Simple jaywalking escalates quickly, ends with stolen truck crashing near South Hill Mall: Puyallup police

PUYALLUP – Police said a simple jaywalking incident escalated wildly in Puyallup on Thursday afternoon, finally coming to an end when a man stole a pickup in front of officers and crashed it near the entrance of the South Hill mall as they chased him.

The 32-year-old Sumner man was arrested on suspicion of vehicular assault, motor vehicle theft, driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, and several warrants.

It all began mundanely enough.

Shortly after noon, an officer stopped a woman who was jaywalking in the 1400 block of S. Meridian.

As the officer was talking to her, a manager at the nearby Sound Credit Union came out and said she was having trouble with a man who was in the bathroom.

The officer began heading into the credit union, and found the man as he was exiting.

The man and woman knew each other – both appeared to be heavily under the influence of something, police said – and “contact began to escalate” when the man came out.

The officer said he tried to detain the man for his own safety, but the man ran away and jumped in a truck that had been left running with the door open in the parking lot.

Right about then, another officer arrived and they chased the truck down S. Meridian.

Police said the man ran a red light near the entrance to the mall and smashed into a car that was turning into the mall.

The man ran off, and police arrested him nearby.

Two people in the other car were hurt. The driver was treated at the scene, but a passenger was sent to the hospital.

The suspect was also sent to the hospital before being booked into jail.