Fleeing driver hits another car, killing man

TACOMA – A Tacoma man died Friday when a car fleeing a crime scene collided with another vehicle, killing the driver.

A Pierce County sheriff’s deputy was chasing a vehicle driven by Bruce Eric Smith, 33, who was arrested after the fatal head-on collision, police said.

Deputies, who had an outstanding warrant for Smith, were responding Friday to a 911 call from an alleged rape victim, said Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer. The warrant named Smith, a registered sex offender, in connection with a previous rape.

A sheriff’s detective in an unmarked car was first to respond to the 911 call, Troyer said.

The detective’s car was rammed by Smith as he drove off in a Jeep Cherokee that apparently had been stolen in Seattle. The detective gave chase and was stopped at a traffic signal when the fleeing car collided with another vehicle.

The driver of that car – Russell Whitaker, 26, of Tacoma – died on the way to the hospital.

Auburn

Man fatally stabbed: A man was stabbed to death in a fight on the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation, and two other men were being held for investigation of murder, authorities said. Theodore Sam Jansen, 32, died at Harborview Medical Center of a stab wound in the back about two hours after the fight early Thursday, King County sheriff’s Sgt. John Urquhart said. Two Auburn-area men in their 20s were arrested a few hours after the fight, one by an officer and the other with help from a police dog, and were being held at the Regional Justice Center in Kent, Urquhart said.

Washington, D.C.

State guardsmen going to border: The Washington state National Guard will temporarily provide 59 guardsmen and a helicopter to help with security along the state’s northern border, according to a preliminary agreement disclosed by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray’s office. The National Guard members will assist the Customs Service, Border Patrol and Immigration and Naturalization Service for six months, starting as early as Jan. 15. The final agreement still has to be signed, said Todd Webster, spokesman for Murray, D-Wash. Since Sept. 11, state and federal agencies have been looking for ways to bolster security along the U.S.-Canadian border. INS and Customs officials have been working overtime in many cases to meet new security demands. The state Guard is also pitching in with security at airports and will help next month at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

British Columbia

Speeding up border crossings: A new pre-clearance system to speed border crossings for frequent travelers will begin soon in British Columbia, U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci says. The Canadian and U.S. governments are close to deciding when to bring the computerized NEXUS system to the crossing at Blaine and Douglas, British Columbia, Cellucci said Thursday at a meeting of the Laurier Institute and the Canadian Club. NEXUS, currently being tested at the bridge between Point Edward, Ontario, and Port Huron, Mich., is designed to free low-risk travelers from lineups, Cellucci said. NEXUS relies on radio transponders to identify those who have been cleared for the program. It replaces an earlier arrangement, called CANPASS in Canada and PACE in the United States, that was suspended after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Canada and the United States will jointly administer NEXUS, enabling travelers to apply once for clearance by both countries. Officials have said participants will be photographed, fingerprinted and subjected to background checks.

Oregon

Longo believed in Mexico: Christian Longo, wanted for killing his wife and three children and ditching their bodies in the Pacific, managed to slip past authorities at San Francisco International Airport and fly to Mexico, the FBI said Friday. Using a stolen credit card and identification, Longo purchased an airline ticket on Dec. 27 for Cancun, Mexico, said Charles Mathews, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Oregon. Mathews announced that Longo has been placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. The agency offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

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