Two people were taken into custody Thursday after a driver allegedly tried to run over a Clark County Sheriff's Office deputy. The deputy fired on the vehicle, which fled but was found about 90 minutes later. (Clark County Sheriff's Office)
A deputy fired his service weapon after a driver tried to hit him with his vehicle and drove away Thursday, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office reported. The driver and his passenger were arrested after a 90-minute search ended with a crash.
The incident began around 9:30 a.m. when a deputy noticed a suspicious vehicle parked in a turnout in the 33800 block of Northeast Sunset Falls Road, along the East Fork of the Lewis River, the sheriff’s office said.
The deputy made contact with the driver, a man, and his female passenger, but the driver ignored the deputy’s commands and started the car and put it into gear, according to the sheriff’s office.
When the driver tried to hit the deputy with his car, the sheriff’s office said, the deputy fired one round from his service handgun.
The driver drove east toward Sunset Falls Campground. Authorities lost sight of the vehicle and additional deputies responded to the area to help in the search.
About 90 minutes later, the car was spotted traveling west on Sunset Falls Road. It crashed into the rear end of a westbound commercial flatbed truck, and a deputy maneuvered behind the suspect vehicle, pinning it in.
No one was injured in the incident, the sheriff’s office said.
The man and woman had outstanding felony arrest warrants, the sheriff’s office said. Their names and information on possible additional charges were not released Thursday.
Detectives with the agency’s Major Crimes Unit are investigating the circumstances of the incident. The deputy who fired his weapon will be placed on paid critical incident leave, a standard practice for officer-involved shootings.
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