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closeUPS driver detains car prowl suspect
Man allegedly broke vehicle’s rear window with rocks
Nate Hulings
of the Gateway
Gateway photo/Lee Giles III
Gig Harbor Police Officer Fred Douglas talks with car prowl victim Bradley Harris and UPS driver Sven Lovstrom following a successful capture of a suspected car prowler at the corner of Peacock Hill Avenue and Harborview Drive NW.
It appears there’s no limit to the UPS slogan, “What can Brown do for you?”
For an afternoon last Wednesday, UPS driver Sven Lovstrom of Gig Harbor went from delivering packages to packaging a suspect in an alleged car prowl.
A man was detained and arrested in the Merle Norman Cosmetics parking lot on Peacock Hill Avenue after he allegedly used a rock to break the rear window of a Ford Explorer at a Sellers Street residence.
Relaxing between jobs, Bradley Harris heard a knock on his door. It was a kid who had witnessed a man break into Harris’ wife’s vehicle.
As the kid informed the Harris’ about the prowler, Lovstrom was delivering a package across the street. He soon saw the Harrises come out of their home and was told about the incident.
After he heard a description of the man and that he was carrying two bags, Lovstrom called 9-1-1.
“I said, ‘I knew where he was at,’” Lovstrom said.
Lovstrom said he passed the suspect while he drove up Peacock Hill Avenue.
Without hesitation, Lovstrom turned his truck around and caught up with the suspect, who was walking down Peacock Hill Avenue. Lovstrom, who pulled into the Merle Norman Cosmetics parking lot, proceeded to park his truck in a fashion that blocked the man’s walking route.
Lovstrom then approached the man.
“I told him to get on the grass,” he said.
The suspected car prowler complied without objection.
Harris, who didn’t even have time to put on shoes before he hopped into his vehicle, joined Lovstrom and the suspect in the parking lot.
Gig Harbor Police responded and detained the man.
As police searched through the bags and questioned witnesses, Lovstrom voiced outrage over local car prowlers.
“I’m sick and tired of it,” he said.
The two bags the suspect was carrying at the time of arrest belonged to him, according to police records. When the bags were searched, two more rocks were found.
The man was arrested for second-degree vehicle prowling and third-degree malicious mischief.
