At 09:13 am, on Saturday December 2nd, one of our patrol sergeants was leaving the Parkland/ Spanaway Precinct when he saw a vehicle driving at a high rate of speed north on Pacific Ave. The sergeant turned on his lights and siren, but the vehicle continued to speed away so he shut down his lights and did not pursue the reckless vehicle.
As the sergeant continued north on Pacific Ave he came upon a crash where this same reckless vehicle had collided into a Pickup truck and 5 teens were seen running away on foot.
One of our deputies spotted a group of five teenagers hiding behind some bushes and he ordered them to come out.
Two of the teens ran and other deputies along with our foot chase deterrent, K9 Bronco, were able to find them and get them detained. One of those two suspects was identified as the driver because of a bright blue ski mask he was wearing as a beanie. That suspect also had a bullet in his pocket.
Deputies contacted the registered owner of the vehicle and discovered it had been recently stolen.
The 15-year-old driver was arrested and booked for Eluding, Unlawful possession of a Firearm, Possession of a Stolen Firearm, Possession of a Stolen Vehicle, Hit and Run, and for an Escape in the 3rd Degree warrant. He was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of his arrest.
The woman in the truck was uninjured and so was her 1-yr-old child in the backseat. The other 4 juveniles were released to their parents. They were a 15 and 14-year-old boy and a 17 and 16-year-old girls.
Deputies will always be responding to crimes and trying to apprehend suspects, but as a community we need to see our youth aspiring to be better. This trend of violent juvenile crime and juveniles getting access to firearms and stealing cars has to stop. Prevention starts in the community as a whole not just law enforcement having contacts once crimes have been committed.
Here are some resources if you know a youth in need:
Pierce County Youth Crisis Services 1-800-576-7764
Community Youth Services 253 267-0272
Catholic Community Services 253 383-3697
At Youth Risk
At-Risk Youth/Child in Need of Services | Pierce County, WA – Official Website (piercecountywa.gov)