A high-speed maneuver by a Pierce County deputy brought a brief car chase to a halt in Parkland after a stolen vehicle was spotted. The pursuit, which then turned into a precision immobilization technique, or PIT maneuver, was executed within seconds, effectively ending the incident with the suspect's vehicle pinned against a telephone pole. The event transpired around 11:02 am on June 13 at the intersection of 96th St and 20th Ave S, as reported by the Pierce County Sheriff's Department Blog.
The deputy initiated the PIT after a fleeing attempt by the suspect in the stolen car. It took less than a stretch of 40 seconds for the deputy to push the vehicle over 300 feet and bring it to a forceful stop. According to the Sheriff's Department blog, "All the screeching you hear is because the deputy pushed the vehicle over 300 feet to have it stopped in front of a telephone pole to help pin the vehicle in." Upon halting the vehicle, the deputy ordered the driver to exit the car but waited for more personnels to secure the scene.
An interesting twist to the event was an offer of assistance from an armed citizen who happened to be at the scene; however, the officer's backup arrived just in time to handle the situation. The subsequent search of the suspect yielded more than just stolen property -- deputies found a bag of methamphetamine tucked away in the driver's pocket.
The 44-year-old male suspect was eventually taken into custody without further ado and booked into the Pierce County Jail facing charges of Possession of Stolen Vehicle and Possession of a Controlled Substance. The Sheriff's Department's message was clear for those who consider evading law enforcement, “Maybe this guy didn’t know where he was, but these suspects had better think twice before trying to flee from Pierce County Deputies!”
