any laws.

6/4 - Police went to Grand Avenue in Electric City where a woman had a cut on her arm. She explained she’d cut it on a fence while walking by it.

- Various buildings on Grand, Schreiber, Western and School Avenues were spray painted with graffiti that included pictures of marijuana leaves, bombs, a penis, the words “LR Sucks” and more. There were no suspects at the time of the police report.