Deputies arrest vehicle theft suspect who hid in Pierce County woods

EATONVILLE, Wash. - A vehicle theft suspect who deputies say rammed an Eatonville officer's patrol car earlier this month was taken into custody 

On Wednesday morning, a deputy saw a suspicious car that was leaving a gas station near Meridian East and Eatonville Cutoff Road East. 

Investigators said the car was reported stolen and an Eatonville officer deployed stop sticks, which hit the car and gave it a flat tire. 

The suspect continued to drive but then got out and ran away into a wooded area. 

Deputies set up a containment area and searched the area with a K9. 

Later that morning, a woman called 911 to report that her pickup truck was stolen in the same area and her husband was trying to follow it in another car. 

Before 11 a.m., the truck was found abandoned and a chainsaw was missing. 

Deputies called the search for the suspect off as the suspect left in an unknown area that stretched all the way to Mount Rainier, but deputies asked residents and travelers to be on the lookout for the suspect. 

At about 8:15 p.m., a woman called 911 to report her husband located the suspect in their cow pasture off Alder Mashell Road East. 

According to deputies, the woman said her husband was going to pretend to not know who the person was and give him a ride. He wanted deputies to pull him over and arrest the suspect. 

Deputies rushed to the location, spotted the husband's truck and conducted a high-risk stop. The suspect, who was covered in cuts and scrapes from running through the wooded area, was taken into custody. 

According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, the suspect was the same man who was wanted for ramming an Eatonville police officer's patrol car on July 3 as he tried to drive away in a stolen car. 

The suspect was arrested and booked into the Pierce County Jail.