THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. — A driver who had been doing donuts crashed while fleeing deputies, killing his passenger.
According to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, at around 10 p.m. on Monday, deputies were heading to a report of an injury crash on Rainier Road Southeast.
One of the deputies coming from the Nisqually Valley area with their lights and sirens on spotted a car doing donuts at Meridian Road Southeast and Mullen Road Southeast.
After apparently noticing the deputy’s car, the car fled south on Meridian. When the deputy sped up to identify the car, the driver accelerated to speeds estimated to be more than 90 mph in a 40 mph zone.
The deputy let dispatchers know about the fleeing car as they continued heading to the injury crash on Rainier Road.
When the deputy rounded a corner near 62nd Avenue Southeast seconds later, they saw the fleeing car had crashed in the middle of the road.
The deputy approached the driver, an Olympia man in his early 20s who was still belted in the car, and spoke with him. He was taken to a local hospital for his injuries.
A passenger in the car, also an Olympia man in his early 20s, was killed in the crash.
Once released from the hospital, the driver was arrested and booked into the Thurston County Jail on vehicular homicide and other charges.
“At no point was the deputy pursuing the fleeing vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. The sheriff’s office later posted dash cam video from the responding deputy’s car to show what happened.
To remain transparent, here is the dash camera video from Deputy Jones' incident on Meridian Rd from October 23rd. We understand this is a difficult time for everyone involved. Our thoughts remain with everyone affected by this tragic incident, including the family, friends, coworkers, community, and our employees.
Posted by Thurston County Sheriff on Thursday, October 26, 2023
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