Officers responding to a report of a suspicious, abandoned vehicle blocking a roadway weren’t expecting to find the situation 10 feet up in a tree. But that’s exactly what happened.
The incident comes from a weekly recap shared by the Bremerton Police Department in Washington on its official Facebook page, where the agency regularly highlights notable calls and activity from the past week. In this case, officers located a 1994 Honda Accord parked squarely in the roadway, with no driver, no explanation, and no easy way around it.
A check into the vehicle pointed to a possible owner who also had a felony warrant, so officers cleared the area and waited rather than rushing in. A short time later, a woman associated with the vehicle returned, apparently unaware officers were nearby, and took off on foot when units moved in.
She headed down a hillside and briefly out of view before officers caught up… and found her about 10 feet up in a tree. When asked to come down, she reportedly explained she was “harvesting moss” for Easter.
She was taken into custody on the outstanding warrant without incident. That should have been the end of it. It wasn’t.
The Car Was Still Blocking the Road
With the suspect in custody, officers were left with the original problem. The Honda Accord was still sitting in the middle of the roadway, blocking traffic.
Waiting for a tow truck was an option, but not a fast one. And with an older vehicle like a ’94 Accord, officers opted to try to move it themselves without causing damage.
After getting into the vehicle, the next challenge was starting it.
So They Called Someone Who Knew How
That’s when one officer had an idea. Just the day before, he had been in contact with someone who used to be very skilled at getting into and starting cars—the kind of experience you won’t find in an owner’s manual.
Now on the right side of the law and gainfully employed, that individual was willing to help. Using what was essentially a “phone-a-friend” approach, the former car thief walked the officer step-by-step through the process.
With that guidance, the vehicle was successfully started and carefully moved out of the roadway without damage. Problem solved. Road cleared. No tow truck required.
The Chaos Didn’t End There
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That moment stood out, but it was just one part of a much busier week. In one case, officers responded to a disabled vehicle and found two intoxicated occupants passed out inside, with the driver asleep behind the wheel and the car still in drive.
When contacted, he drove forward over spike strips before being safely stopped. He later provided a breath sample of nearly twice the legal limit and was booked on multiple charges, while the passenger—also intoxicated—had warrants and was booked as well.
In another incident, a driver who had been stopped became confrontational, refused to provide identification, and ultimately drove off—initiating a failure to yield. As officers coordinated ahead, spike strips were deployed, and at one point, the driver yelled, “Don’t spike my car, bro,” while continuing to evade.
The pursuit ended after the driver pulled into an apartment complex and attempted to flee on foot. He was taken into custody and booked on multiple charges.
In a separate case, a suspect who had previously fled was later located without incident. As officers approached, his girlfriend stepped out and pointed directly at him, saying, “he’s right here.” Not exactly how he planned it.
Notably, the department did not release names or booking photos in this summary, focusing instead on the incidents themselves.
Why No Booking Photos Were Shared
One question that often comes up on posts like this is why booking photos aren’t included. In Washington, that comes down to state law and a court ruling.
A 1999 Washington Supreme Court decision determined that inmate booking photos do not have to be released to the public under the state’s Public Records Act. In addition, state law limits what jail records can be shared publicly.
Because of that, booking photos generally are not released unless they would help with an active investigation or are needed to notify the public about a registered sex offender. While basic jail information like names and dates of confinement can be made public, most other records—including mugshots—are considered confidential under Washington law.
The Part Worth Noticing
It would be easy to write all of this off as just another strange week. But there’s something else going on here.
Officers handled everything from impaired driving and failure to yield incidents to warrant arrests and unpredictable encounters—sometimes serious, sometimes just plain strange. And in the middle of all that, they still found a way to solve problems, think creatively, and keep situations from escalating.
They also chose to share these moments with the public in a way that people actually engage with. Not everyone appreciates humor in police reporting, and that’s fair.
But there’s a growing understanding that when departments communicate like this—mixing real information with a bit of personality—it can increase awareness, build trust, and keep people paying attention.
Stories like this get shared. They travel. And in the process, they remind people that officers are present, active, and dealing with everything from serious calls to situations that don’t make much sense at all.
Because sometimes the job is high stakes. And sometimes it’s a woman in a tree, harvesting moss. Either way, it still has to get done.