2 injured in SUV crash while fleeing from Puyallup police
PUYALLUP, Wash. - A driver and passenger were seriously injured Saturday afternoon when their SUV crashed into a tree as they were fleeing from police in Puyallup, officials said.
The incident began at about 2:15 p.m. when a Puyallup officer approached the SUV in the parking lot of the South Ridge Apartments located at 2720 South Meridian. The officer suspected that the occupants of the SUV were burglarizing parked vehicles at a nearby business.
When the officer asked to see their IDs, the driver put the SUV in gear and took off out of the parking lot and nearly hit the officer, said Capt. Ryan Portmann of the Puyallup police.
The officer radioed out a description of the suspects' vehicle and their direction of travel.
A second officer then spotted the SUV heading east on Highway 512 from the 31st Avenue Southeast on-ramp, and took off after it.
As the officer attempted to catch up to the suspects' vehicle, it exited the highway at South Meridian. The driver lost control and the SUV slammed into a tree and retaining wall.
Both the driver and passenger of the SUV were seriously injured in the crash. Both were taken to Tacoma General Hospital for treatment.
A preliminary investigation determined that the driver, a 40-year-old Lakewood man, was likely under the influence of drugs. He is considered to be under arrest on suspicion of vehicular assault.
The incident began at about 2:15 p.m. when a Puyallup officer approached the SUV in the parking lot of the South Ridge Apartments located at 2720 South Meridian. The officer suspected that the occupants of the SUV were burglarizing parked vehicles at a nearby business.
When the officer asked to see their IDs, the driver put the SUV in gear and took off out of the parking lot and nearly hit the officer, said Capt. Ryan Portmann of the Puyallup police.
The officer radioed out a description of the suspects' vehicle and their direction of travel.
A second officer then spotted the SUV heading east on Highway 512 from the 31st Avenue Southeast on-ramp, and took off after it.
As the officer attempted to catch up to the suspects' vehicle, it exited the highway at South Meridian. The driver lost control and the SUV slammed into a tree and retaining wall.
Both the driver and passenger of the SUV were seriously injured in the crash. Both were taken to Tacoma General Hospital for treatment.
A preliminary investigation determined that the driver, a 40-year-old Lakewood man, was likely under the influence of drugs. He is considered to be under arrest on suspicion of vehicular assault.
first of all i am very close with the family and before you go blaming both of them you must realize the girl who owned the truck may have been quilty of hangin out with shady characters but that doesnt change the fact that she began screaming stop the second she knew his plan to run, she was in the back seat withno seatbelt , she had no intentions of running seeing how she had done nothing wrong, the second he started fleeing she was hitting him and screaming for him to stop, he had no care for his life or hers at that second and she was along for the ride {in back seat} of her life, after the wreck he was pinned under her as he screamed dont you understand i have to get out of here, before you go blaming both of them as drug addicted theives realize this girl is barley 22 and has her whole liofe ahead of her, i personally know the girl involved and know that she is way to smart to run nomatter what they would have had to face, just thought you guy might enjoy a couple little details before you go condeming someone for handing their keys to another, we are all human Â
Pretty mean comments on here, kinda hard reading being that this is my family!
They must have used the Jaws of Life to open up the roof of this car! Â I mean look at it! Â Its peeled open like they used a MONSTER sized can opener or something. Â
Several hearts bleeding in the comments section today. Sniff, sniff, 8:::>
Â
These were bad guys. They put themselves into their predicament. No sympathy for the dirtbags from me.
Why were they taken to Tacoma General when Good Sam hospital is RIGHT THERE?
Probably trama, GS is not a Trama center.
Poor tree...
Thinning of the herd....
F'n tweekerz! Please get help while in the hospital for your sickness dude.
when do these people ever actually get away when they try this stuff?
Glad to see the tree looks ok!
Amazed they survived, i mean, look at the thing o.O
 @Marty McFly Some of that damage may have been from firefighters pulling the roof to get the victims out of the vehicle Marty.Â
Wow, did a great job on wrecking that SUV...
I hate car prowlers. Chop a finger off every time they get caught. They'll stop doing it..eventually.
Probably won't be able to pick up the soap for some time while in jail.
To bad the police call for medical aid when the person fleeing crashes. Perhaps it is a better lesson to let them suffer the conseqence for a bad choice for awhile in thier mangled car. Could save court costs as well.
Tough love they missed as children.
 @slyderwso Despite your venting desire for street justice... they aren't about to leave people (even the bad guys) bleeding in "their" mangled car. Perhaps that'd make for a good Charles Bronson movie, but this isn't a movie
 @slyderwso It might be tough love as a child that caused them to be a rebel now. Since we don't know the facts of their whole life, let's just stick to the current facts at hand.Â
 @PrairieDawn  @slyderwso Tough love caused them to rebel NOW?
ok just leave them in the car next time.
 @slyderwso That's mean spirited, nobody likes what they did, but for cryin out loud, they are still human.
Tis the season, I'll take the Christmas tree stand!
 @Rockberry Good eye! :)
 @Rockberry haha I had to go back and look at the picture to see what you were talking about. Nice one!
real smart run from a minor charge only to face a felony charge........... Felony Stupid
The question remains: was there evidence to support the officers suspicion that they were burglarizing cars?
 @DarkRenegade They might have been there doing drugs, who knows.
 @SJ  @DarkRenegade or had a kidnap victim in the trunk right? Who knows until they are stopped.
 @DarkRenegade do you suppose the fact they were fleeing suggests the officers "suspicion" was justified?
 @Rick4001CS No, it only means they were hiding something but not specifically what the officer had stopped them for.
 @DarkRenegade They were already stopped, they were sitting in an apartment complex parking lot, he (the  police) wasn't chasing them until they sped away, no doubt they were up to no good..
 @DarkRenegade  @Rick4001CS Yeah. Maybe they just murdered someone. Who knows.