Shoplifting suspect wreaks havoc in Federal Way

A shoplifting suspect intentionally drove into a Federal Way police bike officer Friday and later caused a serious collision while fleeing authorities, police said.

The action began about 4:10 p.m. at The Commons, a shopping mall off South 320th Street.

A man allegedly shoplifted some merchandise from the Macy’s store there and ran into the parking lot where he got into a car. He then rammed a bicycle officer who was investigating the theft and drove off. The officer was not badly hurt.

A second officer later spotted the man on Pacific Highway South and gave chase in his patrol car, police said. The suspected thief, at first traveling at low speeds, hit two vehicles near the intersection of South 330th Street but kept driving.

He then began to speed up, and Federal Way police said they terminated the pursuit at Pacific Highway South and South 348th Street.

A few moments later, the alleged thief caused a collision at Pacific Highway South and South 356th Street. The man allegedly struck three vehicles there, badly injuring the driver of one in a head-on crash, police said.

Police arrested the alleged thief, a 28-year-old Federal Way man, at the scene of that crash.

He was expected to be booked into the King County Jail for investigation of first-degree assault, vehicular assault, eluding police, hit-and-run and theft.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Shoplifting suspect wreaks havoc in Federal Way."