Puneet Bsanti

Pullman, Tacoma

Breaking News Reporter at Tacoma News Tribune

breaking news reporter @thenewstribune I Murrow College alumna 🌹| former @bhamherald intern | [email protected] 🌙🦋

Articles

Bonney Lake infant died from ingesting fentanyl. His father has been charged

3 weeks ago | thenewstribune.com | Puneet Bsanti

A Bonney Lake man has been arrested after his 15-month-old son died from acute fentanyl toxicity in March. Prosecutors charged Nicholas Lee Tucker, 33, with first-degree manslaughter. His son was hospitalized at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital on March 13 after he was not breathing and died a few days later, according to charging documents. A plea of not guilty was entered on Tucker’s behalf during his arraignment Friday.
Army vet killed in crash was well-known in Tacoma motorcycle community

3 weeks ago | thenewstribune.com | Puneet Bsanti

Rodger “Dean” Smith, 52, was killed after an alleged intoxicated driver crashed into his motorcycle on May 25, 2025 in South Hill. Ryan Eaton Courtesy When a biker in Pierce County purchased a new motorcycle, they’d often find a little fish hook drawn on its mirror. Rodger Smith, who went by Dean and also was known as “Fish Hook,” was the usual culprit.
Army vet killed in crash was well-known in Tacoma motorcycle community

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Puneet Bsanti

When a biker in Pierce County purchased a new motorcycle, they’d often find a little fish hook drawn on its mirror. Rodger Smith, who went by Dean and also was known as “Fish Hook,” was the usual culprit. “As soon as you went outside on the bike and looked in your mirror you realized Fish Hook was there,” Ryan Eaton, who considered Smith his best friend, told The News Tribune.
2 Tacoma officers who saved man from burning car awarded Medal of Valor

3 weeks ago | thenewstribune.com | Puneet Bsanti

Officers Victor Celis and Cory Correia did not think twice before they rescued David Brooks from his burning car two months ago. For that, they’ve received a prestigious award Thursday. Celis and Correia were dispatched April 29 to the 900 block of South 96th Street for a single-car crash. A car had struck a pole and fence, with its engine compartment fully engulfed in flames, according to the Tacoma Police Department.
1 dead, several injured in car crash in Pierce County, Sheriff’s Office says

3 weeks ago | thenewstribune.com | Puneet Bsanti

Getty Images Getty Images/iStockphoto One person is dead and five are injured from a crash in Pierce County on Tuesday. The driver in an unlicensed Dodge Durango was driving recklessly and swerving near 112th Street East and Portland Avenue East. Multiple people reported the car to 911, and a deputy saw the Dodge right before it crashed, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson deputy Carly Cappetto told The News Tribune. The crash was reported at 2:15 p.m, according to PulsePoint.
1 dead, several injured in car crash in Pierce County, Sheriff’s Office says

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Puneet Bsanti

One person is dead and five are injured from a crash in Pierce County on Tuesday. The driver in an unlicensed Dodge Durango was driving recklessly and swerving near 112th Street East and Portland Avenue East. Multiple people reported the car to 911, and a deputy saw the Dodge right before it struck another vehicle, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson deputy Carly Cappetto told The News Tribune.
Pedestrian killed on Tacoma highway after being struck by four cars identified

3 weeks ago | thenewstribune.com | Puneet Bsanti

A 19-year-old man has been identified as the pedestrian killed May 27, 2025 after four vehicles struck him on Interstate 705 near 11th Street in Tacoma. Getty Images Getty Images/iStockphoto A 19-year-old man who died after being hit by multiple vehicles on a Tacoma highway last week has been identified. James Grandberry died on May 27 near southbound Interstate 705 and the South 11th Street overpass.
Pedestrian killed on Tacoma highway after being struck by four cars identified

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Puneet Bsanti

A 19-year-old man who died after being hit by multiple vehicles on a Tacoma highway last week has been identified. James Grandberry died on May 27 near southbound Interstate 705 and the South 11th Street overpass. It is unknown where Grandberry was from, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office in a news release.
Man charged with shooting employee at Tacoma’s Dorky’s Arcade last year

4 weeks ago | thenewstribune.com | Puneet Bsanti

The door was locked at Dorky’s bar-arcade in downtown Tacoma at about 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Simone Carter [email protected] A 25-year-old man is suspected of shooting an employee at Dorky’s Arcade in Tacoma last year after he was not allowed inside the business. Prosecutors charged Dre’shaughn Anthony Henderson with two counts of first-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for the Oct. 12, 2024 shooting, court records show.
Woman doused in gasoline by boyfriend armed with gun, Pierce County deputies say

4 weeks ago | thenewstribune.com | Puneet Bsanti

A 53-year-old man is suspected of dousing his girlfriend with gasoline and pointing a gun at her near Spanaway. Deputies were dispatched at around 6:30 p.m. Monday to the 19600 block of Canyon Road East where the woman was living at a camp in the woods, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a news release. Deputies found the woman in a tent and said she told them she had been covered with the gasoline, according to body camera footage.