Escaped Convict Causes 4 Police Cruiser Wreck; Injuries

Everett – Everett Police have a policy that they will not chase a vehicle if it takes off. The Sheriffs office has a different policy, they can chase if they deem it necessary. These opposing views were put to the test late last week and resulted in a painful and expensive end. Now there is an investigation regarding exactly what happened and why.

At around 2:20 a.m. on Wednesday, a sheriff’s sergeant tried to pull over a man who was driving a red 1992 Honda Accord recklessly south of Everett in the 3500 block of 132nd Street SE. What he didn’t know at the time was that the car was stolen and was being driven by Andrew Wayne Holden, 32, of Snohomish.

Holden has made somewhat of a name for himself to law enforcement; not exactly the best place to be famous. He has been part of an ongoing investigation by the Snohomish County Auto Theft Task Force for multiple car thefts. On top of that he was wanted by the Department of Corrections on an escape warrant. A list he could be proud of when he sees his pals back in prison. But it was the fiasco he caused that will make him a hero in the clink.

When Holden took off the sheriff’s sergeant took off after him. He called it into dispatch and dispatch recognized the situation. They alerted Everett police who, with another sheriff’s deputy, created a road block with two squad cars and laid down a spike strip along Broadway right by Comcast Arena.

The spike strip was successful. It burst the tire of the suspect, sent the car out of control, where he proceeded to hit a telephone pole. He then jumped out and ran. The officers, who had exited their cars to chase the suspect on foot, were all of a sudden jumping for their lives.

Going southbound to on Broadway was a speeding patrol cruiser from the sheriff’s department, driven by a young but experienced deputy, 26, eager to join the chase. A representative from the Everett police department described the car as slamming into the roadblock with such force that it sent the two stationary patrol cars spinning across Broadway. Unfortunately, it gets worse.

An Everett patrol cruiser speeding northbound in the opposite direction at almost the exact moment of the wreck had to swerve suddenly to avoid the wreck and ended up wrecking their cruiser also.

The injuries were to the police officer and the sheriff’s deputy who had to leap out of the way. The officer suffered two broken wrists and a broken knee when he was hit by his own patrol car. All other officers received minor injuries.

The clean up and investigation went well into the morning commute and held up traffic on the heavily traveled Broadway while both departments sorted out the details.

The good news is that Holden was captured and booked into the Snohomish County Jail on possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest.