LYNNWOOD
The man arrested Sunday, Feb. 10, after a police chase and gunfire at a Taco Bell drive-through has a history of running from the cops.
He’s yet to master the escape.
Anthony Turner, 26, reportedly told detectives Sunday he just wanted to get away from the Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies who surrounded him outside the fast-food restaurant, according to a police affidavit.
Instead of tossing away the keys to the stolen Jeep he was driving, as ordered, the six-time felon from Everett punched the gas, jumped a curb and struck a sheriff’s deputy who was standing in a flower bed, police reported.
The deputy was not seriously injured and joined another deputy in shooting at the fleeing Jeep. Nobody was hit by the bullets. Turner reportedly sped away, followed by the police. The Jeep slammed into a rock wall at an apartment complex, coming to rest in a deep ditch.
Turner was quickly handcuffed.
The suspect’s mother and her boyfriend were passengers in the Jeep. They also were detained.
Turner was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of assault, eluding police and theft. He also was wanted for failing to report to his corrections officer.
A judge on Monday, Feb. 11, ordered him held on $100,000 bail.
The two deputies who fired their weapons are on paid administrative leave, in keeping with sheriff’s office protocol.
Sunday’s melee is under investigation by a team of detectives.
The chase began after a sheriff’s deputy followed the stolen Jeep into the Taco Bell parking lot on Highway 99 and waited for backup.
Turner headed for the drive-through. He ordered food. As he approached the pickup window, a deputy blocked his exit and another deputy ordered him to shut off the Jeep and put his hands up. Turner initially obeyed but when he was ordered to throw out the keys to the Jeep, he instead started up the vehicle and drove off, according to court documents.
Turner later told detectives he knew he had struck the deputy as he attempted his escape but “got scared and just kept driving,” police wrote in the affidavit.
He also allegedly told police he had smoked methamphetamine and cocaine early Sunday morning and had smoked marijuana a couple of hours before the chase started.
Turner has a half-dozen felony convictions, primarily for stealing cars or being in possession of stolen vehicles. Court records show he often tries to flee from police when confronted.
In 2002 when an Everett police officer stopped him for driving a stolen vehicle, Turner jumped out of the car and ran. He got about 30 feet before he was stopped, court documents said. He was convicted of possession of stolen property.
A year later, an off-duty King County sheriff’s deputy held Turner at gunpoint after he ran from a Lynnwood police officer during a traffic stop. He was riding at the time with a woman whom the court had banned him from contacting. He was sentenced to more than a year in prison for violating the court order.
Diana Hefley writes for the Herald of Everett.
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