Grandmother fights fugitive, fatal freeway crash among TNT’s top stories

A dramatic 34-hour manhunt ends, a major land deal advances, and a deadly highway crash unfolds in stories making headlines in Pierce County. Here is a quick look at Monday’s top stories tracked by The News Tribune.

• A grandmother’s five-minute physical struggle with 23-year-old Skyler Cantrell helped end a 34-hour Pierce County manhunt after he entered her Tacoma home through an unlocked sliding-glass door and grabbed one of her toddler-aged grandchildren by the arm. Cantrell, who fled a May 3 officer-involved shooting and broke into multiple residences before his May 4 arrest, is being held at Pierce County Jail on charges including first-degree burglary and criminal trespassing, with bail set at $300,000.

• Puyallup-based Miles Sand & Gravel has entered a $17.25 million purchase-and-sale agreement for the 745-acre Port of Tacoma “Maytown property” in Thurston County, marking the port’s third attempt to offload the site after failed deals with the Port of Olympia and NorthPoint Development. The Thurston County property carries a gravel-mining permit allowing extraction of 20.6 million cubic yards of gravel.

• Pierce County has generated more than $3 billion in taxes for Sound Transit 3 since 2016 but has received only 8% of overall spending despite contributing 18% of tax revenues between 2017 and 2024. The Tacoma Dome Link Extension, estimated at $5 billion to $6 billion and planned for 2035, was not among the projects proposed for delay as Sound Transit confronts a $34 billion funding gap.

• A motorcyclist was killed in a crash involving a box truck and two other cars on eastbound State Route 512 near Puyallup at about 3:25 p.m. Monday, with all eastbound lanes closed and traffic diverted at East Pioneer Avenue.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by senior editor Adam Lynn. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.

⚙️