PUYALLUP, Wash. — A man accused of trying to steal a semi-truck had the engine running when deputies arrived at a Washington farm. What he apparently couldn’t figure out was how to release the brakes.
Body camera and dash camera video released by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office captures deputies ordering the suspect out of the cab before pulling him from the truck and taking him into custody.
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“Out. Step out. Get out,” a deputy commands.
Deputies responded to the farm in the Puyallup area on Nov. 4 after a security guard called 911 to report a theft in progress, according to the sheriff’s office. The guard reported that a man had entered a semi-truck and started it after smoking something inside the cab.
When deputies arrived, the 24-year-old was turning the steering wheel and apparently trying to get the rig moving, the sheriff’s office said.
He refused repeated commands to get out, prompting deputies to remove him from the cab. Deputies deployed a TASER after he continued resisting, according to the agency.
“Hands behind your back. Give me your hand,” a deputy says, repeating the command.
As deputies work to secure the man, one questions his refusal to follow their instructions.
“How many times did we tell you to get out and then get on the ground? And you ask us if we want to fight you?”
The suspect was arrested for attempted motor vehicle theft and resisting arrest. Deputies found drug paraphernalia among his belongings and believe he was under the influence of narcotics, the sheriff’s office said.
The truck never left the parking lot.
After the arrest, the conversation turns to what might have happened if the suspect had figured out the controls.
“Oh, it’s an automatic, too,” a deputy says.
“We are thankful the suspect was not able to figure out the brakes,” the sheriff’s office states in the video. “This could have been much worse if the suspect had been able to drive off.”
