An attempted arrest turned into a rescue mission after a man ran into some blackberry bushes and got stuck.

According to a blog post from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened on Sept. 30 about 10:30 p.m. Deputy Carly Cappetto, spokesperson for PCSO, told The News Tribune it happened in the 10400 block of 137th Street Court East, in unincorporated Pierce County near Puyallup.

Deputies went to a home after two roommates fought, and one of the women threatened the other with a knife, the post said. The woman who made the threat then fled out the back door with a man.

“One way to try and prevent capture from deputies is to run into the thickest patch of blackberry bushes you can find,” the post said. “It later turned out to be a really bad idea.”

Deputies set up a perimeter around the wooded area and called for a K-9, the post said. When the K-9 arrived, the man — who had waded into a thick patch of black berry bushes — told police he was giving up.

“There was just one problem,” the post said. “He couldn’t get out.”

Police pivoted from making an arrest to launching a rescue mission, the post said. Central Pierce Fire & Rescue crews came to the scene and used a long ladder, placing it across the top of the bushes and creating “a makeshift path” that allowed him to free himself.

Deputies found the woman hiding behind a tree near where the man was stuck, the post said. She was arrested and faced charges of felony harassment and vandalism.

They ultimately didn’t arrest the man, the post said, because there wasn’t enough evidence against him to warrant an arrest.

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