He crashes, runs, strips, jumps and lands in Everett jail
Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 14, 2018
EVERETT — A stolen pickup chase in Everett ended with a driver crashing, shedding clothes, jumping over fences and landing in a Snohomish County Jail cell.
An Everett officer saw a man driving a Ford F-350 while wearing work gloves Sunday afternoon in the 6800 block of Evergreen Way, according to police reports. It was just unusual enough for the officer to do a double-take. He saw the truck again 10 minutes later west of Forest Park, bearing no front license plate. The back plate was registered to a F-150.
The officer tried to pull over the truck, but the driver — who appeared to be holding a red-and-black screwdriver — sped out of sight on Beverly Lane, court papers say.
Moments later, a crash was reported at 74th Street SE. Two people bailed from the truck in the middle of the road, leaving a door ajar. The F-350 rolled backward, and the door “impaled” a parked vehicle, according to the reports. Police found the truck’s gear stick had been left in neutral. Witnesses reported the driver ran off, jumped fences, ran through yards and stripped his clothes. By the time officers caught up to him, he was wearing only pants.
The suspect, 39, of Issaquah, was booked for investigation of possession of a stolen vehicle, attempting to elude law enforcement and hit-and-run. He remained behind bars Thursday.
At a court hearing this week, a public defender, Jennifer Symms, argued against a finding of probable cause on the latter count, because the crash was more of a run-and-hit than a hit-and-run.
“It was after they exited the vehicle that the vehicle was rolling backward and apparently hit some other property,” she said. “So I don’t think, based on that, that there’s any evidence of any intentional action that led to a hit-and-run.”
Judge Tam Bui disagreed. She found probable cause and set bail at $25,000. The defendant also had more than $110,000 in warrants out for his arrest, for other driving offenses and probation violations.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
