MLT police arrest driver who rammed patrol cars in apartment complex parking lot

Mountlake Terrace police arrested a man on multiple criminal charges —  including possession of a stolen vehicle and hit-and-run — after he rammed several patrol cars with his truck in the Pheasant Hill apartment complex parking lot around 5:30 a.m. Saturday.

No one was injured in the incident, which occurred in 21300 block of 52nd Avenue West.

Police were called to the apartment complex after a resident there complained about a loud noise coming from a running diesel engine. Upon arrival, officers discovered a F250 truck with the male driver slumped over the wheel and his female passenger also passed out, said Mountlake Terrace Police Commander Scott King. A check of the vehicle’s license plate revealed the truck was stolen and several back-up patrol units responded.

Police set up multiple spike strips behind the stolen truck’s tires and the truck was boxed in with two patrol cars. The officers then set their emergency brakes and got out of their vehicles.

After police announced their presence to the suspect, he imediately began ramming patrol vehicles by flooring the truck in reverse, then putting it in drive. This process continued even though the truck’s tires were deflated due to the spike strips. The suspect was able to gain some traction and ram one of hte patrol cars into several unoccupied parked cars as well as a carport. A third patrol car was then brought in to pin the suspect back in, police said.

While the suspect was ramming the patrol cars, police said they used less-lethal munitions to shoot out a rear driver’s-side window and then deployed pepper ball rounds into the truck. The suspect finally surrendered and was taken into custody.

One patrol car incurred major damage while two additional cars were damaged but are likely repairable, police said.

The suspect was booked into Snohomish County Jail.

Police Chief Pete Caw said the incident illustrates “another example of the misguided legislative restrictions on police pursuits empowering crimals to flee.”

This isn’t the first time Mountlake Terrace patrol vehicles have been rammed. In March 2022, a man who attempted to escape from police was arrested on multiple charges, including second-degree assault with a weapon, after ramming two patrol vehicles in the Studio 6 hotel parking lot.

 

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