In (almost) every issue of this fine rag my hack team of wannabe journalists and I tackle some of the most laughable criminal acts that have recently happened in our area. Then - if we're doing our job - we write about those crimes in a way that makes you chuckle, or at the very least helps you come to terms with the fact that, despite your hopes, the Weekly Volcano Crime Desk was not crushed during Snowmaggedon 2012 or lost by editor Matt Driscoll as part of Super Bowl betting binge - the column has just been on vacation the last two weeks.

This week's Ragnet takes us all the way out to Rainier, where love is serious (and sometimes seriously drunk).

Enjoy. - Matt Driscoll

There's really nothing more reckless, tenacious and driven than a jilted lover. Folks in the tiny town of Rainier know this all too well after a New Year's Day drive-by-shooting that, according to allegations by police, defied sense and reason (and direction).

As Jeremy Pawloski reported in The Olympian, Tenino police were called to Rainier (because they're lucky enough to contract with the City of Rainier to provide law enforcement there) early on the first morning of 2012, after receiving a report of shots fired in the 900 block of Tipsoo Loop. At the scene police recovered four shell casings. Later, on Jan. 3, a homeowner on Tipsoo Loop contacted police to report finding bullet holes in his home. On that trip to the scene, police found an additional four casings outside the home.

All of this is allegedly the work of 25-year-old Eric David Kollar, described by The Olympian as a solider at Joint Base Lewis-McChord who allegedly shot up the Rainier home on New Year's morning to get revenge for an affair. Police say Kollar fired eight shots into a home he thought belonged to a man who had an affair with his wife while he was deployed in Iraq.

Trouble is, Kollar didn't target the right house. Police tell The Olympian Kollar fired his eight shots instead into the house adjacent to the home where the man that boned his wife lives.

Awkward.

According to Pawloski's story, Kollar drove his Ford pickup into a power pole in the area of 118th Avenue and Manke Road near Yelm on the night of the shooting. At that time Kollar was cited for misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, hit-and-run, possession of a dangerous weapon and carrying a concealed weapon, though police had no evidence linking him to the shooting.

On Jan. 3 a tipster told police Kollar might have been involved in the drive-by-shooting, giving authorities their first evidence potentially linking Kollar to the crime. Police later determined that one of the weapons found in Kollar's vehicle during the time of his accident Jan. 1 was a .45-caliber Glock, which forensic tests by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab later proved to be the same gun fired at the scene.

Tenino police arrested Kollar at JBLM with the help of military police.

Which no doubt came as a great relief to anyone who lives next to someone who may have had relations with Kollar's wife. - Buck Foolery, Love-Related Crime Correspondent