PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles police Sunday night arrested Michael J. Moyle, the man accused of ramming the car of a family into a power pole Wednesday.
Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith said Moyle, 28, was arrested inside of a residence off Mount Angeles Road at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
An informant tipped police at 6:25 p.m. that Moyle was staying at the residence in the 1000 block of Craig Avenue. Undercover officers arrived shortly thereafter and formed a perimeter, police said
Police receive consent from the owner or a renter to search the residence, Smith said.
“He essentially surrendered without incident,” Smith said.
National alert system
Moyle, who is described as a transient living in the Port Angeles area, was entered into a nationwide alert system for law enforcement last week.
The arrest was a joint effort of the Port Angeles Police and Fire departments, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office and the State Patrol.
Moyle was booked into the Clallam County jail on investigation of first-degree assault, Smith said.
Other suspect now sought
Meanwhile, police on Saturday issued a temporary felony warrant for a Port Angeles ex-prisoner, Timothy P. Smith, 27, who is accused of helping Moyle get away after the hit-and-run that hospitalized two adults and two children.
After Smith posted $50,000 bail on Friday, police obtained probable cause to arrest Smith for second-degree possession of stolen property and possession of methamphetamine.
Smith was originally charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for a loaded handgun gun found in his truck by detectives.
Police said Smith was not at his Cherry Street residence, as required by his bail conditions, on Saturday. He remains at large and is being sought by local law enforcement.
Rammed at high speed
Deputy Police Chief Smith, no relation to the other Smith, said police don’t know why the driver of a black Ford Mustang, believed to be Moyle, chased a Subaru sedan from Albertsons supermarket on Lauridsen Boulevard and rammed it at high speed about a half-mile south on South Laurel Street.
The collision sent the car into a telephone pole and injured two adults in the front seat and two children — ages 2 and 5 — riding in the back seat.
The most seriously injured was the 5-year-old boy, Aaron Baker, who was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of a head injury and a broken leg.
He was discharged from the Seattle hospital by Saturday.
Two others hurt in the wreck — driver Stewart Baker, 24, and 2-year-old Lavender Baker — were treated at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and discharged Wednesday.
Passenger Tawny Baker, 48, had been discharged from OMC by Saturday.
After the Mustang broke down a half block from the wreck, Timothy Smith allegedly picked up Moyle in a Toyota truck, police said.
An officer recognized the men before they drove away but didn’t know they had been involved in the hit-and-run.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Tom Callis contributed to this report.
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