UPDATED at 2:15 p.m.
A 37-year-old man was arrested overnight in Tacoma after allegedly leading a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy on a pursuit, then holding a gun to his head and threatening to commit suicide.
The incident began just after 12:30 a.m.
A sheriff’s deputy spotted the man driving a car in the area of East 72nd and Portland Avenue. The car was speeding, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.
The deputy turned around and tried to stop the car. The car sped off.
At one point along McKinley Avenue, the car slowed and a woman was pushed from the passenger side, Troyer said. She suffered minor cuts and bruises after hitting the ground.
The man’s car crashed into a concrete median near the entrance of the West Mall Terrace Apartment in the 4700 block of South Pine Street.
The driver held a handgun to his head and threatened to commit suicide, police reported.
He refused to leave the car and claimed to have a bomb in a backpack in the back seat of his car.
Apartments around the car were evacuated as deputies negotiated with the man, police reported.
The man surrendered just after 2 a.m.
Members of the Tacoma police and Pierce County sheriff’s bomb squads inspected the back of the vehicle. They found no explosive devices.
The man’s gun turned out to be a toy handgun, police reported. The man had warrants for domestic violence and failure to register as a sex offender.
Can we change this guy’s address to Western State Hospital? At least until they figure out what meds he needs.
They also evacuated the south part of the Cedar Court Apartment complex too.I saw the north part of the complex on 45th street being closed off for a while.No,I don’t live there (not a renter) but I witnessed it.
Police vehicles were everywhere in that area.
Too bad the idiot couldn’t have made it into Lakewood, Lakewood PD would have ended this mess in seconds…
What a maroon
Yikes!