Wild police chase starts with reported assault in Tacoma, ends with crash in Puyallup

The chain reaction started with a stolen gun, a stolen truck and a reported domestic assault in Tacoma. It ended Saturday in Puyallup after a police pursuit, a crash, a footrace and an arrest.

Tacoma police got involved at 4:59 p.m.. A dispatch call reported a possible domestic assault at a gas station near the intersection of South 72nd and South Hosmer streets, the gateway to a notorious crime corridor.

“We had multiple calls that a male had assaulted a female and forced her into a truck,” said police spokesperson Wendy Haddow.

The truck was a blue Ford F-250, reported stolen at gunpoint in Auburn, Haddow said. That equated to three reported felonies in two cities.

Police responded to the gas station. The truck sped away, heading east toward Puyallup. Eventually, it slammed into an unoccupied parked car in the 11800 block of Valley Avenue East.

Three people ran from the crash: a woman and two men. Police stopped the woman and one of the men, Haddow said. They were taken to an area hospital and treated for minor injuries. The second man eluded an aerial search and a police dog’s nose. Sunday afternoon, Puyallup police reported the man had been captured in the Fife area.

Interviewed later by police officers, the woman wouldn’t talk about the reported assault. Had her hair been pulled? Had she been punched in the face to force her into the truck? She wouldn’t say. Police released her.

The other man, 22, wasn’t so lucky. Fleeing in the stolen truck was one thing, but he also had a gun, reported stolen from a vehicle in Tacoma a day earlier. Auburn police arrested the man on suspicion of first-degree robbery, Haddow said. He also faces possible charges in Pierce County on suspicion of felony eluding, possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a stolen gun.