Selected reports from the Bainbridge Island Police Department blotter:
Tuesday, April 8
11:21 a.m. Two kayaks were stolen from a private beach property.
11:38 a.m. Police received a report of telephone harassment by a potential scam artist. A resident told officers that she had received a call from the scammer for the sixth time.
The scammer had an Indian accent and was pretending to be with an enforcement agency for the IRS. He demanded payment for alleged back taxes. The resident Googled the phone number and found multiple blogs warning about the scam. Police called the phone number and pretended to be an 88-year-old woman named Ethel Murray.
The person on the other line had an Indian accent and told the officer there was a warrant out for her arrest. The scammer hung up when the officer did not give any personal information. During the call, the officer could hear others in the background which sounded like a “boiler room” call center. The number used by the scammer is 315-210-6164.
2:08 p.m. A couple were bothered by a pizza delivery man. Instead of coming to the door and ringing the door bell, the couple heard footsteps around the house and saw the man peer through their windows. He then turned around and began to leave. The two were expecting the pizza delivery.
When the woman came out to confront the delivery man, he said he thought this was a library and it was closed. The man appeared strange to them.
Sunday, April 6
3:31 p.m. A couple were sitting on their back porch when they saw someone hiding in the bushes. When the wife called out, a man jumped out of the bushes and ran to a gold SUV that was waiting.
The couple believed the man was casing the property for things to steal. Shortly after the incident the man returned with two women. The husband told police he recognized them as former high school classmates. The three told the couple there was an abandoned building nearby that they were exploring.
They said the first floor looked like it could be a fun place to set up a secret cafe for selling pot brownies.
