Wild Federal Way pursuit ends with arrest, bullet-riddled car

By KOMO Staff Published: Nov 10, 2012 at 5:08 PM PDT Last Updated: Nov 11, 2012 at 2:05 PM PDT
Wild Federal Way pursuit ends with arrest, bullet-riddled car »Play Video
The suspect's car, at left, was stopped by state troopers and King County sheriff's deputies.
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - A wild car chase up Interstate 5 and through south King County streets on Saturday apparently began as a road rage incident and ended with a bullet-riddled car, an arrest and a collision involving a state trooper's patrol car, officials said.

The drama began at about 2:15 p.m. when the Washington State Patrol received a 911 call from a 24-year-old man who said someone in another car was threatening him with a gun near the Tacoma Dome.

As troopers responded to the scene, they received more 911 calls from the victim who said the man in the other vehicle fired at his car as he drove away, and that he thought he had been shot in the back.

As troopers ramped up their response to the incident, the victim got behind the suspect in his car and began following him north on I-5.

The suspect and the victim then pulled off the freeway in North Tacoma and into the parking lot of Joe's Deli. The suspect again pointed his gun at the victim, but it's not clear whether more shots were fired.

The victim and the shooter then drove off together again, and Fife police become involved in the pursuit.

As the suspect reached south King County, troopers took over the pursuit as he drove all over through the streets of Federal Way, the State Patrol said.

Eventually, one of the troopers was able to stop the suspect's car in a controlled collision, known as a PIT maneuver, spinning the suspect's vehicle around in the opposite direction at at 349th and Weyerhaeuser Way.

Two King County sheriff's deputies who had joined the chase were able to box in the suspect with their patrol cars, and he was placed under arrest without further incident.

The suspect was later identified as 52-year-old Dale Carr of Auburn, and is currently being held on investigation of assault and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle.

Meanwhile, the victim and his car wound up in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant off 320th Street in Federal Way. Troopers confirmed that his car had bullet holes in it, but it turned out that the man himself was not hit by gunfire.

Trooper Cliff Pratt said that the Washington State Patrol is still investigating the incident.

"This person was shot at several times and his car was struck," says Trooper Cliff Pratt. "Luckily he was not shot in the person, so he is not injured. He was very startled, and I can understand why."

"We're still trying to figure out how this all started out and why," Pratt added. "It's our assumption that it's a road rage type of incident that got way out of hand."

Pratt said the State Patrol absolutely does not encourage motorists to follow someone in another car who is shooting at them. Instead, he recommended that people in that predicament get a license plate number or description, call 911 and stay as far away from the shooter as possible.