Yelm Walmart theft leads to car chase into Pierce County

Yelm Police and Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies chased a stolen vehicle through rural back roads Wednesday night.

Around 8:15 p.m., the Yelm Police Department was notified of a man and a woman walking around the Yelm Walmart, believed by employees to be shoplifting. The woman was seen carrying a large bag that police believed she was using to stash items.

However, when the woman left the store, she was no longer carrying the bag, but was wearing a pair of leggings that were later confirmed as stolen.

When the man and women left, they got into a silver Dodge Durango without license plates. Yelm Assistant Police Chief Rob Carlson said an officer was in the area when the vehicle was leaving the Walmart parking lot and heading onto State Route 507 North towards McKenna.

The officer pulled the vehicle over on SR 507, and a second officer arrived as backup. The Dodge had a temporary permit in its window, which dispatch informed officers matched a 2002 Chevrolet Impala, Carlson said.

When the officer who pulled the vehicle over had reached the rear bumper of the Dodge, it took off at a high speed. Officers got in their cars and pursued the vehicle on SR 507 North, witnessing it swerve on the road while traveling at speeds reaching over 80 mph.

Officers continued their pursuit into Pierce County where they followed the Dodge on back roads with blind hills and traffic.

Officers tried to keep up with the vehicle, but were concerned for the safety of other drivers and themselves, Carlson said. Officers drove between 30 and 80 mph while pursuing the vehicle, but at around 8:35 p.m. the pursuit was terminated after officers lost site of the vehicle.

Officers then returned to Walmart to investigate the initial shoplifting call. They reviewed store security camera footage, seeing the man and woman wearing masks in the store and the woman taking a single pair of leggings.

Later that night, Pierce County Sheriff’s Officers had located the vehicle, which was confirmed as stolen, and placed the woman under arrest on suspicion of theft in the third-degree and trespassing in the third-degree.

After taking the woman into custody, the woman told officers that she was homeless and pregnant and had stolen the leggings out of need. She also identified the man she was with as an ex-boyfriend and said she had told him to stop multiple times and he did not, Carlson told The Olympian.

After being questioned, the woman was taken to the Nisqually Jail, but because she was pregnant and had a positive drug test, the jail did not allow her in, worrying she may give birth inside. The woman asked police to take her to Nisqually Red Wind Casino so she could be picked up by a friend, which they did.

According to Carlson, the woman told police the man had fled the scene on foot. Walmart employees later identified the man from a photo montage made by Yelm Police as the one they had seen in the store earlier that night.

Yelm police forwarded the male suspect’s charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, two counts of reckless endangerment for the woman and her unborn child, third-degree theft and driving with a suspended license in the third-degree to the Thurston County Prosecutor’s office.

This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 11:11 AM with the headline "Yelm Walmart theft leads to car chase into Pierce County."