PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man will be booked into the Clallam County Jail following a Friday night chase for a stolen vehicle.
Deputy Police Chief Jason Viada reported that the man, identified as Marshall Dietrich, 18, was transported to Olympic Medical Center for unspecified injuries following a crash that ended the chase on U.S. Highway 101.
Pending his release from the hospital, Viada said Dietrich will be booked on investigation of auto theft, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and two counts of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon.
On Friday, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office reported a car had been stolen in the Black Diamond area south of Port Angeles.
At about 8:14 p.m., Officer Dan Morse reported that he had located a car matching the description of the stolen vehicle heading northbound into the city.
After dispatchers confirmed the registered vehicle owner matched the person who had reported the car stolen, Morse activated his overhead lights and signaled the driver to stop.
He reported, said Viada in a press release, that the stolen car failed to stop and fled east.
Morse, joined by Officer T.J. Mueller and CCSO Sgt. Shaun Minks, pursued.
Viada said the suspect rammed Morse’s patrol car near the intersection of First and Chambers streets.
The driver then fled east by driving the wrong way on Front Street. He headed east out of the city on First Street, pursued by officers from Port Angeles and a CCSO sergeant.
Viada said the driver then crashed into a parked vehicle and and rammed Mueller’s patrol car.
A Washington State Patrol trooper was in the area with spike strips but the driver of the stolen vehicle lost control before they could be deployed.
The stolen vehicle, said Viada, rolled into a ditch east of Deer Park. The driver, later identified as Dietrich, fled on foot but was apprehended by WSP and CCSO.
Mueller was treated and released at OMC for minor injuries related to his vehicle being hit.
