State troopers arrested a man suspected of driving a car into an Arby’s restaurant Thursday afternoon while trying to evade police near the Wal-Mart off Southeast Mill Plain Boulevard near Interstate 205.
The Washington State Patrol said a trooper tried to stop a driver in a Ford Focus going around 20 mph over the speed limit southbound on the interstate around 1:45 p.m.
The driver didn’t yield or accelerate, but turned onto the ramp to head west on Mill Plain Boulevard as if he were going to pull over there, Trooper Dave Bourland said.
On the ramp, the driver sped away, Bourland said, and the trooper ended the pursuit and turned off his overhead lights for safety.
The driver in the Ford then ran a red light, sideswiped another vehicle — a gray Toyota Scion FRS — then jumped over the curb and into the restaurant, the state patrol said.
The driver hopped out of the vehicle, and the trooper, still nearby, ran after him and apprehended him using a stun gun, Bourland said.
The driver in the Ford, Jonathan A. Carroll, 25, of Vancouver, was arrested pending charges of felony eluding, driving with a suspended license, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and for multiple outstanding warrants, according to the state patrol.
Carroll was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.
Josh James said he was driving home to Portland from Seattle, waiting at a stop light after stopping to get fuel, when he saw the Ford turn onto Mill Plain, driving away from police giving chase.
James said the Focus, as it turned right onto Mill Plain, sideswiped the Toyota and sent it spinning into the roadway’s median strip.
While still waiting at the light, he saw a man in his teens or early 20s run across the roadway with an officer in pursuit.
He circled back to see what was going on, and saw the officer appeared to have apprehended the man in an RV lot nearby. When the Arby’s came into view, he saw the Focus sitting with its front end inside a glass corner of the Arby’s.
“A lot of the workers were outside taking a breather at that moment,” James said.
The single passenger in the Toyota, Peter T. Laufman, 56, of Vancouver, was also taken to PeaceHealth Southwest. Bourland said his injuries were minor. The driver, Jessica R. Moyle, 21, of Vancouver, was unhurt.
Carroll’s Ford was seized as part of the investigation.
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Correction appended: This article originally misstated the model Ford Focus involved in the crash.
