Suspect Drives On Walking Trail To Try Ditching Police

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The decision Thurston County deputies made to chase a suspect who drove on a walking pathway is particularly shocking. After all, the obvious risk is that a deputy or the suspect could hit someone walking or biking while just minding their own business. But perhaps because of the danger deputies were authorized to give chase.

Watch police take down a repeat offender running in a stolen Dodge Challenger.

Some suspects have absolutely zero regard for other people when they want to get away from police. This puts officers in a difficult situation since they can either let the suspect get away, which can come with consequences, or give chase and risk there being a serious accident.

With deputies following closely behind this suspect, they were able to run lights and sirens, alerting walkers of the coming danger so everyone could step off the path and be clear of the coming danger. And if the suspect did run over someone, they would have been able to administer first aid immediately.

None of that would have been possible had deputies not been authorized to get on the walking path and continue the chase. Plus, if word got around that all anyone had to do to get away from law enforcement was drive on a walking pathway, that sort of thing would quickly become common, putting the public at even greater risk.

Still, knowing all that, watching this dashcam footage is hair-raising. The suspect, who runs from a traffic stop and is suspected to be driving under the influence, goes pretty quick on the pathway designed for people on foot.

Eventually, he gets on a road and that’s when deputies almost immediately do a couple of pits, spinning the truck around onto the muddy shoulder. Rather than give up, the suspect keeps going in reverse, but ends up angling right into someone’s driveway and wrecking out. We’d rather see property damage than life lost, so this is a better outcome than what might have been.

Do you think deputies were right to chase the suspect down a walking path?

Image via PoliceActivity/YouTube

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