Deputy and officer taken to hospital after Pierce County chase

A Pierce County sheriff’s deputy and a state Department of Corrections officer were taken to the hospital Wednesday after an SUV driven by a woman trying to flee law enforcement rammed their patrol vehicle.

The deputy tried to pull over an SUV traveling erratically near East 60th and J streets in Tacoma about 2 p.m., officials said. The SUV twice rammed into the deputy’s vehicle, then sped off.

More deputies and Tacoma police officers pursued the SUV, but the driver evaded “stop sticks” several times while speeding through the Salishan neighborhood.

Deputies were able to spin the SUV out and pin it against a retaining wall as the driver tried to get onto northbound Interstate 5 from Portland Avenue.

The SUV driver, a 28-year-old woman, was arrested on an active Corrections Department warrant. She told deputies she had swallowed a baggie of methamphetamine, so she was taken to an area hospital for treatment, officials said.

After she was released from the hospital, she was booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of two counts of first-degree assault, eluding police and the warrant.

The injured deputy was taken to an area hospital for treatment of neck and back injuries; the corrections officer was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

This story was originally published July 11, 2018 at 6:01 PM.