Illegal dumping call results in drug arrest in Kent

Earlier this week, Kent Police Patrol Officers received a 911 dispatch around 8 a.m. regarding someone dumping mattresses in the 25100 block of 74th Ave S. (map below).

Upon arrival, police found a pile of mattresses next to a large black pickup. The 60-year old male pickup driver was the only occupant, and he was clearly unconscious and drooling on himself when an Officer contacted him.

“Our Officers have seen a lot of high opioid users, and his symptoms matched,” police said.

The man woke up and began to move around inside the truck, exposing a large bag of blue oval pills on his seat. These were easily seen from the truck window. Being very familiar with fentanyl, our Officers quickly identified the pills as illegal street drugs commonly referred to as “Perk 30s” or “Blues”.

The suspect was arrested without incident for possession/public use of a controlled substance. The Officer wrote a warrant to access the vehicle, and once it was approved by a judge, ultimately located and took custody of 35.7 grams of fentanyl, (inclusive of packaging), a smaller amount of methamphetamine and a container holding some partially smoked fentanyl.

The suspect was also carrying a knife.

“The most innocuous of calls, an illegal dumping at 8 a.m., resulted in the arrest of a suspect who clearly should not be behind the wheel of a car,” police said. “He was high, had a large amount of illegal drugs in his possession, and was armed with a knife.

“Thank you to our 911 caller. As always, we are so much more effective with your help.”

Police add that the suspect’s first drug arrest in Kent occurred in August, 2006 – 17 years ago.

“Please get help if you are a user,” police added. “This suspect is lucky to still be alive with his history.”

• Kent addiction resource: https://www.stopwa.com/kent-treatment-center/
• 24/7 WA State Crisis Line:866-427-4747 https://www.crisisconnections.org/24-hour-crisis-line/