Local Briefly

GRANITE FALLS – A 17-year-old Granite Falls boy was arrested Tuesday morning hiding behind a washer-and-dryer in his parent’s home with two guns, Snohomish County sheriff’s officials said.

Deputies tried to stop the teenager who was driving a stolen truck, said Rebecca Hover, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.

He sped away and didn’t stop until he arrived at his parents’ home on 116th Avenue NE near Burns Road, she said.

The boy then ran into the woods, prompting a search that involved six police agencies, police dogs, helicopters and airplanes with heat-seeking equipment.

The teenager made it back to his parents’ home, Hover said. The boy’s parents allowed police inside the home where deputies found him hiding. Two guns, a .40-caliber Glock and a .25-caliber Berreta, were next to him, she said.

He was arrested and booked into the Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Everett.

Marysville police arrested an Everett woman Tuesday after a chase that ended on I-5, officials said.

A Marysville officer spotted a stolen sport utility vehicle, a gray GMC Yukon, in the Fred Meyer parking lot in the 9900 block of State Avenue about 8 a.m., Cmdr. Ralph Krusey said. The officer believed the car and its driver may have been involved in a March 1 theft from a business in the city.

When the officer tried to stop the SUV, the woman drove away, Krusey said.

Officers used a spike strip that flattened two of the truck’s tires, he said. The woman drove onto southbound I-5 with the flat tires and bailed out in the median.

She tried to get away from officers, but was taken into custody, he said.

The woman was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of possession of stolen property and eluding police, he said. The woman, a convicted felon, also had three outstanding arrest warrants.

Community Transit on Monday received a national award for increasing by 15 percent the number of riders who take its buses, agency officials said.

Federal Transportation Administrator James Simpson presented the agency with the “Success in Enhancing Ridership Award” at the American Public Transportation Association’s annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C.

The award recognized Community Transit’s increased ridership between 2003 and 2005.

“We’re thrilled to be honored, and even more thrilled that our efforts have helped more people in Snohomish County to save time and money in their commute by using transit,” said Joyce Olson, Community Transit chief executive.

Community Transit was one of three transit agencies in the 200,000 to 1 million population category to get the award. It was also one of only 12 agencies nationwide to receive the honor.

New digital maps of streams and topography in southwest Snohomish County will be available on the county’s Web site next week.

The Web site, called SnoScape, will be available March 20 via the county’s site www.snoco.org.

The maps feature more detailed topography of steep slopes and adds 142 miles of previously unmapped streams in southwest Snohomish County, officials said.

From Herald staff reports