Foot pursuit ends with use of Taser

A Hoquiam man led Aberdeen Police on a foot chase on Wednesday morning that ended with officers using a Taser on the runner to subdue him.

An Aberdeen officer was on patrol around 9 a.m. in the area of Wishkah and Jefferson Streets when he saw an adult male he had had prior contact with. Upon checking his patrol car computer, the officer found it was a 25-year-old Hoquiam man who had a Department of Corrections Felony Arrest warrant, said Aberdeen Police Captain John Green.

When the man was approached by the officer and advised of the warrant, he allegedly ran toward Market Street, refusing to comply with the officer. As other officers were called to deal with the foot pursuit, the man stopped in the eastbound lane of traffic on Market Street and told the officer he was “just joking,” said Green.

When the officer tried to put the man in handcuffs, he allegedly resisted by pulling his arms away and again ran from police. Green said the man attempted to run up a stairwell at a hotel before one officer warned that he would use his Taser if he did not stop. When the man refused to comply and was tased, it caused him to fall to the ground where he was placed under arrest, police said.

The man was checked by the Aberdeen Fire Department at the arrest location and then booked into the City of Aberdeen Jail on charges of obstructing a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and a D.O.C felony warrant for escape from community custody. He had two minor puncture wounds from where the Taser darts were attached to his back. Green said the darts were removed and Aberdeen officers reported no injuries.