Pierce County deputy deployed stop sticks during pursuit. A bystander got hurt
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- A Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy deployed stop sticks during a pursuit.
- The suspect vehicle swerved and crashed into a truck occupied by a man uninvolved in the chase.
- The man is now suing Pierce County for negligence and emotional distress.
A Tacoma man is suing Pierce County for negligence after his truck was hit by a driver who swerved to avoid stop sticks while fleeing law enforcement.
Joshua Crawford, 39, was uninvolved in the pursuit in July 2024 and had pulled over for emergency lights in an area just south of 104th Street East and Waller Road. As the suspect’s Honda Civic quickly approached, a deputy near Crawford deployed the sticks, causing the suspect “to become airborne, flip over and crash into plaintiff at a high rate of speed,” according to the lawsuit filed July 25 in Pierce County Superior Court.
Attorney Thad Martin, who is representing Crawford, said in an interview Wednesday his client sustained mostly soft-tissue injuries when his Dodge Ram was struck, including to his neck and back.
“These officers have to be aware,” Martin said. “I understand that they have a job to stop this fleeing car, but they have to be aware of what’s around them.”
Adam Faber, a spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which represents the county in legal matters, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The pursuit occurred in the area of Summit, southeast of Tacoma. The suspect was spotted with no license plates and fled from a deputy who tried to initiate a traffic stop, according to charging documents filed against the driver.
At 104th Street East and Waller Road, the deputy slowed and began to end the pursuit after being told to do so, charging papers show. The Civic sped closer toward a second deputy, just south of the area, who grew fearful that the car was going to run him over, the papers said.
“(S)o I stepped off the shoulder of the road and pulled my stop sticks across the road,” the deputy wrote in an incident report, according to court records.
The Civic swerved in an attempt to avoid the sticks and drove head-on into Crawford’s vehicle, charging papers said.
A photo of the truck provided to The News Tribune by Martin’s office shows the vehicle with damage to its front.
Crawford, who complained of pain, yelled, “My sons, my sons!” and that the truck was on fire, according to an incident report shared by Martin’s office. The deputy who deployed the stop sticks removed one boy from the vehicle after cutting the straps of a car seat, the report said.
Asked about the deputy’s stated concern for his safety before deploying the sticks, Martin said it “seems a little far-fetched.”
“If you put down strips, you’re going to make that car more out of control,” he said, adding later: “It seems like there wasn’t a, really, weighing of the potential risks when they did this action.”
After hitting Crawford, the Civic crashed into the front gate of a home in the 10700 block of Waller Road, according to charging documents. The driver ran from the scene but was later found and taken into custody.
The driver, who has a lengthy criminal history, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in connection to the incident and was sentenced to seven years in prison in May, court records show. He is also a named defendant in the lawsuit. Court records list no attorney for him in the civil matter.
The suit, which claims negligence and emotional distress, seeks unspecified damages, legal fees and other relief to be determined at trial.
