It'll all come out in the wash: police respond to laundry related incidents

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake police responded to two laundry-related incidents Tuesday, including one incident where a juvenile ingested two laundry detergent pods and another where a suspect with outstanding warrants was found hiding behind a clothes dryer.

Police responded around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to a poisoning call on the 3000 block of West Peninsula Drive for a report of a juvenile who had ingested two Tide brand laundry pods and was transported to Samaritan hospital.

Though it was not immediately clear if the incident was related, a dangerous 2018 viral trend called the” Tide pod challenge,” where participants would eat vaguely candy-like gel laundry pods and experienced acute poisoning as a result. Police declined to comment on the incident, as it related to a juvenile’s medical emergency, but stated that the juvenile was expected to be OK.

The juvenile’s parents were notified and arrived shortly after the subject was transported to Samaritan, according to police reports.

Five hours earlier, officers responded around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday to a report of a wanted man located in the 1000 block of South Bobbi Street, but the suspect was not immediately located upon searching the residence.

But officers were called to the residence again at around 4:30 p.m. The homeowner allowed police to search the residence, who found the suspect, Moses Lake resident Eric Fuentes, 25, was discovered in the laundry room closet hiding behind a clothes dryer.

Fuentes gave himself up to police after being discovered, Moses Lake Police Capt. Dave Sands said.

“He didn’t struggle, but his clothes sure were soft,” Sands said with a laugh.

Fuentes was arrested and booked into county jail on four outstanding warrants.