No one likes their vehicle getting towed, but don’t make it worse by fleeing in the vehicle while it’s strapped to the tow truck.
On February 4th, around 10:30 a.m., one of our traffic deputies spotted an F-150 pickup truck at 72nd St E and Canyon Rd that had just fled from Tacoma police officers after the suspect jumped into a truck that was hooked up to be towed. The suspect snapped the tow chain while fleeing from Tacoma, and a long chain was reported being dragged with the truck.
The traffic deputy attempted to stop the truck, but it continued to flee. Knowing this suspect can cause harm to other drivers if not taken off the road, the deputy quickly moves in for a PIT (Pursuit Intervention Technique). Even though the PIT was successful in stopping the vehicle, it takes off again, but this time, heads down a dead-end road. The suspect finds himself with no choice but to ditch the truck and flee on foot. A short foot pursuit ends with a successful arrest of the 44-year-old male suspect.
We learned this suspect had felony warrants out of California for multiple motor vehicle thefts, and now he would have additional charges in Washington for reckless driving, eluding, resisting arrest, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, driving without a valid driver’s license, and felony malicious mischief for the significant damage caused to the tow truck.