Driver with pregnant passenger fled from Thurston Co. deputies, records allege
Thurston County deputies arrested a DuPont man Tuesday morning after he allegedly led them on a pursuit with his pregnant partner in the car.
The 35-year-old man is being held in the county jail on suspicion of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, unlawful imprisonment and reckless endangerment/domestic violence.
Judge Allyson Zipp set bail at $35,000 during his preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court Tuesday. He has not yet been charged as of Thursday morning.
On Thursday, Sheriff Derek Sanders shared video of the pursuit on his Facebook page. The video shows a driver fleeing from a traffic stop at about 1:25 a.m. Tuesday on southbound Interstate 5 near the Marvin Road Northeast exit.
A deputy initiated the stop after looking up the license plate and learning it was registered to a person with a third-degree suspended license and a misdemeanor warrant for a hit-and-run, according to Sanders and court records.
The deputy pursued the driver on southbound I-5 and followed him onto Marvin Road. The driver turned east into a shopping center when he reached a roundabout at Marvin Road and Main Street, per court records.
The driver reportedly cut through the parking lot and eventually went east on Willamette Drive Northeast at about 50 miles per hour. The driver completed a roundabout circle at Willamette Drive and Hogum Bay Road and continued east.
He eventually turned south back onto Marvin Road. At one point, he allegedly barreled through the Marvin Road and Main Street roundabout, forcing an uninvolved driver to stop, court records state.
The pursuit eventually reached the diamond interchange on Marvin Road over I-5, forcing another uninvolved driver to move over.
The fleeing driver took the northbound I-5 on-ramp, lost traction with his back tire and fishtailed, according to court records. The pursuing deputy took this opportunity to conduct a PIT maneuver.
The video shows the driver lose control of the vehicle and descend an embankment. However, the driver regains control and returns to the road.
At that point, another deputy takes the lead position and uses a grappler net on the back left tire of the vehicle. The net ensnares the tire but quickly breaks off.
The net “rendered the rear axle inoperable,” forcing the vehicle to slow, according to court records. The vehicle came to a stop, and deputies tried to block it in, but the driver lurched forward a short distance.
Deputies quickly caught up and forced the vehicle off the road.
The driver surrendered and spoke with deputies. He allegedly said he fled from deputies because his license was suspended.
Deputies also detained two passengers at the scene, according to court records, including a woman who is six months pregnant with the driver’s child.
The woman allegedly told deputies the driver was scared of going back to jail. She said she was scared for herself and her baby and asked the driver to let her out, and that she contemplated jumping from the vehicle, according to court records.
In response, the driver allegedly said: “Shut the (expletive) up, (expletive).”
The other passenger said he did not know why the driver fled and didn’t want to pursue charges, according to court records.
“Fleeing law enforcement only makes whatever you have going on that much worse,” Sanders said in his post. “Do the right thing: pull over, do your night in jail (or bail out), and don’t put your passengers and fellow community members at risk.”
