Bail set at $1 million for man in pursuit
Published 3:02 pm Friday, September 3, 2010
EVERETT — A bite from a police dog didn’t appear to affect Theodore Ohms as he swaggered into a jailhouse courtroom on Friday.
Ohms, 23, made his first court appearance this afternoon since being tackled Wednesday by a police dog during a chase in a wooded area in Everett’s Beverly Park neighbourhood.
Ohms is suspected of shooting at a sheriff’s deputy during a high-speed pursuit and running from the scene of an injury accident.
The car chase, which started in south Everett, came to an end on I-5 when Ohms allegedly crashed into a van. The van’s driver nearly had her arm “ripped off,” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Coleen St. Clair told a judge on Friday.
Ohms kept his head bowed during most of the hearing.
Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui found probable cause to hold Ohms for investigation of first-degree assault for the alleged shooting, attempting to elude police, vehicular assault and unlawful gun possession.
Ohms also had a warrant for his arrest for failing to report to the state Department of Corrections. He has been on community custody since March 2009.
He was ordered held on $1 million bail. Prosecutors have until Sept. 7 to file charges against Ohms.
Wednesday’s chaos began just before 6 p.m. when a sheriff’s deputy attempted to pull over a Volkswagen Jetta in south Everett. The license plates were cancelled. The driver sped off and led the deputy on a high-speed chase.
The pursuit was called off for safety concerns but picked up again on Highway 526. That’s where the Jetta driver reportedly fired shots at a deputy’s patrol car. At least one round struck the car. The Jetta then raced onto northbound I-5.
The Jetta struck a van south of 41st Street. The driver, Tamara Fietkau was injured when the van flipped on the freeway.
Investigators say Ohms abandoned the Jetta and ran into a residential area between Broadway and Evergreen Way. Police shut down the freeway and swarmed the area looking for the shooter, who they believed was still armed.
A police dog tracked Ohms to a wooded area off Olympic Drive. He sustained at least one bite on the leg.
His girlfriend, a passenger in the Jetta, told police that Ohms had bought methamphetamine just before the deputy tried to pull him over.
She led police to a gun on Highway 526. She told detectives she grabbed gun and tossed it out the window of the Jetta after Ohms fired at the deputy.
Ohms allegedly told detectives he fired at the police in hopes of getting the deputy to back off. He didn’t intend to hurt the officer.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
