Police hunt for fugitive at Lake Stevens

By SUSANNA RAY

Herald Writer

LAKE STEVENS — Sheriff’s deputies were still looking for a man Sunday who had evaded them late Saturday night, causing local residents to lose sleep during an intense manhunt that included bright lights, police dogs and a helicopter for about six hours.

"Everyone in Lake Stevens had to at least have heard the helicopter last night," Michael Blue said Sunday, adding that it was like an episode of COPS.

Blue lives on about six acres on the shores of Lake Stevens. He and his wife were watching the Olympics on television when he noticed a police car passing slowly in front of the house with its lights on, but no sirens.

After it had passed four or five times, he became concerned and called 911. The dispatchers gave him no information, he said, so he decided to walk down and ask the police, who by that time had increased to four or five cars.

"They were very intense," he said. "I knew that they weren’t just looking for some kids."

The officers told him to go home and lock his doors. At one point he heard a radio transmission from deputies searching just outside his home, saying something about a shooting.

"We wanted to leave, because I’ve got a young baby that’s nine months old and my wife freaking out on the floor," he said. He called 911 again to ask for a police escort out of the area, but was told to stay put.

At about 11:50 p.m., Blue called his grandparents, Jim and Jeanne Blue, who lived nearby.

"Right after he called me, my gosh, I had two policemen and a police dog and the brightest light I’ve ever seen," said Jeanne Blue.

They searched her fenced-in backyard for about 35 minutes, she said, while she and her husband stayed away from the windows. Then the police went on down the road from house to house.

"It was 3 (a.m.) or more before it quieted down," she said.

Not much information was available Sunday from the sheriff’s office, but spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen gave this account:

At 10:49 p.m., a deputy pursued a gray sedan that was driven erratically, she said.

"They eluded the deputy, blew two red lights and crashed through a fence at Wyatt Park," she said. "And then both the driver and passenger fled on foot."

The two men in their early 20s ran north along the lake, she said. Sheriff’s deputies brought out dogs and finally a helicopter to track them.

At some point, she said, deputies contacted the Everett Police Department and found out that the driver of the car was wanted for two separate shootings in Everett.

Deputies found and arrested the passenger, but the driver is still at large, although the search continued until 4:47 a.m.

The man’s identity was not being released Sunday, "but we know who he is," Jorgensen said.