Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) deputies arrested a driver who allegedly fled from them on Interstate 5 in south Thurston County Wednesday night.
The driver was booked into the Thurston County Jail for reckless driving, DUI and attempting to elude.
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders made a social media post at around 1:15 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12, noting that he was standing in a TCSO parking lot with other TCSO staff when “the occupant of a vehicle driving by screamed at the top of their lungs in a manner that sounded as though they were in distress. It wasn’t clear if the scream came from a driver or passenger,” Sanders wrote.
The vehicle, an SUV, was then seen blowing through a stop sign and accelerating rapidly. The driver nearly T-boned another car, ran a second stop sign, took the turn two wide and nearly crashed head-on into another vehicle, according to Sanders.
When deputies attempted to pull the driver over, they got on I-5 and fled at speeds of 100 mph, according to Sanders.
A deputy with a Grappler began making their way to the area while Sanders and other deputies pursued the vehicle down to Grand Mound.
A south county deputy successfully spiked the SUV, at which point the driver and sole occupant surrendered, according to Sanders.
When clearing the car, deputies noticed that the driver had live streamed the event to social media. That live stream has been recorded and logged as evidence.
The driver, who has not been identified by law enforcement, allegedly admitted to consuming cannabis earlier and showed signs of impairment. At one point, the suspect slipped their handcuffs, and deputies placed them in a WRAP restraint system.
“Deputies did a great job communicating during the incident and utilizing sound tactics at the conclusion to ensure a safe arrest could take place,” Sanders wrote. “We were able to get the freeway back open within just a few minutes.”
