Wanted man armed with hammer arrested after 4-hour standoff in Puyallup

PUYALLUP, Wash. — The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department released new video Thursday of a four-hour standoff with a wanted man.

A taser and a beanbag gun were no match for the man; deputies said they had to finally use a pepper ball to get the man to surrender.

On Dec. 13 around 2:30 a.m. a deputy noticed the 33-year-old man, who appeared agitated in the Fred Meyer parking lot on 176th and Meridian.

The deputy said the man was yelling and harassing the grocery store employees and looking into vehicles. One woman reported she was fearful he would hurt her, and the manager wanted the man removed from the premises.

When the deputy tried to talk to the man, video from a body-worn camera shows him take off and run into a nearby gas station. Inside, you can hear the deputy yell for him to put down a hammer.

Eventually, the man is seen in the video running out of the gas station and over to a nearby business complex where he still refused to drop the hammer. Deputies tried using a taser on the man several times, but it was no use. Later, deputies are seen trying to use a beanbag shotgun on the man. He took several hits but refused to give up.

Deputies say they continued to follow the man because he was waving the hammer in a threatening manner, and they were worried he was a threat to the public.

After about four hours, deputies fired a nonlethal pepper ball, which got the man to drop his hammer so they could rush in and arrest him.

It turns out, the man had multiple felony warrants, which explained why he did not want to give up and go to jail.

The man was taken to a nearby hospital for mental health treatment before he was taken to jail.

You can watch the video here:

©2025 Cox Media Group