Inflatable Dinosaur Thief On The Loose In Puyallup

PUYALLUP, WA - If you see one of those inflatable dinosaur costumes walking around Puyallup, you might want to call police. A man stole one from the Spirit Halloween store at 3551 9th St. Southwest last week.

According to police, the man is in his 20s and may have stolen other costume-related items. Unfortunately, there was not surveillance footage of the theft.

Here are more incidents from the latest Puyallup police blotter:

Fraud 1824700624
600 Block of River Road
At some point during business hours on 09/03/18, three counterfeit $20 bills were used to make purchases. All the bills had the same serial number. No suspect information at this time.

Fraud 1824701166
500 Block of 43rd Ave SE
A female was contacted by an old friend on the Facebook who convinced her to send $1,500 to an address in Texas. In return, she was supposed to receive $200,000 but the money never arrived. This is a very common scam. If something seems too good to be true it probably is.

Motor Vehicle Theft Report 1824701620
1120 Block of River Road
Between 3:45 pm – 4:12 pm, the victim’s red 2013 Buick Encore was stolen from the parking lot. The victim had left the vehicle unlocked with the keys inside. It was entered as stolen. Remember the Lock It or Lose It campaign folks.

ID Theft 1824701796
600 Block of 9th ST SW
The victim found that his identity had been used to rent a car in Washington DC. No suspect information.

Vehicle Recovery 1822100430
3900 Block of 10th St SE
Gene’s impounded a PCSD stolen 2012 Ford Fiesta from the Hartland Place Condominiums at the request of the HOA. After impounding the vehicle the tow company discovered it was stolen.

Theft / Possible Robbery 1824702445
2000 Block of 9th St SE
17-year old male and 17-year old female along with 16-year-old female came back to this residence to pick up some drug paraphernalia they left behind from a party the night before. The victim claims, a 62-year old male, that the juveniles robbed him at gunpoint. A neighbor was contacted and apparently this victim has been hosting juvenile parties all summer. There is obviously much more to the story that the detectives will have to sort out.

Vehicle Recovery/Follow Up 1823700297.4
6500 River Road
The truck used in the BECU ATM theft from 8/25 was located abandoned at this location. The vehicle was processed for evidence and released to the owner. The truck bed and water tank ($12,000 value) had been stolen. Investigation continues.

Theft CSS1805155
1800 Block of 9th St SW
Sometime over the holiday weekend, four Alpha Gel batteries were stolen from a Comcast power supply at this location. These are the batteries used to keep 911 services running in case of a power outage. No suspects, report to SIU.

DWLS/Ignition Interlock/Warrant 1824800567
1800 block S Meridian
A female was stopped for multiple violations. She was arrested/booked for being DWLS and not having the required ignition interlock. She was also found to have a misdemeanor warrant for the same crimes.

Found Property (Gun) 1824801254
1300 block S Meridian
A City of Puyallup worker found a .40 Glock handgun in the bushes while working. The gun was in a holster and contained a full magazine. It has not been reported stolen and is not registered.

Vehicle Recovery / PSP 1824801995
2300 Block of 9th St SW
An Officer stopped a vehicle for a seatbelt violation and discovered the vehicle was stolen. The driver, a 26-year old male was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of vehicle theft tools, drug paraphernalia and traffic crimes. The male might not be that good of an auto thief as he has been arrested six other times in the past year and half for possession of a stolen vehicle.

Arson / Reckless Burning 1824802388
7-11 121 E Stewart
Three transient males and a transient female lit the recycle dumpster on fire. They were all GOA upon PD arrival and the only descriptor was that one of them was riding a small framed pink bike.

Motor Vehicle Theft 1824801595
Meridian Pointe Apartments
A female reports her 1993 Honda stolen from Meridian Pointe Apartments sometime between 10:00 pm on 09/04 and 4:00 pm on 09/05. No suspects. Vehicle entered into WACIC/NCIC.

Shoplifting / Warrant 1824802236
Target
A female was doing her back to school shoplifting for her daughter and was caught with about $100 in merchandise. She was booked.

Shoplifting 1824802123
Wal-Mart
A female selected grocery items and paid for only a small selection before carting out the rest of her unpaid merchandise. She was cited.

Vehicle Recovery 1824601316
Glenbrooke
While on Predpol, the AVR located a stolen Hyundai Elantra. The vehicle was unoccupied and impounded when the owner could not be reached. Report to SIU.

Warrant Arrest / FIR 1824900147
Riverwalk Trail – 1100 block
Three males were all contacted on the trail during closed hours. Two of them had confirmed warrants. One male also lied about his name and was riding a pink bike matching the description from the earlier arson. Of course, no one knew anything about the dumpster fire. The two males were booked. All were trespassed from the park.

Assault/DWLS/Road Rage 1824801715
2300 Shaw Road
A male and female were involved in a road rage incident. They stopped and had a verbal argument before the female alleges that the male punched her window, pulled her hair, and grabbed her arm. The male denies these allegations, and no vehicle damage or visible injuries observed. The male was DWLS 3rd. Report to Prosecutor for review/charges.

Warrant Arrest 1824700633
Luckett House – 1701 13th St SE
A male was called in as causing a disturbance at this location, and staff asked that he be removed. He was found to have a felony warrant and was booked into PCJ.

Vehicle Prowl 1824801505
Meridian West Apartments – 2560 S Meridian
The victim believed that his vehicle was prowled on the morning of 09/04/18. Taken was memorabilia from a recent bigfoot convention. Two suspects could be seen on grainy surveillance footage. No force used to make entry, and an Officer obtained a latent fingerprint from the vehicle.

Theft 1824801625
Home Depot – 303 35th Ave SE
The victim placed his cell phone on the counter when checking out and forgot it. When he returned, the phone had been stolen. Investigation continuing.

Motor Vehicle Theft Report 1824900352
Meridian Pointe Apartments – 407 Valley Ave NE
Sometime overnight the victim’s blue 1995 Honda Civic was stolen from in front of the “Z” building. No suspect information. Vehicle entered as stolen.

Criminal Trespass 1 1824900486
Shari’s – 107 37th Ave SE
A male was called in as being disorderly and refusing to leave the restaurant. The male had been inside for over three hours and was refusing to pay his bill or leave. An Officer gave him multiple warnings, but he still refused to leave. He was arrested and booked at Puyallup Jail.

Theft 1824701694
T-Mobile – 4009 S Meridian
A white male (20-30 y/o, 6’01”, 240 lbs.) stole a JBL speaker and five phone cases. He fled in a blue Chevy Suburban. There is surveillance footage. Report to SIU.

Burglary 1824900795
Affordable Self Storage – 3501 14th St Pl SW
Sometime over the last few months the victim’s storage unit was burglarized. Unknown at this time what all was stolen. Report to SIU.

Vehicle Prowl/Fraud 1824900889
1600 Block of 7th St Pl SE
Sometime overnight the victim’s vehicle was prowled at this location. A speaker and wallet were stolen, and bank cards were used fraudulently at a local Chevron and Safeway. An Officer completed follow up by reviewing surveillance footage but was not able to identify a suspect.

Theft (License Plate) 1824901411
Loose Wheel – 715 River Rd
The victim’s license plate for his KTM motorcycle was stolen on 08/25/18 in front of this location. Delay in reporting since the victim did not realize his license plate was missing. No suspect info, and plate was entered as stolen.

Lost or misplaced parked vehicle X1824901174
Unknown lot around the Fair
An Officer spent several hours looking for a Silver colored 2002 Ford Taurus parked somewhere believed to be in a “pay lot”. The owner has a traumatic brain injury and was very confused and did not know many other details. Several squads searched to no avail. Info passed to night shift.

Possession Prescription drugs, Warrants #1824901977
200 Block of 7th Ave SW
A male was identified in a passenger stopped after being stopped by bike officers witnessing and smelling the three occupants of the car smoking Marijuana in public in the Taco Bell Lot. A passenger was arrested and had three additional warrants for his arrest, to include one for DUI out of Puyallup PD.

Counterfeiting 1824900779
110 9th AV SW/Murph’s BBQ
Sometime between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm on 09/03, an unknown person used a counterfeit “20” dollar bill to purchase some BBQ.

Theft from Vehicle – Vehicle Prowl 1824901669
900 N Levee Road
The doors were punched on the victim’s vehicle. Tools and fishing gear were stolen sometime between 8:30 am and 9:40 am on 09/06/18 while the truck was parked in a field regularly used for parking by fishermen. No suspect info.

Assault 4th / Mal Misch. 1824901895
Clarks Creek Park – South
Occurring yesterday, the victim states he was assaulted by three subjects after they thought he was “checking out” one of their girlfriends. The victim’s phone was broken in the assault. Suspects were partially identified by the victim via Facebook. Report to MCU for follow up.

Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images