Video shows prolific car thief almost hit Washington State Patrol detective

TACOMA, Wash. - Surveillance video in Tacoma shows the lengths 35-year-old Samantha Eazor was willing to go to escape arrest.

When detectives on the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force approached her vehicle in Tacoma, she drove into a 7-Eleven, a Redbox movie rental machine and a dumpster before backing into someone's car to turn around.  Ignoring commands by officers to stop, she drove forward and almost hit a WSP detective.

Eazor was wanted for multiple crimes including home burglary and truck theft after breaking into a man's house in Tacoma while he was asleep.  His truck was later found stripped and trashed in Fife.

Eazor was eventually arrested in Puyallup after someone spotted her at Safeway. She had dyed her hair pink and was wearing a wig as a disguise. The wig fell off when she tried to get away.

During her time on the run, Eazor also stole a U-haul pickup truck and fled from an officer. A Jury convicted Eazor for Assault 2. It would have been 1st Degree assault but one of the 12 jurors wouldn't agree on that charge. She also pleaded guilty to multiple charges of theft, ID theft and forgery.

On October 14, she was sentenced to serve 7 years in prison. That's the chaos caused by just one car thief out of many and shows the combined effort it takes right now to hold criminals accountable.

The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force says there were more than 31,000 vehicles reported stolen through September of this year compared to 33,499 in all of 2021. At that rate, the total number of thefts may top 40,000 by the end of this year.

As the weather gets colder, it's a good reminder not to start your vehicle to warm it up and then leave it running while you go back inside.  Stay with your running vehicle.

A surprising number of cars are stolen that way. Always lock your doors and roll up your windows. Never leave any valuables in the car and park in a well-lit area. Ford F-series trucks are especially vulnerable to theft so make sure you install a hidden kill switch, a GPS tracking device. a steering wheel lock or remove the battery.