EVERETT — David Elmer’s criminal career began in 1986, when at just 14, he was convicted of attempted burglary.
Now 45 and with more than 20 felony convictions on his rap sheet, mostly for drugs and property crimes, the Gold Bar man may be poised to to add half a dozen more.
Elmer was charged this week with a grab bag of crimes, all stemming from a Nov. 10 spree that allegedly began with his terrorizing an ex-girlfriend in Everett. It morphed into a dangerous police chase that included ramming two patrol cars, and ended with threats to kill the state trooper who chased him down at gunpoint.
The frequent felon was on community custody at the time, deputy prosecutor Rachel Cormier Anderson said in Snohomish County Superior Court papers.
She charged Elmer with second-degree assault, attempting to elude police, first-degree malicious mischief and harassment, all for actions allegedly directed at police. In addition, he faces charges of attempted residential burglary and harassment for domestic violence directed at the former girlfriend.
The spree began with a frantic 911 call just before 2:30 a.m. at the woman’s south Everett apartment. She reported being pulled from sleep by the sound of Elmer breaking her bedroom window and hollering demands to be let in. When the woman refused, Elmer is accused of trying to kick in the front door and threatening to kill her.
“She reported that she was terrified of him and believed that he would carry out his threats,” the prosecutor wrote.
The defendant was gone when police arrived. A check showed he had two warrants. Based on prior contacts, officers had a hunch where to find him: a business parking lot along Evergreen Way.
Elmer was behind the wheel of his truck when officers rolled up and reportedly was not in a cooperative mood. Instead of surrendering, he put the truck into reverse and rammed an Everett police patrol car, court papers said.
He then is said to have plowed his own escape route, blasting through a landscaping hedge and breaking off the guy-wire to a power pole on the way toward southbound I-5.
That’s where a state trooper spotted the fleeing truck he was hearing about on the emergency radio. It was swerving through lanes, hitting speeds of 85 mph.
The truck’s driver continued south, despite lights and sirens. The vehicle exited near 164th Street SW and blasted through red lights at 80 mph. The driver lost control and the truck spun out along Alderwood Mall Boulevard, facing the wrong direction.
That’s when Elmer rammed the truck into the front of the trooper’s patrol vehicle, the prosecutor wrote.
The trooper exited, gun drawn, and demanded the driver put up his hands. Instead, the man ran. The foot chase stretched for roughly a mile.
“As the defendant ran he yelled at the trooper multiple times, claiming that he had a weapon and that he was going to kill the trooper,” court papers said.
He eventually was caught after climbing a bulldozer at a construction site near Alderwood mall. Taken to an area hospital for a checkup before being booked into jail, Elmer allegedly claimed that he had used heroin and meth.
He remained locked up Thursday at the county jail in Everett, his bail set at $50,000.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews.
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