Bainbridge blotter | Illegal camping

Selected reports from the Bainbridge Island Police Department blotter.

MONDAY, MAY 21

7:42 a.m. Police found a 43-year-old California man camping illegally in the woods near the intersection of Highway 305 and High School Road.

The officer was conducting a foot patrol as, in recent weeks, evidence of transients camping in the area had been found.

Near a recently extinguished campfire, police found the man asleep. Upon being roused, he reached for a hatchet, but stopped when police again identified themselves.

The man appeared disoriented, police said, and told them the camp fire had been set weeks ago, but he didn’t know anything about it. When police said neither the fire nor the man had been in the area earlier, the man changed his story, said the campfire had been there earlier and that he was upset he could not camp there.

Police asked for the man’s ID, found he had no warrants, and told him to leave. Later they returned to verify he was gone.