Kent officers pursue, catch man in stolen van | Police Blotter

A man driving a stolen van took Kent Police on about a 1.7-mile, 69-second chase before an officer maneuvered a patrol vehicle to stop the van.

The pursuit started at about 9:18 a.m. on June 12 in the 6300 block of South 212th Street when an officer spotted a Dodge Caravan reported stolen earlier in the morning from a Des Moines church parking lot, according to the police report.

When the officer started to drive toward the van, the driver sped off eastbound on South 212th Street. A second police vehicle joined the chase, which reached speeds of up to 70 mph in the 40 mph zone. The van used a center lane and left-turn lane to swerve around traffic as police chased it across several intersections along South 212th Street.

Police were able to stop the van at the on-ramp for southbound Highway 167 after the van had to slow for a semi. An officer used the driver’s side of his vehicle to hit the right rear passenger side of the van, causing it to spin and stop.

The driver exited the van just as one of the officers exited his vehicle with his gun drawn and ordered the man to stop. Police took the man into custody without incident.

Officers arrested the man for investigation of possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude an officer. The man also had a woman passenger with him. The pair told police they were walking through the St. Philomena Catholic Church parking lot in the 1700 block of South 222nd Street in Des Moines when they saw a van with the keys in it and decided to take it. The man said he planned to sell the van for cash.

The owner of the van had left his cellphone in the vehicle and used the phone’s GPS system to find the van in Kent near the Hawthorn Suites hotel and the Shell service station, where police spotted it and the chase began.

The van had numerous religious wood carvings inside worth thousands of dollars. The man and woman had thrown away the carvings at a Des Moines apartment complex. The carvings were recovered.

Four caught on warrants

Police took two men and two women into custody on warrants after a report of possible warrant subjects staying at the Century Motel, 23421 Military Road S.

Officers responded to the motel at about 7:27 a.m. on June 12 and found four people in a room, each with warrants, according to the police report.

One man had a Pierce County warrant for domestic violence; a second man had a state Department of Corrections warrant for escape from community custody; one woman had a Grant County warrant for DUI and driving while license suspended; and a second woman had a third-degree theft warrant out of Seattle.

Men in car with drugs

Officers arrested one man for investigation of possession of drug paraphernalia and a second man on a burglary warrant out of King County after a witness reported two men possibly using drugs in a parked vehicle at about 7:22 p.m. on June 10 at the Rock Creek Apartments, 23240 88th Ave. S.

Officers found the men in the car and asked them to exit the vehicle after seeing possible drug paraphernalia in the vehicle, according to the police report.

The one man had a burglary warrant. Police arrested the second man for reportedly possessing cigarettes dipped in PCP as well as a small box of rock cocaine.

Man breaks into vehicles

Police arrested a man for investigation of third-degree theft and malicious mischief after he allegedly broke into a couple of vehicles at about 5:31 a.m. on June 10 at the Island Park Apartments, 23616 58th Ave. S.

Officers responded to a report of a man breaking into a vehicle and then fleeing on foot, according to the police report. Officers found the man near the parking lot. He denied he broke into any vehicles.

Two vehicles in the lot had broken windows. One man reported a backpack with baby clothes and diapers had been stolen. Police found the backpack near the parking lot.