Dog shot after chase ends in Monroe
Published 9:53 am Friday, March 13, 2009
MONROE — A herd of curious cattle trotted behind Snohomish County officials Thursday as they rescued a dog shot after a police pursuit.
Before securing the large brown dog to take it to a veterinarian for treatment, a deputy had to shoo the noisy cows away.
The dog had charged out of a car that police chased more than four miles from Snohomish to a rural road south of the Snoqualmie River near Monroe, where it crashed.
Twice during the five-minute pursuit, the 25-year-old man who was driving tried to ram deputies, sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.
It began about 10:20 a.m. when deputies tried to stop the car after spotting it being driven recklessly in the 18500 block of 109th Avenue SE.
The police chase ended when the Honda Accord coupe smashed into a roadside ditch near where Old High Bridge Road intersects High Bridge Road.
As deputies approached the wreck, the dog leaped.
A deputy’s bullet hit the dog above the eye.
The dog was taken to Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital in Snohomish for treatment, sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said. It is expected to live.
Hospital officials would not release information about the dog, citing privacy concerns. Neither would county officials.
Neighbors called Kimberly Softich to alert her to the police activity in her cow pasture.
“That’s the beauty of living in the country, people watch out for each other,” she said.
All 10 of her Limousin cattle were safe and the fence the car crashed into wasn’t severely damaged, Softich said.
“My main concern is for the animals,” she said.
The two people in the car weren’t injured.
The passenger, a 19-year-old woman, was released, Hover said.
The car’s driver was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of four counts of second-degree assault and attempting to elude police.
He’ll be scheduled to appear before a judge today.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
