A raw video published Wednesday shows a Tacoma woman kicking in a neighbor’s front door, then jumping into a car and speeding off as police take up the chase through city streets. Neighbors can be seen rushing outside while officers follow with lights and sirens. The clip cuts out before viewers see how the pursuit ends, leaving the final moments off camera. The short, unedited video was posted online and later aired by a local TV station.
The footage, shared by KIRO 7, shows the woman striking the door several times before getting into a waiting vehicle that peels away as officers move in. The station labels the segment as raw video and includes both a street-level view and a dash-cam angle that capture the confrontation at the doorstep and the start of the pursuit. KIRO 7 focuses on the visuals and does not provide a detailed rundown of any arrest, injuries, or charges connected to the incident.
Pursuit law and policy
Under Washington law, attempting to outrun police is not just a traffic headache, it can be a felony. A driver who “willfully fails or refuses to immediately bring his or her vehicle to a stop” and then drives recklessly while fleeing a marked law enforcement vehicle can be charged with a class C felony, according to RCW 46.61.024.
The Tacoma Police Department’s vehicle operations policy instructs officers to weigh the danger to the public before starting or continuing a chase. Supervisors have the authority to call off a pursuit when the risk to bystanders, other drivers, or officers outweighs the immediate need to catch the suspect, according to the department’s policy.
Local context: pursuits under the microscope
High-speed chases in Pierce County have already been under scrutiny this year. A wrongful death lawsuit filed in January accuses Lakewood officers of carrying out a “rogue pursuit” that allegedly blew past department rules and ended in a deadly crash, according to The News Tribune.
In separate coverage, local reporters have chronicled multiple high-speed pursuits that have wrapped up in crashes or arrests on area roads, highlighting how quickly a traffic stop or neighborhood call can escalate once a driver decides to run, per The News Tribune.
What we still do not know
The raw video clip does not show whether officers ultimately caught the driver, whether anyone was hurt, or if prosecutors filed charges in the case, according to KIRO 7. For now the station’s footage remains the main public record of the encounter.
The brief but jarring video underscores how quickly a neighborhood dispute can turn into a fast-moving police pursuit, and how much hinges on the split-second decisions officers and supervisors must make under state law and local policy. This story will be updated if authorities release additional information about the incident.
