CouleeCops

Grand Coulee Police

7/15 - Police were told that a variety store had footage of a woman police had spoken to earlier outside the neighboring hardware store. The footage showed the woman leaving a package of ice cream outside in the parking lot.

- Police were in possession of a lost cell phone when the owner called with a friend’s phone. The woman confirmed the phone was hers by knowing the PIN and she got her phone back.

- Police spoke to a homeowner on Dill Avenue who explained she was having a branch cut down that hung over her roof, and not cutting down the tree itself. Police said that was fine, and to contact the PUD if there were any branches near a powerline that were going to be cut.

7/16 - Police responded to a report of a fight at the bar in Electric City. Police asked one of the men involved if he needed medical attention. He said he was “buzzed” and that this wasn’t his “first rodeo.” As reported in last week’s Coulee Cops, Coulee Dam police had decided there was probable cause to cite another man involved in the fight with assault for striking a woman in the arm when she had tried to break up the fight.

7/17 - A Grand Coulee woman reported that her credit card had likely fallen out of her pocket while at the casino in Coulee Dam. When she went to cancel the card, she discovered fraudulent charges made in the area, including close to $250 at Safeway, $90 at Harvest Foods, $50 at a gas station, another $285 at Safeway, and other smaller charges, altogether totalling $716.49. The fraud department at the woman’s bank had canceled the charges. Security footage at various locations showed the same woman using the credit card. One store, where the card had been declined, told police the woman got into a car owned by a woman with whom police are familiar. Police stopped the car on Spokane Boulevard after seeing it drive by North Dam Park. She was arrested on charges of identity theft, forgery, and felony theft and taken to Grant County Jail.

7/18 - A man was concerned that a friend hadn’t returned his truck he had borrowed about three hours earlier. Police told the man it wouldn’t be considered theft until after a longer amount of time elapsed to allow the man to return the vehicle.

7/19 - Police looked into a report of an argument between a boyfriend and girlfriend on Bowen Street possibly getting physical. Police spoke to both the man and woman involved who were both calm and said they had simply argued and that the fight hadn’t become physical. Police didn’t see any signs of injury on the woman.

7/20 - Police responded to the Trail West Motel where a couple had been arguing over “normal relationship stuff.” They told police the argument hadn’t become physical and that they were going to bed. Police didn’t see any signs of injury.

7/21 - A small fishing boat and truck rack had fallen off a man’s truck while traveling on SR-155. It seemed the rack simply gave out. The man and police were able to lift the boat out of the roadway, and police remained on scene while a man grabbed a friend to help with the boat. They were able to secure the boat to the truck so it could safely be taken back home.

7/23 - Police were unable to identify a man, shown on security footage, urinating next to a dumpster near a store. 

- A mother and son had argued near Burdin Boulevard after she didn’t help carry in groceries. No violence occurred, only profanities shouted.

- Gunshots were reported from a Grand Coulee Avenue residence along with someone fleeing the area. Police were unable to contact the homeowner. Considering the circumstances, that gave them cause to enter the residence through an unlocked back door. No one was there, but there were guns strewn about one of the rooms, and an empty gun holster. Police then received a call from the homeowner. Police explained that they had entered her home, and she said she understood.

- A woman on Partello Parkway was concerned about her husband after he left  with his phone off following an argument. When police arrived, the man had returned, and explained he had simply gone for a walk to cool off after the argument.

- A man turned in a ring he found on Spokane Way. 

- A deer was struck by a vehicle driving on the “Dam Hill” on SR-155. The deer was dragged off the roadway and police collected details about the incident.

7/24 - A couple suspected of “shooting up” drugs while parked in the Safeway parking lot turned out to just be using the store’s wi-fi. The store’s manager asked them to leave. Police observed no drug paraphernalia or sign or intoxication and felt fine letting them leave.

Coulee Dam Police

7/19 - A Columbia Avenue man reported seeing another identified man as driving off with his vehicle a few days earlier, stealing it.

- Grocery store owners in Electric City asked to have a man banned from their property, saying he is a known thief.

7/21 - Police observed a vehicle going 50 miles per hour in the 35-mph zone on Coulee Boulevard in Electric City. They eventually pulled the vehicle over near Spokane Way in Grand Coulee. After refusing a breathalyzer test, the driver was charged with driving under the influence. He was released after the car was towed.

7/22 - A suspicious vehicle was reported on Tilmus Street in Coulee Dam, driving with its headlights off. Police didn’t locate the vehicle.

- Police were contacted by a special agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who said a man allegedly had threatened in an email to kill a woman who lives in another city, The IP address the email was sent from pinged to a man who lived on Lone Pine Road in Elmer City. Police explained they should contact Okanogan County Sheriff’s Department as Elmer City wasn’t in their jurisdiction.

7/23 - Three naked people were reportedly attempting to jump off cliffs into Banks Lake near Jones Bay and Northrup Point. Police explained that was out of their jurisdiction as it is beyond Electric City’s borders.

- A bear was reported in the area of Jones Bay and, although out of jurisdiction, police chose to respond because of the possible threat to people, but were told along the way that the situation was under control after state parks officials had arrived.