EVERETT — A man opened fire on a sheriff’s deputy as he tried to outrun pursuing police cars Saturday night, according to police reports filed Monday in Everett District Court.
Sheriff’s deputies chased him for miles until he crashed into some bushes and ran from the vehicle, He allegedly broke into a Mill Creek home. Police found the suspected driver in the garage.
One deputy crashed a patrol car on the way to help with the pursuit and was transported to a local hospital with a minor injury. No other injuries were reported, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe said in an email.
The Everett man, 37, was arrested for investigation of first-degree assault, attempting to elude, drive-by shooting and residential burglary.
He’s being held at the Snohomish County Jail.
Just after 8 p.m. Saturday, a deputy tried to stop the man’s car for a suspected DUI on 128th Street SE near I-5. He kept going, court papers say.
About four miles into the chase, as the two approached 35th Avenue SE and Seattle Hill Road, the deputy reportedly heard a “pop” that he believed was a gunshot. Then he heard the same sound five or six times and saw flashes coming from the suspect’s vehicle, a 2009 red Mazda5.
The suspect turned onto Village Green Drive, where he crashed into the bushes. At that point he had been trying to get away for nearly five miles, reaching speeds of 90 mph in a 35 mph zone.
The deputy saw the man run from the vehicle toward the trees. Officers from nearby agencies began to arrive, and a police dog started to sniff out the suspect.
During the search, 911 dispatchers received a report of a break-in half a mile away from the crash site. The caller said a man was in her garage, rummaging through her vehicle. The intruder reportedly got inside by kicking the garage door.
“While I was outside the front of the garage for this residence I began hearing pounding coming from inside the garage,” a sheriff’s deputy wrote in a report. “I could hear a man yelling inside; however I could not hear what he was saying.”
The man then exited the garage with his hands up, court documents say.
After he was arrested, a deputy reportedly asked the suspect “if he could tell me where the firearm was at so no one else obtains it and explained to him what could happen if someone else does.”
According to the deputy, the suspect replied, “No, I’m good.”
After the chase, officials supposedly found .380-caliber shell casings in the 2900 block of Seattle Hill.
At the time the deputy wrote an incident report Sunday, the gun was still missing, the Mazda5 had been impounded and a search warrant was pending for the car.
A district court judge found probable cause Monday to hold the suspect behind bars, with bail set at $250,000.
Stephanie Davey: 425-339-3192; sdavey@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @stephrdavey.
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