Driver appears to purposely ram woman with car, tries to run over man in Poulsbo

Multiple crimes spanning from Jefferson to Pierce County have landed a 31-year-old man from Poulsbo in jail.

Washington State Patrol said beginning at 9:30 a.m. Monday, people started calling about a Lexus SUV that was driving erratically.

WSP said it continued to receive calls throughout the day.

Then, just before 6 p.m., law enforcement received reports of a hit-and-run in Jefferson County involving that same vehicle.

About 20 minutes later, a man said he encountered the suspected driver on Highway 104 near the Hood Canal Bridge.

CB Bell told KIRO 7′s Bridget Chavez that he tried to move out of the way, but his car was clipped.

“I slowed way down and pulled over, and he came, and he just clipped the mirror, and he just popped it off and took off,” said CB Bell. “It’s a little scary. It’s scary.”

At about 6:30 p.m., the suspect appeared to deliberately ram a woman with their car at a gas station in Poulsbo and then also tried to run over a man walking along Highway 3, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.

A woman was at the Hilltop store with her husband. As they returned to their car from the store, the woman grabbed some trash and walked to a garbage can to throw it away.

Video footage shows as she was throwing it away, the silver or white Lexus quickly pulled into the parking lot. The car lined up with the woman and drove into her, hitting her from behind and forcing her into the steel and glass wall, where she was pinned between the car and the front wall of the store.

The car then turned around and drove out of the parking lot, going fast.

The woman collapsed, unable to get up. She was treated by Poulsbo Fire Department personnel for injuries to her legs.

KSCO deputies arrived to investigate and were soon approached by a man that said he was almost hit. The car matched the description of the vehicle that hit the woman.

The man said the car veered toward him as he walked northbound along Highway 3, about one mile South of the store. The man shouted at the driver, who then made a U-turn and drove toward him, forcing him to jump into a ditch to avoid being hit. The car then drove away, going fast.

Deputies learned the car was suspected to be involved in another hit and run in Pierce County near 1-5 South 72nd Street in Tacoma.

Shortly after, the driver was arrested by U.S. Army Military Police after illegally entering Joint Base Lewis McChord in the suspected car.

KCSO detectives are investigating the incidents in Poulsbo. WSP is investigating the hit-and-run in Tacoma.

The suspect was booked into the Pierce County Jail for robbery in the first degree, assault in the second degree and one count of a hit-and-run, according to WSP.

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