Posted on 12/16/2002 11:06:50 AM PST by tomakaze
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Monday, December 16, 2002 Suspect in car theft is shot in wild chase TACOMA -- The owner of a stolen car raced after the vehicle late Saturday in a brief but wild chase that ended with the suspect shot in the head and the car on its side after smashing through a fence. "We heard it," said Arlie Nordlund, the homeowner whose fence was splintered apart by the stolen car. "If we had been asleep, we would have heard it."
The suspected car thief, an unidentified male between 15 and 20 years old, was in critical condition at Tacoma General Hospital. Tacoma police arrested the owner of the stolen car and booked him into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree assault. "He put a lot of people at risk by firing his gun," police spokesman Jim Mattheis said, adding that if the suspect dies, the charges against the car owner could change. The case, he said, will be reviewed by the Pierce County Prosecutor's Office, which will determine what charges the car owner ultimately faces. An arraignment for the 33-year-old man was scheduled for today. The chase and shooting began with a call to 911 about 10:30 p.m., when someone reported a stolen car in the 7000 block of South I Street in south Tacoma. Then, just moments later, there was a second call to 911 reporting an accident at the corner of South 72nd Street and South J Street just a few blocks from the earlier report, Mattheis said. The owner of the stolen car, a 1985 Pontiac Grand Prix, told police he looked out to see his car being driven away. He grabbed a small handgun and hopped into an Oldsmobile Cutlass to chase after his car and the person taking it. Witnesses told police the car owner caught up to his stolen car, pulled alongside it and fired three to four times. Nordlund said he and his wife had just gotten off the computer when they heard those shots. "And a few seconds later, just a great, big crash," he said. "I was going to go out there and see what was going on, but my wife said, 'Don't go out there; they're shooting.' " Nordlund called 911 and did go out to investigate. The stolen car had crashed through Nordlund's wooden fence, missing a bus-stop sign and a large stump with a birdhouse in the yard. The car tore through Nordlund's side fence, smashing into a neighbor's Chevrolet Corsica before rolling onto the driver's side, resting against the neighbor's home. The impact folded the hood of the Corsica up to the windshield and left debris strewn in the front yard of Nordlund's neighbor. Those residents are out of town, he said, and they had recently bought the now-wrecked car. Of the people who had gathered around the wreck, one man stepped up to Nordlund and said, "That's my car. It just got stolen," Nordlund said. Peering into the car, Nordlund saw a young man dressed all in red. The man was not moving and gave no sign of life. The owner of the car then disappeared. Mattheis said the car owner apparently returned to his home, where police contacted him, then arrested him. "He's been cooperative," Mattheis said. The chase and gunfire put a lot of people at risk, he said, including pedestrians and other motorists on the busy street. The stolen car itself crossed opposing lanes of traffic before crashing. "Who knows, he could have crashed into this home," Mattheis said, standing beside Nordlund's wrecked fence. Nordlund said he and his wife were less than 40 feet from where the car came flying through his yard. But it isn't the first time a stolen vehicle has met Nordlund's front yard. Last February, someone stole a truck nearby. The owner hopped in and was wrestling with the thief for control. The ensuing crash took out a section of Nordlund's fence. "We know we're lucky," Nordlund said. P-I reporter Hector Castro can be reached at 206-448-8126 or hectorcastro@seattlepi.com
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I could not possibly agree more. Well said!
Of course they charged the shooter. He shot Santa Claus.
'85 Grand Prix.....Olds Cutlass......
These are cars coveted by young men who view them as status symbols.............Not much intelligence here.
Think about it. One steals the car and the other one chases him down and shoots him cowboy style. I remember these two guys. They both tried to date my daughter with their status symbols.
sorry if I sound a little cynical.
Splintered boards mark the spot where a stolen car plunged through a fence in Tacoma after the car's owner gave chase. The suspect was shot and later died at Tacoma General Hospital. (December 16, 2002)
Photo Credit: Melina Mara/Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Mr. James (owner of the stolen car) has never been arrested, is a Navy vet, has four children, works at a home for the disabled, and has had four previous cars stolen and destroyed by the thieves.
He's still sitting in jail facing charges. I say he deserves a medal.
If this is the precedent they set (charging him for endangering the lives of the innocent), then they will never be allowed to chase cars, throw spike strips, or spray Mace in a crowded, public place again.
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