Marblemount, WA - Suspect Steals Washington STATE TROOPERS PATROL CAR - Tries to Run over Trooper - SHOT BY TROOPER - CRASH
05-27-07
MARBLEMOUNT, Wash. -- A man who officials say stole a state trooper's
patrol car and then tried to run down the trooper Sunday evening is in a
Seattle hospital after being shot.
Investigators say the incident began about 5:30 p.m. near the town of
Marblemount in Skagit County when a trooper tried to stop a motorcyclist who
sped past him in the wrong lane on Highway 20.
State Patrol Lieutenant Ken Ginnard said the trooper caught up with the
motorcycle at the Marble Creek campground and ordered the driver to stop.
"At that point he did apply pepper spray, which was ineffective," Ginnard said.
"A small foot pursuit ensued, after the foot pursuit the suspect got into the
trooper's car."
The man used the patrol car to try to run over the trooper, Ginnard said.
At that point the trooper fired at the man several times, and the fleeing
driver crashed the patrol car a few miles away on a service road. A
search dog found the driver, and the patrol says the trooper's bullets had hit
the driver in the arm, leg and chest.
The man who stole the patrol car was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in
Seattle to be treated for gunshot wounds and injuries suffered when he crashed.
His exact condition was not known and it was unclear how many times he was shot.
The trooper who fired the shots will be placed on paid administrative leave
during the investigation, which is standard procedure any time a law-enforcement
officer is involved in a shooting.
Police say the driver appeared to be intoxicated. They won't say if it was drugs
or alcohol or both.
Neither the trooper whose car was stolen nor the man who was shot have been
identified.