Officer hung on before Everett driver crashed car, police say

MARYSVILLE — An Everett man might be headed to prison after allegedly taking a Marysville police officer on a wild, dangerous ride.

The officer, who jumped halfway into the man’s car to avoid being hit, was thrown from the vehicle after the suspect allegedly smashed into parked cars and mailboxes. Just before the final collision, the officer fired his gun at Brandun Waller, saying he feared for his life as Waller reversed at a high speed down Alder Avenue.

The bullet was found lodged in the backseat. It “passed directly through where one would expect the driver’s head to be,” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Andrew Alsdorf wrote in court papers.

Alsdorf recently charged Waller, 35, with second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer. He wrote in court papers that Waller faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The Marysville officer’s right hand was broken in multiple places. He also sustained a serious leg injury. It’s unclear when he’ll be able to return to work, Alsdorf wrote.

The incident unfolded in the early hours of Sept. 11. The officer said he became suspicious of Waller when he saw him reversing out of a driveway just south of 47th Avenue NE and then pull back in when he seemed to spot the officer.

The officer reported that the driveway led to a house “in which illegal drug sales had occurred within the past couple of weeks.”

He parked his patrol car across the street to watch the driver’s next move. Waller pulled out again, heading south on 47th Avenue NE. The officer followed until Waller pulled into another driveway. The defendant got out of his car. So did the officer. Waller allegedly said he stopped because he thought he was going to be pulled over. The officer reminded the defendant that police usually turn on their lights and sirens if they are going to stop a car.

The officer said he could see drug paraphernalia in the car. He asked Waller how long it’d been since he smoked heroin. Waller reportedly leaned into his car, reaching for something under the driver’s seat. The officer ordered him out of the car, advising Waller he was under arrest.

That didn’t sit well with Waller, who allegedly reached into the car again. The officer grabbed Waller’s left arm, trying to pull him from the vehicle. Waller reportedly got back into the car, threw the car in reverse and began backing up.

“The officer could hear the tires spinning,” Alsdorf wrote.

Worried the open driver’s door would knock him under the car, the officer put a foot on the floorboard, his right hand on the driver’s door and his left arm on the roof.

“Over the next approximately 10 seconds, (the officer) hung on to the defendant’s moving vehicle as the defendant drove with intentional recklessness and caused three collisions with various objects in his path,” Alsdorf said.

He first crashed into another officer’s patrol car. Waller allegedly next backed into a large, metal multi-family mailbox. The officer believed that Waller was trying to dislodge or crush him, Alsdorf wrote.

That’s when he pulled his weapon and shot at the defendant. This happened about the same time that Waller hit another parked car. The officer was ejected from the car, landing about 15 feet from the defendant’s wrecked vehicle.

He tried to get up but his right leg wouldn’t move. The fingers on his right hand were obviously broken. His radio was in pieces. He tried crawling toward the defendant, yelling at him to get out of the car and lie on the ground. He realized his firearm and electronic stun gun were missing. He tried to reach his knife while still crawling toward and yelling at the defendant, Alsdorf said.

Another officer used her Taser to subdue Waller.

She found the injured officer’s gun on the passenger seat of the defendant’s car. She retrieved the gun, placing it back in the officer’s holster.

Waller was not seriously hurt. He reportedly told detectives he panicked because he was afraid of being arrested. He allegedly admitted to using methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana in recent days. He said he wasn’t high at the time. He asked detectives to apologize to the injured officer.

He started crying when he realized he wouldn’t be able to take his daughter to her first day of school.

Detectives searched the vehicle, reportedly finding the injured officer’s Taser. They also found multiple knives, mace and drug paraphernalia.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.