EVERETT, Wash. -- A high-speed pursuit in Snohomish County on Wednesday morning ended up with four crashed police cruisers.
Cops got their suspect, but now there's an additional investigation under way.
Snohomish County deputies and Everett police officers were all after one car, a stolen Honda more or less dumped by the suspect.
"The stolen vehicle was crashed by the suspect. The suspect fled on foot. It was at that point when the officers were converging into the area that the collision occurred," said Sgt. Robert Goetz, Everett Police Department.
Phyillis Kremer and Charles Hodson were driving home from work, when a parade of blue lights and sirens flew by.
For a second, Charles worried they might crash.
"I was like we just better get out of the way, we needed to get out of the way right away," he said.
A Snohomish patrol car and an Everett patrol car were parked, blocking lanes. Another Snohomish deputy drove over a rise, an elevated part of Broadway, and hit the parked Snohomish vehicle.
"The vehicle that was struck by the first county vehicle then collided with an Everett car," said Goetz.
Both officers were out of the cars, but the Everett officer was hit by the spinning Snohomish vehicle. His wrists were broken and he injured his knee.
At that same time, another Everett officer was approaching the intersection from the other direction.
"(He) saw the collision occurring in front of him, attempted to brake and avoid the collision, made a hard right and turned off the roadway," said Goetz.
He ended up hitting a planter, and the airbag in the patrol car broke two of the officer's fingers.
The suspect, 32-year-old Andrew W. Holden, was caught after a five-block foot chase, and now investigators will go over the decisions that led to the four separate crashes.
Sheriff's Lieutenant Rodney Rochon says investigators are reviewing if officers followed department policy on pursuits.
"Some of those things are: reason for the pursuit, direction, road conditions, weather conditions and speed," he said.
Some people argue that many departments have outdated policies.
D.P. Van Blarico is a former Bellevue police chief and outspoken critic of pursuits like this. he says they're dangerous and put too many lives at risk.
"The driver that's being pursued, his whole focus is on escape at any price, the pursuing officer, if they continue that pursuit, there is going to be an accident, it's inevitable, it's Russian roulette," he said.
The investigation should take a couple of months before they figure out whether or not the high speed pursuit policy at the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office was followed properly.
The suspect was wanted on three stolen car warrants and one warrant for escaping from a correctional facility.
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