Kent Police cited a 24-year-old woman for investigation of reckless driving after she reportedly hit speeds of 90 mph because she was late to get her son to day care so she could get to work.

An officer spotted a speeding vehicle at about 6:05 a.m. on March 20 in the 10300 block of Southeast 274th Street on the East Hill, according to the police report. The officer used a laser speed measuring device to clock the vehicle going 90 mph in a 50 mph zone.

With patrol vehicle lights and siren activated, the officer pursued the car and watched it change lanes several times, swerving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed. The officer pulled the vehicle over near 114th Avenue Southeast.

The woman told the officer she was late to drop her son off at day care so she could go to work. The officer cited her for reckless driving and released her at the scene, telling her that a citation would be showing up in the mail.

Police also stopped another driver who had witnessed the vehicle speeding and swerving in and out of traffic to back up the officer’s report.

Man pushes panhandler

Officers arrested a man for investigation of fourth-degree assault after he allegedly pushed a man panhandling at about 3:36 p.m. on March 22 in the 23900 block of 104th Avenue Southeast.

The arrested man told officers the man had threatened to kick his girlfriend’s dog so he got in a verbal dispute with him, according to the police report. The man denied he pushed the panhandler to the ground. He said the man must have tripped over a bush.

Police recognized the panhandler from previous observations. He often stands near the Shell gas station holding a “disabled veteran” sign. He told officers he tried to use his cane to defend himself, but the man pushed him to the ground.

The girlfriend of the arrested man said she had accidentally stepped on the panhandler’s dog a few days earlier and that the man remained upset about that incident.

Asleep in stolen camper

Police arrested a Maple Valley man for investigation of possession of a stolen vehicle on March 21 after they tracked down the Ford camper stolen a day earlier from a Kent home.

Officers received a report about the stolen vehicle being found in the 28500 block of Southeast 228th Street in Maple Valley and asked the King County Sheriff’s Office to assist, according to the police report.

Deputies spotted the Ford truck in a driveway of a home. The truck had a damaged ignition column. Deputies saw movement in the camper and ordered the person out of the vehicle. The man didn’t come out until his father came out of a nearby house and asked his son to leave the camper.

The son told police he just needed a place to sleep.

Store bans woman

Officers arrested a woman for investigation of third-degree theft after she reportedly took several items at about 9:13 a.m. on March 22 from the Safeway store, 210 Washington Ave. S.

Store security reported that the woman had been in the store for a couple of hours, put items in a cart and then placed a few items under her jacket and left the store without paying, according to the police report.

The same woman reportedly spent about four hours the previous day walking around in the store without buying anything. The store manager asked that police ban the woman from the store for life. Officers told the woman if she ever returned to the store, she would be arrested for trespassing.