Man arrested after shooting at Pierce County deputy during traffic stop
Deputies arrested a man on Tuesday morning who shot at a Pierce County patrol sergeant in Graham overnight, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
On Sunday at 10:44 p.m., a patrol sergeant was heading north on Meridian when he passed a van in the 19600 block that was speeding southbound.
The sergeant turned around and saw the van run a red light at 204th Street East.
When the sergeant caught up to the van, which turned west onto 224th Street East, the sergeant turned on his patrol car’s lights to make a traffic stop.
The van pulled into a driveway in the 9700 block of 224th Street East and then turned around and drove back toward the sergeant.
As the driver of the van approached the patrol car — with his driver’s door next to the sergeant’s driver’s door — the driver of the van pointed a handgun at the sergeant and fired, with his window still rolled up.
The deputy was not hit by the gunfire.
The driver then sped away eastbound on 224th Street East with the sergeant following.
The driver lost control of the van in the 15400 block of 204th Street East/Jansky Road East, which plummeted about 50 feet down a ravine and came to rest upside down.
Because the driver of the van was armed, deputies used a drone to try to get a better view of the van’s interior, but trees and brush in the area were too thick.
Eventually, a team of deputies from SWAT and search and rescue walked down to the van and found it was empty.
A ghost gun and a spent shell casing were seen inside.
After they received information that the driver of the van was at a home in the Orting Valley, deputies surrounded a trailer on the property and ordered the man to come out.
Police K-9 Ammo was also at the scene barking, and upon hearing the dog, deputies said the man came out of the trailer and surrendered.
The 28-year-old man was arrested and will be booked into jail for investigation of first-degree assault and eluding.
“The prosecutor’s office will determine formal charges, which could be upgraded to attempted murder if deemed appropriate under the law,” a blog post from the sheriff’s department said.
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