MARYSVILLE — An Arlington man reportedly led sheriff’s deputies on a chase early Sunday morning that stretched about 20 miles between Marysville and Lynnwood, exceeded speeds of 100 mph on I-5 and ended in a crash that left one person injured.
The man, 30, has been arrested for investigation of DUI, vehicular assault and attempting to elude. Two other people were in the car, and one now possibly has a broken spine, according to court papers.
Around 12:45 a.m. Sunday, a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy reportedly watched the man drive a white Honda Civic through a red traffic light near Quil Ceda Boulevard and 116th Street NE, close to the border of Tulalip and Marysville.
The deputy tried to pull over the vehicle. Instead of stopping, the driver allegedly made a U-turn and hit a center median. He continued to drive away and nearly hit the curb multiple times, the deputy wrote in a police report.
Soon after, the man drove onto I-5 south, reportedly reaching 110 mph at times. There were few cars on the freeway.
As the pursuit continued, another deputy set up spike strips in the center lane near the 128th Street SW exit south of Everett. The man drove over them.
“While we continued to travel south I observed the front driver’s side tire fall off of the vehicle,” the deputy wrote. “The Honda was traveling on the rim of the vehicle.”
Soon after the car left the freeway, onto 164th Street SW near Lynnwood. He slowed down to about 35 mph and the deputy attempted a PIT maneuver, a technique in which an officer bumps a corner of the car to make it spin out.
It didn’t work, and the car continued to drive, at one point turning into the wrong lane and nearly hitting another vehicle head-on, court papers say.
The deputy attempted two more PIT maneuvers. It worked on the third try, he wrote. The driver lost control and the car went off the roadway, just south of the intersection of Ash Way and Alder Way. The car went into a ditch and flipped on its roof, according to the police report.
All three people in the car, including a 37-year-old and a 42-year-old, were transported to the hospital.
Hospital staff told the deputy the 37-year-old woman was not conscious, that she needed staples in her head and possibly had a broken spine. She lives in Tulalip, court records note.
The deputy spoke with the driver while he was at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He allegedly admitted to drinking earlier that night, and told the deputy he had smoked marijuana just before leaving a friend’s house prior to the pursuit.
“That is why he did not stop for me,” the deputy wrote, “because he was nervous.”
The suspect was booked into the Snohomish County Jail later that day.
Stephanie Davey: 425-339-3192; sdavey@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @stephrdavey.
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