Sheriff’s deputies and a Bremerton police officer responded to Tracyton Tavern in East Bremerton at 1:45 a.m. July 20 for a report of a man with a gun.

Law enforcement arrived and a woman said the man was walking up May Street. Deputies found the 33-year-old Central Kitsap man walking near the former Tracyton Elementary School carrying a semi-automatic pistol in his hand. A Bremerton police officer took the weapon and found a bullet round in the chamber with a magazine inserted into the gun.

A deputy searched the man and found another handgun magazine loaded with 10 bullets and a gun holster.

The man admitted he had the gun inside the bar, but said “ … it wasn’t loaded!” He added it’s not safe to walk home without a firearm and he racked a round in the chamber to protect himself.

When the deputy told him he was confiscating the gun, the man demanded that he call a retired deputy who would “clear all of this up.”

The man was released and the handgun was confiscated. A report was forwarded to the prosecutor’s office for review/filing of charges.

Dumpster diving addict

Deputies responded to the Silverdale Transfer Station on Dickey Road in Silverdale at about 10:45 a.m. July 21 for a theft. A Waste Management employee said he had a man in custody who claimed to be an “adrenaline junkie” who liked to bury himself in trash.

Deputies arrived and spoke with the Waste Management employee who found the man. He said he saw the 40-year-old Kingston man walking inside the fence that surrounds the dump and quickly discovered a hole cut in the fence. Several items including brooms, rakes and a shovel, were laying near the hole and the man said the suspect attempted to steal them. The man then found the suspect’s truck outside the fence with a used car battery lying next to it and said there had been several car battery thefts in the past. The employee found the man hiding in the bushes and called police.

The man told a deputy that he “feels a compulsion to hide inside Dumpsters and have trash dumped on him.” He said he’s addicted to these acts.

The man was apologetic for his actions and said he’s too embarrassed to seek help for his Dumpster diving addiction.