Stolen car crashes into Yelm elementary school; deputies find stolen goods, drugs

YELM, Wash. – A woman was arrested early Tuesday morning and a man got away on foot after they crashed the stolen car they were driving into an elementary school and deputies found stolen goods and drug paraphernalia, the Pierce County sheriff’s department said.

The woman was booked into Pierce County jail for unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle; possession of stolen property; obstructing law enforcement; and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The incident started at about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, when deputies spotted what they described as a suspicious green Honda Accord driving west on Highway 702.

The car had been stolen in Tacoma three days prior.

They followed it, and the Honda accelerated to more than 60 mph in the 25 mph zone.

The chase reached speeds of over 100 mph after returning to 702, and ended at the “T’ intersection with Highway 507, where the Accord ran a red light, spun sideways and slid through a fence at McKenna Elementary School.

The car ended up hopping the curb, crashing through a metal railing and going over the steps that lead to the school’s front entrance.

The man who was driving ran away, jumped the school’s fence and disappeared. Deputies haven’t found or identified him.

A K9 unit found the female suspect in the bushes nearby. Deputies said she had a purse containing credit cards, identification and a concealed pistol license that had been stolen in Olympia on Sunday.

The woman told deputies she found the stolen items on the side of the road, but kept them “because I’m a drug user.”

Deputies said her purse also contained a pipe with methamphetamine residue, and a piece of foil with heroin residue.

The woman said she’d just been bailed out of jail for possession of a stolen vehicle and narcotics possession.