Puyallup police: Driver drives away with officer dangling outside car

A barefoot Auburn man with an arrest warrant told a Puyallup police officer he had muscular dystrophy as he struggled to put on his shoes Sunday.

As the officer leaned into the man’s car to help him put on his shoes, the man accelerated quickly, pinning the officer in the vehicle, according to police and court documents, which gave this account:

The driver drove toward brush and trees, carrying the officer for 40 yards before the officer could break free, scraping his arms and legs on the pavement.

The car eventually high-centered on a log. The passenger tried to run but was captured.

The driver, Walid Abdulwahab Said, 21, tried to rev the engine and break the car free, but he was hit with a stun gun and arrested.

Said was arraigned Monday in Pierce County Superior Court on charges of second-degree assault, reckless driving, obstructing a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and driving while suspended.

Bail was set at $150,000.

His 20-year-old passenger, Paul Allen Evans, of Auburn, was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and obstructing a law enforcement officer. His bail was set at $30,000.

According to charging papers:

Police were called when the two men were dancing around their car and changing clothes in the street in the 1600 block of Fifth Street Southeast.

When an officer arrived, the driver shifted the car into reverse and it hit a curb. Then he drove in the wrong lane of traffic on Fifth Street, swerved into the correct lane, drove halfway on the street before parking in a driveway a block away.

The officer contacted the two occupants and discovered Said had a misdemeanor bench warrant for violating a no-contact order and that his drivers’ license was suspended.

He saw Said was moving slowly and wasn’t wearing shoes.

He also saw a machete and an open folding knife on the floorboard.

Evans first helped Said try and put on his shoes, but wasn’t able to. The officer then reached into the car to help Said with his shoes while reminding him he was under arrest.

Said started the car and accelerated with the officer dangling outside. He then tried to run the officer into a tree.

The officer fruitlessly grabbed for his firearm “to try and end the threat” and broke free as the car traveled about 30 mph.

After the two men were arrested, officers searched the car and found two baggies on the passenger seat.

One was filled with a powder that field-tested positive for methamphetamine; the other baggie contained five pills of cyclobenzaprine, a muscle relaxant, and clonazepam, a sedative anti-anxiety medication.

Police spokesman Capt. Ryan Portmann said the arresting officer “has got some bumps and bruises, but he is OK.”

“This highlights the perils of law enforcement and the situations we get ourselves into,” Portmann said.

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Puyallup police: Driver drives away with officer dangling outside car."