A Dog Day Afternoon!

In the early afternoon two Tacoma Police bicycle officers contacted a known suspect in a full-sized pickup for Driving While License Suspended (a misdemeanor). As the officers were preparing to issue a ticket, the male suspect put the truck in gear and quickly drove away. One officer was struck by the truck's side-view mirror injuring him slightly. The other officer jumped out of the way however, the suspect drove over his bicycle destroying it.

Minutes later a third officer (in a car) began a pursuit with the now felony suspect. After a few minutes the officer ended the chase because of the level of danger the pursuit had reached. About two hours later a State Trooper located the unoccupied truck outside of a Fife, Washington hotel along Interstate 5. As officers attempted to surround the hotel the suspect (now wanted on numerous felonies) jumped out a hotel room window and began to run toward Interstate 5.

A Tacoma K9 team was just arriving and deployed the dog. At this time the suspect was climbing the 8 foot highway fence on the shoulder of I-5. As the suspect jumped down on the other side of the fence it appeared that he was once again going to elude police and the K9 now barking through the fence at the suspect. Instead of continuing with his short-lived freedom, the suspect turned and began kicking dirt through the fence and into the face of the frustrated K9; appearing not like a desperate fugitive, but more like an angry baseball player kicking dirt at the umpire. The suspect then laughed and turned to continue running across I-5. He was immediately struck by a car, breaking his right leg and causing multiple injuries, including a punctured lung.

Was that enough..nooooo! With a bad leg and one working lung, the suspect gimped his way across the rest of the 8 lane freeway and continued out of sight near the Puyallup river. While injured seriously, the suspect found the perfect hiding place in bushes on the river's bank. The K9 team made it over the fence and successfully across the Interstate. The K9 dog, as you would expect, was just a tad bit angry. While his nostrils were still full of dirt and gravel from the suspects earlier rudeness, he was hot on the trail of the bad guy. The suspect was fully concealed in bushes as the K9 neared his location. Only a small part of the suspect could be seen by the approaching K9; the section from the suspects belly button down to the mid-thigh was the only target. Wham! The K9 located and hit the target. Yep, right between the suspects legs….two in custody….I mean, one in custody! This truly reminded the suspect what a “real man” he was!

So, from a simple traffic ticket to serious injuries, multiple felony charges, and a premature end to the suspects future family plans. Now thats what I call a bad day!