Bodycam: Wash. SWAT Unit Uses Chainsaw to End Standoff with Propane Tank Attack Suspect
What to Know
- Olympia police sought a suspect accused of striking a woman in the head with a propane tank during a felony assault at a homeless encampment, leaving the victim with serious injuries.
- Officers located the suspect barricaded inside an apartment, and because of his violent criminal history and an active escape warrant, authorities deployed a SWAT team and crisis negotiators.
- After negotiations failed, SWAT used a chainsaw and pepper-spray projectile to breach the unit, and the suspect threw objects at officers and attempted to start a fire before a K-9 helped take him into custody.
Following an apartment building standoff, an Olympia SWAT team arrested a suspect in a felony assault that occurred in a notorious homeless encampment this week, Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders posted on Facebook on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, Olympia officers received a report of a felony assault involving a man striking a woman in the head with a propane tank at “The Jungle” encampment, the post said.
The assault caused significant injury to the victim that might result in permanent disfigurement, according to the post.
The man has five prior convictions for assault as well as an active Department of Corrections escape warrant for assault with a deadly weapon.
Olympia Police discovered the man early Saturday morning in barricaded inside an apartment unit, the post said.
Due to the suspect’s history, officers initiated a SWAT response. After crisis negotiators tried to talk with the man to no avail, the response escalated, and the SWAT team broke into the unit using a chainsaw and a pepper-spray ball.
The man began throwing objects at law enforcement and tried to set the complex on fire, the post said.
As the SWAT team entered a K-9 bit the suspect, and the man was detained shortly after. Medics had to sedate the man for transport to the hospital.
He was taken into custody on suspicion of multiple crime,s including felony assault and arson, the post said.
___________
© 2026 The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.).
Visit www.theolympian.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.