12/25/13 Skagit County, WA – Man Acting Strangely Was Put In Back Of Patrol Car- Seals Patrol Car – Chase By Washington State Patrol – Crash Into Tree – Totaled

December 25, 2013

kirotv.com

State Patrol ended up in a high-speed chase with a Skagit County sheriff’s deputy’s stolen rig.

The driver flew off the road, crushed a fence and slammed into a tree off Ershig Road near Bow in Skagit County.

“We were sitting around opening presents and then we heard a loud crash.” Said 15-year-old Tray Dalgarn, who was home across the street when he saw the tree catch fire.

A state patrolman pursuing the car immediately pulled the driver out.

“I saw it was a sheriff’s car right away and I was wondering if he was pulling his friend out, maybe he swerved off the road and then it looked like he wasn’t in uniform,” said Dalgarn.

State Patrol says a deputy responded to a home near Bow this afternoon after receiving calls about a 30-year-old man acting strangely and causing damage.

The deputy put the man in the back of his patrol car without handcuffs then walked over to the man’s family to tell them he was being taken to the hospital.

“If we had a person that we thought was mentally challenged or had some mental illness we probably would handcuff them before placing them in the patrol car,” said WSP Sgt. James Arnold.

The man climbed through the partition and drove off. An emergency broadcast was sent to surrounding officers. A state patrolman spotted the car and chased it for about 2-miles.

“Initially he thought it was another deputy looking for the stolen car but then he saw the way he was driving and thought it was a little suspect that he was driving so erratically without any lights on,” said Arnold.

The driver was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and arrested.