05-04-2025
Suspected DUI driver crashes after driving wrong way away from officer in Puyallup
A 39-year-old man suspected of DUI crashed into a curb and trees in Puyallup early Saturday morning after fleeing a police officer, according to a Puyallup Police Department press release.
The police officer attempted to stop the driver, who was driving the wrong way, at East Main and 3rd Street Southeast at about 2:15 a.m., but the vehicle 'fled the wrong way on 3rd Street Southeast at a high rate of speed,' the release said. The officer didn't chase the vehicle.
Another officer later found the vehicle had crashed near the intersection of 7th Avenue Southeast and 3rd Street Southeast, after failing to make a turn, according to the release. The driver appeared alcohol-impaired, and one passenger, a 52-year-old man who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, suffered 'serious but non-life-threatening injuries.'
There were no other occupants in the vehicle, Puyallup Police spokesperson Kevin Gill confirmed in a text message.
He also added that the driver was booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of vehicular assault and eluding.
Parts of the 300 block of 7th Avenue Southeast were closed for the investigation, led by the Metro Major Collision Response Team, earlier this morning, but were reopened in time for the 12:45 p.m. Daffodil Parade, according to the release and Gill.
