LACEY — The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office will investigate a Washington State Patrol shooting of a Lynnwood man in Lacey, a State Patrol spokesman said this morning.
A driver in Lacey was shot with a Taser and then shot in the arm by a trooper Sunday morning.
The incident began about 3:30 a.m. when the trooper stopped a driver for speeding on I-5 and smelled marijuana in the car, according to State Patrol spokeswoman Brandy Kessler.
During an arrest attempt, the driver struggled, got into his car and sped off despite being shot with a Taser.
The trooper chased the man down I-5 and into a residential area, where he was cornered in a cul-de-sac on Century Court near 15th Avenue NE in Lacey.
Kessler said the fleeing driver rammed the trooper’s patrol car, and the trooper opened fire, wounding the man in the arm. Three shots were fired, said Sgt. Cheryl Stines of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. The man sped off again and was found hiding in trees next to a nearby home.
The 23-year-old Lynnwood man was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with non-life-threatening injuries. The trooper was not hurt.
Kessler said the man who was shot was driving with a suspended license and had a warrant out for his arrest related to a drug and driving under the influence charges.
Stines would not release the name of the driver or the officer. She said the trooper had 6 1/2 years of experience.
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