Deputies make arrest in car prowls

GRAHAM, Wash. — Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies who were called to a report of a suspicious man in Graham arrested an alleged armed felon in possession of a loaded gun and stolen property from car prowls.

Law enforcement said they went to the corner of 92nd Avenue East and 195th Street East to find a man standing next to a black Kawasaki motorcycle that did not have the correct license plate.

The 19-year-old man told the deputies he was on his way home from his girlfriend’s house and did not live in the area, deputies said.

After the suspect was asked to remove his backpack, a deputy placed the man in handcuffs, frisked him and said he felt a handgun grip on his waistline. The suspect allegedly tried to grab the deputy’s fingers, but the deputy took the man to the ground. The gun was loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition, law enforcement said.

The Sheriff’s Department said the man yelled, "I have that gun for my protection because people keep robbing me for my paycheck.”

Deputies looked through the man's wallet and said they found a concealed pistol license that was not his, a driver license and two credit cards belonging to a woman, who he claimed was his aunt but could not name.

Inside the man’s backpack, the deputies said they found another man’s driver license, Social Security card, EBT, health insurance and debit cards. Drug paraphernalia and a shaved key were also in the backpack, deputies said.

When law enforcement contacted the person identified on one of the cards, the man discovered his license had been stolen from his car.

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Deputies said they also ran the motorcycle's VIN number and discovered it had been stolen.

A woman who was victimized later told the arresting deputy her credit cards were stolen from her car and had been used at stores in South Hill, the Sheriff’s Department said.

The man was arrested and booked into the Pierce County Jail for possession of stolen property in the second degree, identity theft in the second degree, possession of a stolen vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree.

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