Game store robbery leads to chase, crash, shutdown of Pierce County interchange
A video game store robbery led to a car chase, wrecked vehicles and a snarled state Route 512 and Interstate 5 interchange Friday night.
The melee began when a man robbed a video game store at gunpoint in the 20200 block of Mountain Highway East in Spanaway just before 6 p.m. Friday, said Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss.
Deputies caught up with the suspect on Steele Street at 6:04 p.m. The suspected robber then led deputies on a vehicle pursuit using a stolen Toyota Camry from Federal Way.
The chase ended after a deputy used a PIT maneuver — where a law enforcement officer uses their car to bump a suspect’s vehicle and send it into a spin at 6:10 p.m. The suspect’s car then hit a semi-truck and a transit bus on SR 512 just west of I-5.
Law enforcement officers shut down parts of the interchange while the suspect was pulled from the car that he refused to exit. Deputies broke a window to gain access, Moss said.
The suspect was still armed with a gun when he was arrested, according to Moss.
The suspect is being booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of robbery in the first degree, felony eluding and resisting arrest, Moss said.
The stolen car and a Piece County Sheriff’s Department car were heavily damaged in the pursuit, Moss said.
This story was originally published November 10, 2023 at 7:34 PM.
