MONROE — A long police pursuit through town and broad, near-two-hour manhunt that followed in the Fryelands Neighborhood Friday night upset neighbors who felt they were left in the dark about their safety.
Monroe Police said it began a pursuit around 10 p.m. when the driver came into Monroe. Earlier that night, a Snohomish Police sergeant had tried to conduct a traffic stop on the driver in downtown Snohomish and he fled.
He drove a hefty early-to-mid-2000s GMC Yukon SUV. He entered Monroe via the Old Snohomish-Monroe Road, the sheriff’s office said.
Spike strips pierced the tires of the large SUV during the chase, but he didn’t stop, going a long way riding the front rims. A large number of law enforcement followed him. Washington State Patrol troopers attempted to make PIT maneuvers to spin out the Yukon.
Police said the Yukon was abandoned on Austin Avenue near the corner at 153rd Street SE.
A witness said a man ran off into the adjacent Currie View Park.
Monroe Police deployed a K-9, but didn’t find the suspect. Residents said law enforcement searched backyards well into the night.
As of Sunday morning, Jan. 26, Monroe Police are still investigating, but have not made an arrest, Monroe Police Cmdr. Paul Ryan said.
The driver circulated west Monroe at least once, from piecing together scanner listener’s reports and chase witness reports.
He made it to U.S. 2 after coming into Monroe by the Old Snohomish-Monroe Road.
At U.S. 2 he turned south on Kelsey Street, a witness saw.
It is thought that from Kelsey he turned onto Columbia Street, then Park Lane, through the neighborhood streets, to go west to 179th Street SE (Hospital Road), from the Tribune piecing together scanner listener’s reports and chase witness reports.
It appears he went north on 179th, turned west just before U.S. 2 and drove down 149th Street SE in the Stanton Meadows neighborhood, then used 174th to jump back to 154th. Still piecing together witness reports, the driver also spent time driving in the Lords Lake Neighborhood just north of the Rairdon’s Dodge-Chrysler dealership for a while. Activity was also spotted on Wales Street in the Fryelands area.
The official police report was not immediately available by press time, and police agency spokespeople did not know the driver’s exact route.
Ultimately, the SUV was ditched near Currie View Park on a street that connects off of 154th Street SE.
Police deployed stop sticks on Fryelands Boulevard in attempt to stop the driver, witnesses saw.
Monroe Police said it began the pursuit on the basis of stopping a driver who eluded police.
Police have identified one criminal count for the driver of eluding, Ryan said.
At the start, the driver fled from Snohomish Police after a deputy tried to conduct a non-criminal traffic stop at First Street and Avenue D, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Renee Cooper said. He had rolled through a stop. The driver reached 70 miles an hour on the Old Snohomish-Monroe Road, Cooper said.
Cooper said the Snohomish deputy, a sergeant, did not make a pursuit because of department policy related to the scope of the crime.
The sergeant “held probable cause for eluding but did not initiate pursuit due to SCSO policy prohibiting pursuit of a vehicle for the sole criminal offense of attempting to elude,” Cooper said by email.
The Monroe Police Department issued an apology on social media for not giving an alert sooner about the unfolding incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Monroe Police tip line at 360-863-4600.
