Thurston County sheriff’s deputies and Chehalis Tribal Police captured a man Thursday morning who reportedly fled a medical appointment after being transported from the nearby Maple Lane behavioral health facility in Grand Mound.
According to Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders, who posted about the incident on Facebook, the suspect had previously been committed “due to a prior murder charge.”
Maple Lane is operated by the state Department of Social and Health Services.
“The individual was being transported to a medical appointment without restraints when they fled from the parking lot,” Sanders wrote.
According to the Thurston Co. Scanner, News, & Weather Blog, sheriff’s units and tribal police responded to Morgan Family Dental on Ivan Street after receiving a report that the suspect had run away from the office.
According to Sanders, the multi-jurisdictional response included K9 Mac.
“Additionally, our Rochester School Resource Officer responded and the local schools were immediately placed on lockdown,” Sanders wrote.
He noted that residents called 911 after witnessing the suspect “jumping over their fences.”
“Deputies converged on the suspect as he ran across (Interstate 5),” Sanders wrote. “Incoming units performed a rolling slowdown so the deputy could cross, at which point the suspect was taken into custody without further incident at taser point.”
The Thurston Co. Scanner indicated deputies had the suspect “at taser point on the train tracks” at about 9:07 a.m. He was detained a minute later.
Body camera footage released by Sanders shows a deputy pursuing the suspect. At one point, the deputy stops his vehicle in a grassy stretch, exits, and hops a wire fence before running across I-5 and leaping over the center barrier.
A short time later, the deputy pulls his taser as he approaches the suspect, who’s standing on the railroad tracks.
The deputy orders the suspect to lie down on his face and slide off the tracks. The suspect complies, as another deputy arrives and puts the suspect’s hands behind his back.
Sanders called the collaborative response “extremely impressive to listen to in real time.”
“Great work to all involved, including our 911 dispatchers for quickly relaying pertinent information,” Sanders wrote.
