for daughter’s killer

The mother of Nicole Pietz is offering a $10,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person who murdered her daughter.

Pietz’s body was found in the bushes along Des Moines Memorial Drive and South 114th Street on Feb. 6. She was reported missing by her husband on Jan. 28 after leaving her Lynnwood home that morning, then missing a meeting with friends and failing to meet her husband for dinner that night.

Police officials say she was strangled. Her car was found Feb. 22 in a private lot in Seattle.

There are no suspects at this time.

Fingerprints reveal lies

On April 1, around 9:33 p.m., a Des Moines police officer observed a truck traveling 45 miles per hour in a 25 miles per hour zone.

The driver was pulled over and produced a drivers license, but while opening his glove box the officer noticed a handgun in plain view.

The man, who was asked to step out of the car, did not have a concealed weapons permit and the officer called for back up.

The handgun was loaded and in a leather holster. The driver was arrested for carrying a loaded and concealed weapon.

After running the serial number on the gun, the officer was informed that it was reported stolen by the Seattle Police Department in 1975.

The suspect insisted that the gun was not his and that it belonged to his cousin. The truck, however, was registered in the name on the suspect’s driver’s license.

At the police station, the suspect again said the gun belonged to his cousin. After being booked, he was released and went to the station lobby to wait for his ride.

While the man was still waiting, the arresting officer received information that fingerprints found on the gun belonged to someone else.

The officer again spoke with the man to find his real name, and once again the suspect insisted his real name was the name on the license.

He was also asked if he had been arrested earlier and he said no, but the fingerprints revealed that he had been arrested in 1978 by Seattle police.

The suspect then said someone must have used his name and the officer said that might have been possible, but it was not possible for someone to use his fingerprints.

The suspect finally admitted his real name was the name he gave as his cousin’s, and said he had a driver’s license with a different name because he was tired of his car insurance going up due to multiple tickets.

Before leaving, he asked for his gun. The officer was confused by this and the man explained that he bought the gun in 1971, lost it in 1975 and thought it was stolen so he reported it. He found it a month later but never did tell the Seattle Police Department. He was arrested in 1978 for theft and was convicted of insurance fraud as well.

He said he did have a permit to carry the gun, and a computer check said that he did.

Marijuana drug bust

King County Sheriff’s deputies seized 282 growing marijuana plants on April 4, along with tools used to grow the plants, two handguns, and stolen credit cards and driver’s licenses.

The arrests occurred in a house in the 8300 block of 46th Avenue South in Tukwila and the 9700 block of 49th Avenue South in the Skyway area.

Three men were arrested. One, age 48, from the Skyway area, was booked into the King County Jail on $200,000 bail. The other two, 57 and 29, were from Tukwila. One was held on $100,000 bail. The other was released.

While detectives were investigating, they could smell an overwhelming odor coming from one suspect house. Neighbors told detectives they been smelling it for years.

Officers also found equipment that was used to divert power from the electrical meter. Because of this, Seattle City Light had been unable to detect an increase in power use.

Birth certificates without names from Los Angeles County were confiscated.

At the other suspect house, detectives found more items used to grow marijuana, marijuana plants and two stolen handguns.

Knife found at school

Des Moines Police officers were called to Pacific Middle School, 22705 24th Pl. S., on March 30 around 1 p.m. after receiving a call that a knife was found in a students backpack.

School security searched the 14-year-old boy based on another student’s accusation and found the nine-inch knife. The boy said he had the knife to protect himself from “thugs” who were waiting for him at the Kent Transit Center.

He said the “thugs” had threatened to jump him, but the boy could not give an explanation for why he was carrying the knife in his front left pocket while on school grounds.

The case is now inactive at the request of the witness and on behalf of the Highline School District, but could be filed at any time within a statute of limitations.

Woman bites her uncle

A woman was charged with fourth-degree assault after biting her uncle on March 24.

According to a King County Sheriff’s report, at 12:40 p.m. in the 800 block of Southwest 122nd Street a woman who was drunk and high went to her ex-husband’s mother-in-law’s home.

When she arrived she allegedly said she had a knife and was threatening to kill herself. The family rushed to hold her down and prevent her from hurting herself. During the struggle, the woman bit her uncle in the hand.

Bus stop vandalism

A car was heavily vandalized while parked at the Burien Transit Center at Southwest 149th Street and Fourth Avenue Southwest on March 23.

Burien police believe that around 7:15 a.m. a pry bar was used. The car had three punctured tires, damage to the rear right panel, a collapsed right rear wheel, a broken window and a broken left tail light.

Compiled by Sara Loken