Disgruntled bar patron runs down bouncer with vehicle
Tacoma WA Aug 19 2018
A disgruntled bar patron sped down Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue, struck a bouncer with his truck, then drove off with the man still in the bed “hanging on for dear life” on Tuesday evening, Pierce County prosecutors say.
The bouncer eventually made it out of the truck and flagged down a Tacoma police vehicle, charging documents say. He described his assailant as a one-legged man with a newer Dodge pickup. Officers immediately knew who the suspect was and arrested him early Wednesday.
The 56-year-old Tacoma man was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court on one count of first-degree assault. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and his bail was set at $250,000.
According to charging documents:
The bouncer was crossing Sixth Avenue near Fife Street and had nearly made it across the street about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday when he was struck by the assailant’s truck. The next thing he remembered, he was in the back of the truck, with the assailant saying he was “tired of you … people.”
The victim tried to get out of the truck, but the man was speeding through the area. More than a mile later near South Ninth Street and South Yakima Avenue, the victim was able to get out of the truck bed.
The victim’s cellphone was ruined, so he walked back to Sixth Avenue, where he flagged down police officers and told them what had happened. He had cuts all over his body and his shoulder ached.
He told police he knew the assailant because the man frequently causes disturbances along Sixth Avenue and harasses customers from his truck. He mentioned the man had a prosthetic leg and drove a newer, beige Dodge truck, and the officers knew who their suspect was.
Officers went to Sixth Avenue and met with a couple witnesses. One told them the man sped up to hit the victim, sending the bouncer into the truck’s windshield, over the cab and into the bed. The truck sped off at 70 mph or more, the witness added.
The other witness was at one of the Sixth Avenue bars when he heard a loud noise outside. He went outside and saw the victim “hanging on for dear life,” and the truck leaving the area at a “ridiculous rate of speed.”
The officers found the man outside a gas station near North 11th and Pearl streets and arrested him. He told officers someone had jumped onto the roof of his truck, startling him and causing him to speed away. The person ended up in his truck bed and broke one of his windows, he told police, and eventually got out at South Ninth and Yakima.
His truck had a hand print on its bug guard, footprints on the hood, a dent in the roof and a busted-out rear window.
The man took a drive around the city, he said, making a midnight run for some Taco Bell in the process.
He had no explanation for why he didn’t call police.
The News Tribune
