By Shawn Henry 
Chaos erupted across Pierce County after a stolen box truck led cops on a wild pre-dawn chase, ending with shattered glass, billowing smoke, and two banged-up suspects getting yanked from the wreckage. Sheriff’s deputies released gut-clenching dash cam footage of the hour-long pursuit, where every twist down those pitch-black Bonney Lake backroads could’ve spelled disaster.
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It started simple enough: cops clocked the rig barreling down 120th Street East just past midnight on October 12. Routine traffic stop? Not a chance. The driver mashed the gas instead, turning a quiet patrol shift into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. That beast of a truck—top-heavy, unwieldy—weaved like a drunk through the darkness, forcing deputies to pull out all the stops. Multiple PIT maneuvers later, they finally wrestled it off the road in a spray of gravel and squealing metal.
Then came the real drama. Smoke started curling from the hood as the cab crumpled inward, trapping both men inside. No time for kid gloves. Officers smashed through the windshield with batons, hauling the dazed pair to safety seconds before the wreck could become a fireball.
Medics patched them up on scene before carting them off—luckily just bumps and bruises. The driver, a 42-year-old with a rap sheet longer than a grocery receipt, now faces a buffet of charges: stolen property, felony evasion, even assaulting officers. His 38-year-old ride-along? Already wanted on outstanding warrants, he got a temporary pass for more medical checks before prosecutors come knocking.
Meanwhile, the truck’s carcass got hauled off, another scar on the asphalt from a chase that could’ve gone sideways fast. Sheriff’s officials aren’t sugarcoating it: these high-speed gambles? They’re Russian roulette on four wheels, and last week’s close call was pure dumb luck nobody died.
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