This past week, several Officers from the Kent Police Department responded to the 20000 block of 103rd Place SE (map below) for a 911 call of an unoccupied stolen Acura from Renton.
The first Officer to arrive scouted the area before approaching the Acura. As he passed by a van parked in the vicinity, he noticed that it was running, and the driver appeared to be passed out at the wheel. He positioned his patrol car directly behind the van and ran the license plate. It returned as a vehicle that had recently been stolen in Bellevue.
At this point, another Officer arrived to assist. They were concerned that the driver was likely DUI and might attempt to flee in the vehicle if he woke up. Knowing this could endanger the community, one Officer gently used his vehicle to pin the back of the stolen van, and the other pinned the front of the van with his patrol vehicle to prevent the stolen van from escaping.
Once additional patrol units arrived to assist, they activated lights, sirens and their PA system to get the suspect driver’s attention.
It worked – the driver woke up and immediately began trying to flee by driving into the front of the patrol vehicles. He was not successful, but because a Sergeant had placed a tire deflation device, appropriately named the ‘Terminator,’ behind the van when the suspect first put it into gear. The driver ‘caught’ the trap which caused the rear tire to deflate. At this point the driver/suspect, a 32-year-old Kent man, gave up and exited the van.
The suspect was taken into custody and the search incident to his arrest revealed suspected fentanyl. a tooter, and an as yet unidentified white powder on his person. He also had three misdemeanor warrants for his arrest, (theft, drug paraphernalia and reckless driving).
The suspect was booked into the Kent Correctional Facility for his warrants, and for Physical Control of a Vehicle While Under the Influence, Possession of a Controlled Substance and Vehicle Trespass. An Officer wrote a request for a search warrant to take the suspect’s blood, which was approved by a judge. After hearing that his blood would be taken, the suspect stated “Okay, cause it’s definitely going to show there are drugs in my system.”
“Eagle eye Peterson gets the nod for spotting this stolen car and accident waiting to happen,” police said. “Great teamwork by Sgt. Lontz’s crew in keeping this high driver in a stolen vehicle off of Kent’s roadways.”
