Coulee Cops

Coulee Dam

Police

4/29 - The driver of a car that was reportedly driving too fast in the Kelso Avenue area was contacted by police who had been provided with the license plate number. The driver said he was only going 15 miles per hour. The officer said there are frequent complaints about speeding there and that officers who see speeding take place will write infractions for it.

- A man reported about $30 worth of gas was stolen from his Ford pickup while parked on Coulee Boulevard.

- Police responded to Fir Street where an incident took place involving a girl being confronted by her parents about smoking marijuana, leading to an argument that escalated and led to police taking her to the juvenile detention center in Okanogan County.

4/30 - A man was reported as suspicious for knocking on doors on Pine Street, saying he worked for a company out of Spokane. The officer had, himself, been visited by the man who was wearing clothes marked with the company’s name as a work uniform and who asked the officer if he knew how old his siding was. The case was marked closed.

- A Camas Street man reported that a neighbor’s dog had jumped the fence and chased his young child. However, police were unable to reach the dog owner at the time of the report and were unable to reach the man to gather more details.

5/1 - A man reported two change jars stolen from his home while he was gone. A burglar may have used a window to enter. A generator was also stolen from his garage. Police searched high crime areas but didn’t see any of the items and also attempted to speak to people in the area.

- Police received a report of two people arguing about a dog not being on a leash near School Avenue in Electric City. Police were unable to contact the reporting party to collect more details and didn’t see any off-leash dogs in the area.

- 5/2 -  Police went to a Coulee Boulevard apartment, where a resident was playing loud music, and told him to turn it down, which he did. Police then received another report that he had turned the music back up and was stomping around. Police went back to the apartment but didn’t hear any loud noises and so left the area. 

- Police determined there was no probable cause for an assault charge due to lack of evidence or witness to an incident on Roosevelt Avenue in Electric City. A woman said she was pushed down by another woman after attempting to prevent her from leaving with another person and her children believing that she had had too much to drink. All parties were said to have been drinking. There was no sign of an injury on the woman who was pushed. Police searched Electric City and Grand Coulee for the vehicle the other woman had left in but without success. 

5/3 - A Park Avenue mother wanted an incident documented in which the mother of another student had followed her son home as he walked and wanted to ask who his mother was. The two students had had some kind of issue on the school bus previously. The mother of the son who was followed felt that behavior of the other mother was unacceptable and wanted the incident documented. Police need the name of the other mother, but hadn’t heard back yet at the time the police report was filed.

- An abandoned vehicle parked on city property on River Drive was impounded. 

- Police responded to the “rock church” on Central Drive in Coulee Dam where a vehicle had struck a curb, ending up in the parking lot, draining transmission fluid, then driving off. Police found a piece of an underbody protection panel from the car there. The car continued to drain fluid after it left and police were able to follow the trail about three quarters of a mile to a garage on Tilmus Street. Police spoke to a man there who said he had bumped the curb and was aware of the draining fluid but didn’t want to talk further to the officer. The officer explained that it’s illegal to hit something with a vehicle, then leave. The man continued to say he wouldn’t speak to the officer further because it was late. He closed and locked the door. Police were able to determine who the man was and identify the car, visible through a garage window. It was determined a citation would be issued the next day. Video footage and pictures were taken throughout the investigation process.

5/4 - At Coulee Dam Tire on SR-155, police confiscated license plates that didn’t belong to the vehicle they were on. Police told the owner the plates were unlawful because they didn’t go to that vehicle.

5/6 - While at Sunbanks Lake Resort, a female caller accidentally called 911 from the lock screen of her phone, something the officer noted is easy to do as he’s done it himself. There had been some argument but no crimes were alleged and police involvement wasn’t needed.

- Police stopped a vehicle with expired tabs near 6th Street and Central Drive in Coulee Dam. The driver was also wanted on an arrest warrant and was taken to Okanogan County Jail. 

- A young girl was outside of the Skydeck hotel for over an hour. The mother of the girl was there when police arrived and explained that a substitute bus driver sometimes drops children off at the wrong location and that  the girl went to the hotel where she had sometimes stayed rather than to a friend’s house, where she had been staying. The child was safe and no crime was committed.

- There was some confusion about bunnies that had been taken from a Stevens Avenue home. The Grand Coulee residents who took them said their son  had given permission to take them  as they were not being properly cared for. The son was called and admitted that was the case and police warned him about making false claims.

5/7 - A woman was arrested and released as a four-hour arrest window had passed after an incident involved conflicting accounts regarding domestic violence between a man and woman in a relationship. Police forwarded details of a Birch Street incident to the prosecutors office for review. 

5/9 - Police documented that a door and window were open on a house but nothing appeared taken. It could possibly have been someone getting the property ready to be sold. 

- Officers from Coulee Dam and Grand Coulee worked together to arrest a man who allegedly  had been disrupting traffic and banging on car windows while walking down Coulee Boulevard in Electric City. The Grand Coulee officer had the man down on the ground when the Coulee Dam officer arrived. The man had a bloody mouth and hands and allegedly resisted the officers’ efforts to put him in the back of a patrol car. He also spit at an officer and later a fire chief, but they were able to duck away from the bloody saliva. A witness said he had earlier seen the man punch a Lincoln Avenue dog and yell. He said the blood was already present in the mans mouth area. The man’s charges include animal cruelty, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and obstruction. He was also apparently intoxicated, the report notes.

- A man was charged with a hit and run and for driving without insurance after an incident at the rodeo grounds in which he drove into a parked Honda, continued down the road, and hit a second vehicle. The Honda appeared totalled, the officer’s report notes. The man didn’t show signs of drug or alcohol use, but possibly signs of heat exhaustion. He said he felt off. He also said he knows he should have stopped after hitting the first vehicle. He was taken to a friend’s house where he could rehydrate.

5/10 - Police were contacted by the school district who said they’d be performing an alarm drill. No police action was necessary. 

- Some kids were throwing rocks at each other and laughing in what appeared to be simple horseplay. Police told them not to throw rocks at each other and they apologized and continued on their way.

5/12 - A man said people were dumping stuff at his shop on Coulee Boulevard, including a safe. Police didn’t find any reports of a stolen safe. The man kept the safe in his shop for safe keeping.