Violent chase through two counties ends in armed suspect’s arrest

REDMOND, Wash. — A violent, 36-mile chase through two counties as a man allegedly opened fire on troopers. Now investigators are trying to figure out why he wouldn't pull over.

The chase started in Snohomish County just after 11 p.m. Friday and ended in Redmond on Avondale at 116th, a couple of miles from the suspect’s home.

Investigators say the bullet holes in the back of the suspect’s vehicle were from his own weapons, which is an indication of just how violent this pursuit became.

“I heard the gunshots,” said Ruben Yegiyan. “Several gunshots, yes. And I saw the troopers running the apartment complex.”

Then Yegiyan and his neighbors at the Avondale Apartments got alerts on their phones and in email.

“It said to make sure everybody to keep calm and stay inside,” Yegiyan said.

A Washington State trooper on I-5 SB near the Highway 2 interchange in Snohomish County tried to pull the 45-year-old driver over for speeding and having a plate blacked out. But he wouldn’t stop.

“The vehicle speeds went to about 97-miles-an-hour at top speed,” said WSP Trooper Heather Axtman. “We were able to successfully deploy spike strips and hit one of the front tires of the vehicle.”

The driver drove into King County. DOT cameras captured him as he continued southbound on 405.

Troopers tried a second time to stop him. That’s when he fired into a trooper’s windshield.

“We also had our air unit in the air and assessed that,” said WSP Trooper Rick Johnson. “Troopers backed off. They followed the vehicle until it got here on Avondale Road and 116th.”

The suspect ditched his vehicle and fled into the woods, law enforcement officials said, still firing.

Turns out the driver lives just two miles away with his mother. No one answered the door. A neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous says she has known him for the last 13 years.

“Extremely surprised,” she said. “Didn’t know that he even had a weapon.”

The man was in the woods for about four hours when the King County Sheriff’s SWAT team found him and took him into custody. Troopers say they recovered “multiple weapons.”

All of it was a surprise in a place unaccustomed to a sight like this.

“It’s so quiet that time of night, too, usually,” said Christine Musser of Redmond, “to see all those cop cars.”

A trooper suffered minor injuries when his windshield was struck. But, incredibly, no one else was injured.

The suspect is expected to make his first court appearance Monday.

© 2020 Cox Media Group