This week a Kent Police Officer was patrolling Monday morning, June 26, 2023 at 2:30 a.m. in the 20600 block of 120th Ave SE (map below), when he saw a vehicle with no lights on.

“No headlights when required is a common sign that a driver may be impaired,” police said.

The Officer attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the driver refused. His driving became erratic, and consistent with someone who is intoxicated. DUI is one of the crimes where a pursuit is currently allowed in our state.

Police say that the suspect, a 38-year-old Kent man, would not pull over, but at one point slowed down significantly, allowing the Officer to perform a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) to stop the vehicle. This was successful, but then the suspect refused to exit the truck.

Officers gave the suspect commands to exit, but instead he decided to shove multiple baggies of unknown drugs into his mouth. They observed that he began to pale, was sweating, and his pupils were dilating. He was frenetically looking for something inside the vehicle causing concern he was intending to arm himself. Eventually they accessed the vehicle, and arrested him without incident. At the time of his arrest he had drugs still inside his mouth, and was armed with multiple knives and an axe.

The suspect was taken to the hospital, administered Narcan, and while he was there threw up some of the baggies of drugs he had swallowed. The baggies contained Fentanyl/Percocet pills.

Officers contacted the vehicle owner and discovered that the vehicle was stolen in Seattle, but not yet reported.

Officers wrote and then served a warrant on the truck the following day, and located drug paraphernalia and evidence of additional criminal activity. Detectives continued the investigation, and filed charges for Possession of a stolen vehicle, Eluding, Possession of Stolen Property, DUI, and multiple traffic violations.

The suspect was also arrested for the following warrants: