One Guy, One Day, Two Wild Crimes In Pierce County

PUYALLUP, WA - Friday was a busy day for one local criminal.

A Waller man was arrested on Friday afternoon after he was involved in a wrong-way police chase along SR 512. After his arrest, police realized he was the same guy involved in an incident involving a stolen pickup truck and a pepper-spray assault.

According to the sheriff's office, deputies responded to a report of a pepper spraying around 8:30 a.m. Friday along Gem Heights Drive. At the scene, deputies learned that the victim had been pepper sprayed by a woman after he found her and another man sitting in his stolen pickup truck. The man and woman fled the scene, and police were only able to arrest the woman.

A few hours later around 1:30 p.m., a Pierce County deputy spotted a known stolen SUV in the Brookdale area. When the deputy tried to stop the vehicle, the driver fled. The driver headed to SR 512 via Portland Avenue and got on the highway heading east in the westbound lanes.

After a brief chase, a Washington State Patrol trooper was able to corral the driver against a guard rail. When police moved in, they discovered the suspect from the pepper spray incident sitting in the passenger seat.

The 22-year-old was arrested on charges of first-degree robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Image courtesy Pierce County Sheriff