Lacey man dislocated shoulder on purpose to escape jail, court records allege
A 32-year-old Lacey man attempted to escape from Thurston County corrections deputies during a trip to a hospital Tuesday, law enforcement allege.
The man attended his preliminary hearing in Thurston County Superior Court Wednesday. Deputies booked him into the county jail Tuesday on suspicion of second-degree escape.
Judge Christopher Lanese found probable cause for the alleged crime and set bail at $10,000.
The court previously set bail at $5,000 in a 2025 case. In that case, the man is charged with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and unlawful possession of a controlled substance. He’s been held in the jail since then.
A statement of probable cause filed by prosecutors describes the incident from the perspective of law enforcement. The following is a summary of the statement.
The alleged escape occurred at about 9:10 p.m. at MultiCare Capital Medical Center in west Olympia.
Two deputies transported the man to the hospital Tuesday for the second time in two days to be treated for a dislocated right shoulder. The deputies took him there in a van.
Along the way, the man allegedly asked the deputies if they ever smoked marijuana. They reportedly stated no and asked him to stop asking questions like that.
Once at the hospital, the deputies instructed the man to exit the van. When he got up, the man allegedly “jumped off the van step and took off running,” according to the statement.
The man allegedly took several steps before attempting a somersault to kick off his sandals. He reportedly got back on his feet and started running again.
One of the deputies caught up to him after about seven to eight feet. The deputy grabbed onto the man, lifted him off the ground and attempted a “controlled takedown,” per the statement.
The action reportedly caused the deputy’s knee to “tweak in an abnormal manner” and he then landed on the same knee.
“The escape attempt caused injury to a deputy that had to run after him and take him to the ground,” a corrections deputy wrote in an affidavit to the court.
The deputy managed to pin the man to the ground, according to the statement.
“Can you get off my chest?” The man reportedly asked the deputy. “You’re crushing me.”
The deputy declined.
“No, you just tried to escape and get away from me,” the deputy reportedly said. “I’m not letting you up until you go in the van.”
At that point, the man allegedly said, “Well, at least I popped my shoulder back in, in the van.”
“So, you can pop it in and out at will?” the deputy reportedly asked.
The statement indicates the man said an “unintelligible” statement “under his breath.”
In an affidavit to the court, a deputy requested the man be restrained during the preliminary hearing based on the alleged escape attempt and previous incidents at the jail. Judge Lanese granted the request.
The affidavit alleges the man purposefully dislocated his shoulder so he could be transported to the hospital.
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 12:45 PM.
