UPDATE as of 4:30 p.m. Traffic along Tacoma Mall Boulevard should be reopened shortly, police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said.

INITIAL POST: A shoplifter fleeing the Tacoma Mall in what appeared to be a waiting getaway car hit a Tacoma police vehicle this afternoon, police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said.

The officer saw the adult man run from the mall about 3:30 p.m. to a car in a parking lot at South 54th Street and Tacoma Mall Boulevard, after the man allegedly shoplifted from Sears at the mall, Cool said.

As the suspect vehicle was leaving the parking lot, it hit the patrol car …

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A 19-year-old man charged with trying to elude Steilacoom police Thursday told officers: “I thought I could get away if I drove away fast,” according to court records.

He made a good faith effort, according to the documents that report he was driving more than 40 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone.

But it didn’t work.

Court records gave this account:

An officer saw the man drive a Jeep past a “Do Not Enter” sign at Steilacoom Boulevard and Puyallup and Starling streets, waive at the cop, and run a stop sign.

When the officer started …

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Two men were arrested early this morning after sideswiping two Kent police cars while trying to escape.

A neighbor in the 11800 block of Southeast 204^th Street called police about 4:20 a.m. after noticing an unfamiliar car in the area and two men prowling mailboxes.

Officers arrived within minutes and tried to block the car – which was stolen earlier this morning – into the cul de sac. The driver tried to flee, sideswiping two patrol cars and prompting a brief pursuit that ended eight blocks away at the end of a driveway.

The men abandoned the car and tried …

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UPDATE as of 2:03 p.m.: Bryan pleaded not guilty to the charges this afternoon.

INITIAL POST: Pierce County prosecutors have charged a 45-year-old man with robbing a Tacoma real estate business, stealing a car and crashing it into a vehicle carrying six children while fleeing from police.

Erick Bryan faces two counts of vehicular assault, first-degree robbery, attempting to elude a police vehicle and felony hit-and-run. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges this afternoon. Bail has been set at $1 million.

Charging papers give this account:

Bryan walked into the business in the 3800 block of South …

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A police car and suspect vehicle crashed separately after an armed robbery in Federal Way Saturday morning, police said.

A 16-year-old boy approached a man on foot about 11 a.m. near 3001 South 288th Street, hit him in the head, and showed a handgun, Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock said.

The boy fled with the victim’s wallet and backpack in a vehicle driven by a 19-year-old man, Schrock said.

The suspect vehicle was found parked nearby, and it rammed into a police vehicle while trying to flee, Schrock said.

The suspect car crashed near South 277th Street and state …

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UPDATE as of 4:08 p.m. At this point, deputies believe Sara Barrett was killed in the motel room, but do not yet know if she was injured before that, Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. The cause of her death has yet to be determined, he said.

INITIAL POST: A Spanaway woman was found dead in a Tacoma motel room this morning, hours after her estranged husband allegedly confessed to killing his wife and led law enforcement on a high-speed chase.

Tony Barrett, 42, called KOMO about 7:20 p.m. Wednesday to tell them he had killed his wife and ask …

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From the catch-up file:

Not every police pursuit ends with an underwear-only clad woman standing at the edge of a swamp, but this one did.

It all started Feb. 23 when a 24-year-old woman knocked on her ex-boyfriend’s front door in the 15200 block of 105^th Avenue East in Puyallup. He peeked outside then called the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department because he had two no-contact orders barring the woman from coming near him.

The next thing he knew, she was driving off in his new BMW. Apparently she still had the code to open his garage.

As deputies turned onto …

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A man charged with trying to elude police did so again as his verdict was read at the courthouse in downtown Tacoma Wednesday, deputies said.

Leroy Phillip Scott, out on $10,000 bail at the time, complied with officials by showing up for court.

Not so much when he struggled with an officer who tried to detain him and ran out of the courthouse once his verdict was read, Pierce County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jerry Bates said.

No one was injured in the scuffle.

It’s not clear what the verdict was, though one can assume.

“I’m sure he was looking at some …

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