South Sound News

Olympia police pursuit ends in crash; suspects remain at large

Authorities in Thurston County are looking for three suspects who stole a car, hit several drivers and crashed in front of a day care in Olympia. It all happened Tuesday afternoon after 3 p.m. when police descended on the intersection of Division Street and Muirhead Avenue in Olympia.
According to witnesses and the manager of the day care, a black Mercedes ran off the road and crosses an intersection and then hit a small embankment that sent the vehicle flying into the yard of the day care in the 1700 block of Division Street. Several people said if vehicles had not been parked in front of building, the out-of-control vehicle may have hit the building. There were a dozen children inside when it all happened.
Chris Dickson manages A Child’s Dream Preschool and said she was with the children when the crash occurred. She said she heard three bangs before the car landed in her yard.
“I heard a loud bang and my daughter came and looked out the window and there was a car literally less than a foot from our porch.”

Scroll down to continue reading

More news from KIRO 7

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NEWS APP 

Dickson was with the 12 children and gathered them as three men got out of the car. “I tried to calmly just lock all the doors (and) shut all the windows and I sent a message to all the parents.” She said all the children were safe as police descended and searched for the three men.
The Thurston County sheriff's office said the three African-American men were wanted in connection with a robbery at an AM/PM store in Grand Mound around 4 a.m. Tuesday. Investigators say the suspects bought gas and Gatorade and then held the clerk at gunpoint and demanded cash. 
According to authorities, the WSP spotted the Mercedes Tuesday afternoon and tried to pull it over, but the suspects refused to stop which started a chase that went through Olympia and lead to several collisions before it ended with the crash near the day care.
Dickson saw the men get away, “jumped over through the fence, and over the other fence into the neighbor's yard carrying purses and bags.”
Carmen Panter was waiting outside to pick up her child from the bus when she saw the crash happen.
“For them to catch air like they did was phenomenal. I've never seen anything like that.” She says the Mercedes hit an embankment in front of the day care at just the right angle to send it airborne.
Dickson said normally her kids would have been outside when the crash occurred but a twist in the schedule made a difference in keeping her kids safe.
“We were a little behind so luckily it worked out in our favor…to be able to say no we're safe in here we've got all the doors locked and they said but year they could break a window, but we said no we've got a lot of policemen out there keeping us safe.”
Late Tuesday evening, a resident called 911 and Olympia police came back to the scene to search the streets. The suspects got away from the initial crash and authorities spent much of Tuesday searching for them as they fled on foot. Several witnesses said they ran through several yards to make their getaway.