Suspect in SUV theft is finally found buried in beauty bark

Published 11:28 pm Thursday, September 24, 2009

LYNNWOOD — A man who crashed a stolen sport utility vehicle Thursday morning and evaded capture for several hours was in jail by the end of the day.

Officers found him hiding under beauty bark in a shallow ditch.

The police hunt for the man at times closed some Lynnwood-area elementary schools Thursday, Washington State Patrol trooper Keith Leary said.

No one was hurt, he said.

“This is one of those guys we needed to get off the street,” Leary said.

The Snohomish man, 41, is well-known to police, he said.

Around 8 a.m. Thursday the man crashed a stolen SUV into a Washington Department of Transportation maintenance truck in the southbound lanes of I-405.

Nearby schools, including Hilltop Elementary, were locked down as police used a dog to try to track the man. The morning hunt was called off.

Then, just after 2 p.m., police again were called to the area, Leary said.

That’s when a police dog led officers to the man, who was hiding under beauty bark, he said. Schools were placed in lockdown a second time as a precaution.

The man was expected to be booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of vehicle theft, possession of stolen property and vehicle prowling.