REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
Friday, November 14, 2014 | Vol. 114, No. 45 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢ WSF EXPLAINS LOSS OF BAINBRIDGE FERRY
Bad design, blown fuses caused Tacoma blackout
INSIDE: Fresh flicks af film fest, A9
Police chief: Changes planned after stun gun is used on 72-year-old BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review
Mark Nitchman, the staff chief engineer of the ferry MV Tacoma, displays the type of fuse that was blown when the ferry lost power during its July 27 sailing to Bainbridge Island.
State finds elusive answer in shutdown of ferry on sailing to island BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
The MV Tacoma went dead in the water off Bainbridge Island in late July because of a voltage surge that fried two fuses after a breaker was opened for the ferry’s Generator 4 as the vessel approached the Bainbridge dock, Washington State Ferry officials said Wednesday. “We have found the problem, and we have identified a fix for it,” said Lynne Griffith, Assistant Secretary for the state Ferries Division. It was a never-seen-before problem, said
Mark Nitchman, the staff chief engineer of the Tacoma. It was the first time in the ferry’s 17-year history that such a surge has been seen, Nitchman said. The Tacoma will be out of service until spring, officials said. Officials estimate that the repairs to the vessel and its sister ferries will cost $1.8 million. The Tacoma went dead in the water with more than 400 passengers aboard on TURN TO FERRY | A16
Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review
The MV Tacoma sits in the shipyard in Eagle Harbor, awaiting repairs.
A Bainbridge Island police officer was justified in trying to use a Taser stun gun on a 72-year-old woman who became combative with an officer as she investigated a 911 call about a trespasser in a Lynwood Center neighborhood, authorities said. Karen Summers Hellmuth was arrested Oct. 4 after she allegedly entered a neighbor’s property in a dispute over landscaping. Hellmuth allegedly told her neighbor that the homeowner was planting trees that would kill her trees. Police were called to the neighborhood twice by Hellmuth’s neighbors after they heard her screaming. Officer Maurine “Mo” Stich said she found Hellmuth talking to herself outside her trailer window. After Stich introduced herself, she said Hellmuth became “agitated and aggressive,” but was warned about trespassing on her neighbor’s property. Hellmuth then jumped up and Stich, afraid that she would be assaulted, tried to use her Taser on Hellmuth. The stun gun darts missed, however, and a struggle ensued. Hellmuth punched Stich and continued to resist, and another officer arrived less than a minute later and Hellmuth was finally subdued. Police Chief Matthew Hamner said the incident was reviewed internally, as well as by the Poulsbo and Bremerton police departments, and the use of force was found to be justified. A video taken by Stich’s chest camera was reviewed and confirmed the attempted use of the Taser was justified. “Having said that, could we have done it differently? Yes,” Hamner said. “In hindsight, we could have,” he said. Hamner said Stich should have waited for backup before confronting Hellmuth. He said she also should have tried to talk to Hellmuth in a way that would have deescalated the conflict, and should not have threatened to arrest her because such an approach can cause a TURN TO TASER | A16