Video: Wash. Deputy Battles Accused Impaired Driver at Scene of 2-Vehicle Collision
What to know
• A 47-year-old man accused of DUI was arrested Oct. 15 after causing a crash on and assaulting a Thurston County sheriff's deputy who tried to detain him.
• The suspect allegedly fought through two Taser deployments and tried to disarm the deputy before multiple officers helped subdue him.
• The suspect, the victim driver and the deputy were all treated at area hospitals..
By Martín Bilbao
Source The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.)
Thurston County deputies arrested a 47-year-old man accused of causing a collision while driving under the influence and assaulting law enforcement Wednesday (Oct. 15).
The incident occurred around 5 p.m. on State Route 510 near Old Pacific Highway Southeast. The man allegedly hit a guardrail and then hit a vehicle in an oncoming lane, Washington State Patrol Trooper Kameron Watts shared on X.
A Sheriff’s Office school resource officer came across the collision and fought off the 47-year-old man, Sheriff Derek Sanders shared on Facebook. The man allegedly appeared “heavily intoxicated” and refused commands from a responding deputy. The man then charged at the deputy in an “unprovoked” assault, he said. A fight ensued, and multiple agencies responded to assist the deputy and a collision victim.
“Thank you to our partner agencies and the off-duty corrections officer who intervened,” Sanders said in his post. “All involved deputies and officers placed themselves at significant risk to protect others during this incident.”
Sanders described the suspect as 6-foot-2-inches tall and 210-pound man with a felony criminal history.
The deputy, who is a school resource officer, initially held the man at taser point, Sanders said. However, the man went back to his vehicle and appeared to dig around, prompting the deputy to transition to her gun.
The man charged at the deputy, and she transitioned to back to her taser, Sanders said. The man then charged at the vehicle he previously collided, with the injured victim still there.
“The deputy placed herself between the victim and the suspect, and deployed her taser,” Sanders said. “All ten probes were deployed, and the suspect fought through the taser.”
The fight went to the ground and the man attempted to remove the deputy’s gun from her holster, Sanders said.
An off-duty corrections officer with a concealed pistol license reportedly intervened about two minutes into the fight and struck the man multiple times in the face with their gun.
A Nisqually Tribal Police officer also responded to the scene. This officer helped “pry” the man away from deputy’s holstered gun, Sanders said.
“An additional deputy arrived on scene and applied a second taser while the suspect continued to fight for the holstered handgun, at which point lockup occurred and he was detained,” Sanders said.
After being detained, the man was transported to an area hospital. He was later booked into the Thurston County jail on suspicion of multiple crimes.
Those crimes included driving under the influence, reckless driving, obstructing a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, disarming a law enforcement or corrections officer and third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer.
The driver of the victim vehicle was also transported to an area hospital to be treated for their injuries, Watts shared on X. The deputy who first fought the man was treated for her injuries as well, Sanders said.
Lacey Fire District 3 also responded to the incident and shared a couple photos from the scene in a Facebook post. One photo shows a gray Chevy SUV with a wrecked front and a wheel removed.
In photos shared by Watts, a white vehicle can be seen stuck in some brush just off the road.
Watts first posted about the incident at about 5:14 p.m. and noted the SR-510 would be blocked due the collision. He announced the roadway reopened in a 7:49 p.m. post.
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