A man stole a semi-truck from a North Everett Safeway before 6:30 a.m. Thursday, leading law enforcement on a destructive chase through Snohomish County that injured five officers before police took him into custody.
The pursuit began after Snohomish County deputies spotted the stolen vehicle on Interstate 5.
The truck then traveled into the Silver Lake area and rammed through the Silver Shores Mobile Home Park, hitting several patrol vehicles and damaging property across a three-block radius before getting stuck in a residential front yard.
Everett Police Department Officer Natalie Given explained that law enforcement tried several methods to stop the truck during the pursuit. “We attempted to use multiple pursuit intervention tools like Starchase, a GPS tracker, and spike strips,” Given said.
The semi-truck eventually became immobilized in a yard near the mobile home park. Local homeowner Harvey Clogston woke up to find the vehicle stopped in his front yard and witnessed officers surrounding the cab.
“Looked like he was kind of slumped over and the cops had him at gunpoint… were telling him to get out and all that and was basically it,” Clogston said.
To extract the driver safely, officers deployed specialized tactical equipment.
“A less-lethal 40mm launcher was used to break out the windows of the truck, and pepper ball was deployed to force him to exit the cab… then he was taken into custody,” Given said.
Four Everett police officers and one Snohomish County deputy suffered minor injuries during the incident.
All five law enforcement members and the suspect were transported to a local hospital for medical evaluation, and officials noted that the injured officers are expected to be OK.
Police identified the driver as a man in his 30s who faces booking for assault, eluding, and vehicle theft.
No other injuries were reported.