Suspect Who Allegedly Hit Deputy In Gig Harbor, Led Police To Tacoma Arrested

A chase that began in Gig Harbor with a suspect allegedly hitting a Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy with his vehicle ended with his arrest Friday in Tacoma.

The deputy involved fired at the fleeing suspect, and one bullet grazed his sweatshirt. That wasn’t enough to prevent the suspect, driving a black Dodge truck, from leading police on a high-speed pursuit over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and into the city before getting out of his car and running away on South 56th Street.

Shortly after 11 a.m., authorities captured the suspect, who appeared to be hiding.

The chase set off a flurry of activity on social media. On Gig Harbor Patch’s Facebook page, users described frantic scenes.

The incident started when the deputy reportedly went to check out an unoccupied house in the 7000 block of 56th Avenue Court Northwest for a suspected illegal marijuana grow operation, located down a narrow, private, tree-ladened road that leads to a few homes. Several media outlets reported that the suspect – whom authorities have yet to identify – hit the deputy with his car and took off, just as the deputy opened fire.

KIRO is reporting that a source has identified the one of the suspects involved - there are others police are investigating - as Cameron Crews, who is the son of a former Tacoma Police commander, although Patch hasn't confirmed that.

Gig Harbor Patch Facebook users described the scene as it happened.

At some point, the suspect switched vehicles and reportedly got into a black truck.

“Still catching my breath! Police chase on Rosedale by high school,” Gig Harbor Patch Facebook user Allison Merwin wrote. “Big black pickup. Cars were being run off the road. I had a few seconds to pull off.”

Other patrol cars joined in and the chase eventually crossed into Tacoma.

“They were booking it over the bridge today, it was quite scary to watch,” user Gloria Hopland wrote. “The black truck had no regard for the other folks driving on the bridge.”

Eventually, the suspect took the chase onto East 56th Street in Tacoma.

“The guy drove to 56th,” Patch Facebook user Penny Waldron wrote. “I was on Pearl when the cops were rushing to the scene. It was crazy. I lost track of how many went by, and I stayed there on the side of the road at least 5 minutes as they passed.”

Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said the suspect drove his vehicle onto someone’s lawn, got out and ran. Eventually, authorities found the suspect hiding at South 54th Street and South Sheridan Avenue.

Pictures shared by authorities show the suspect wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt. The bullet grazed him near his left shoulder. Television crews flying above captured the suspect on camera with his hands cuffed and behind his back, his head down.

No one else was hurt in the incident.

Back at the scene of the suspected illegal marijuana grow, about five or six Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies were investigating. A tow truck was seen pulling a Sheriff’s Department cruiser, presumably the one involved in the incident.

Click here for a sample of the social media that people shared during Friday's chase.

Patch will have more on this story as information becomes available.