A Puyallup man suspected of raping a neighbor killed himself early Friday morning while Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies prepared to arrest him.

The suspect’s suicide ended a five-hour standoff in the 11400 block 63rd Court East, sheriff’s spokesman Detective Ed Troyer said.

Deputies have not released the suspect’s name.

He allegedly lured a neighbor into his home Thursday night and sexually assaulted her. The woman escaped about 9 p.m. and called 911.

Deputies arrived shortly afterward with a SWAT unit. Troyer said they tried to negotiate with the suspect, but he barricaded himself in the home and refused to leave. …

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A man died early Friday morning when his car struck an overpass on State Route 512 near Golden Givens Road in Parkland, according to Washington State Patrol.

The man was traveling eastbound on SR 512 around 2:30 a.m. when his Buick Century left the roadway, hit the concrete overpass and ended in the westbound lanes.

WSP listed alcohol as the cause of the accident.

A 35-year-old Auburn man had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit when he ran a red light in Federal Way, crashing his Chevrolet Suburban into a car and killing its driver, according to court documents released today.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as Emmanuel Franco, 21. His last known address was in Federal Way, police said.

Bail was set at $500,000 today for Lagrant D. Pegram, who’s accused of running the red light early Wednesday at South 320th Street and Pacific Highway South.

Pegram, who was arrested on investigation of vehicular homicide, made his first court appearance today at the Regional Justice Center in Kent and remained in jail there.

The King County Prosecutor’s Office has until Monday to file charges against him.

A breath test after the crash showed Pegram had a blood-alcohol content of 0.242, three times the legal limit of 0.08, according to probable cause documents.

Before the breath test, Federal Way police say they determined Pegram was drunk by having him perform field sobriety tests.

Police say Pegram has been arrested 30 times and his convictions include felony vehicular assault in 1993 and driving under the influence in 2007.

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Hold the yule logs.

A forecast for  stagnant weather conditions and rising air pollution levels has led  the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to issue a Stage 1 burn ban for Pierce and Snohomish Counties, effective at 5:00 p.m. today.

The  ban probably will stay in effect into the new year.
A high pressure system will cause the  stagnant conditions over the Puget Sound region.  With little wind and poor ventilation, pollution levels are expected to rise through the weekend, especially in Pierce and Snohomish County communities …

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Michael J. Waddington, 24, of Silver Lake, Wash, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to ten years in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and being armed with a firearm in connection with a drug crime.

The Cowlitz County man was arrested in June 2010, after a series of run ins with law enforcement, the United States Attorney’s Office in Seattle said a press release. Evidence indicated he was part of a drug ring distributing highly pure methamphetamine or “ice” in Lewis and Cowlitz Counties.

Judge Robert J. Bryan imposed the sentence.

According to the press release:

The

…

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Three Washington State Patrol troopers were involved in accidents overnight on icy freeways in King County that left two of them injured.

Early this morning, a trooper was outside his patrol car investigating two collisions on northbound Interstate 405 just north of Interstate 5 when a truck spun out of control on the icy freeway about 5 a.m., hit him and then struck two cars.

State Patrol spokeswoman Trooper Julie Startup said the trooper, who was on the side of the freeway ,  was able to jump partially out of the way.

“The trooper was standing about 15 feet off …

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If you were wondering what all the sirens were about early this morning in the Graham area, it was a full response by Graham Fire and Rescue with support from Central Pierce Fire and Rescue to a report of smoke at an assisted living facility.

The call came in about 2 a.m. from Clare Bridge of Puyallup  at 8811  176th Street East, according to Graham Fire Chief Jay Espinosa.

There was no fire, he said. Firefighters discovered a furnace motor had shorted out.

A 17 year-old Seattle girl died  in a traffic accident Tuesday night, the King County Sheriff reports.

She was a passenger in a …

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