The Bellingham Police Department has deployed its 'grappler' police bumper for the first time, using the wheel-snaring device on Monday night to stop a fleeing driver who was about to enter Interstate 5, The Bellingham Herald reported, in a story republished by Police1.
According to the department's account, Whatcom County Sheriff's Office deputies first attempted a traffic stop, but the driver failed to yield and fled. The pursuit was momentarily stopped before Washington State Patrol troopers relocated the car and requested help from Bellingham police. The department said the driver was heading into oncoming traffic, swerving and running red lights, and was about to enter Interstate 5 at Sunset Drive when a grappler-trained officer got behind the car and deployed the device, stopping it.
Local outlet My Bellingham Now, citing Washington State Patrol Trooper Kelsey Harding, reported that the car initially fled from a traffic stop near McLeod Road on Monday night, October 19, after erratic driving and running red lights, and that state troopers took over the pursuit after the driver got on I-5 southbound, where they were joined by the Bellingham vehicle with the grappler. The car had been reported stolen from Marysville, the outlet reported.
The driver was arrested on suspicion of eluding police, felony DUI, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a stolen vehicle and driving with a suspended licence, and also had active warrants out of Skagit County, the Herald reported. My Bellingham Now identified the driver as 36-year-old Alecxis Cortez and said he was arraigned on suspicion of DUI and several other charges and remained at the Whatcom County Jail on bail of about $100,000. The charges are allegations; the case has not been decided in court.
Bellingham bought the grappler devices with a $3.7 million grant the City Council accepted in May from the state Criminal Justice Training Commission, which also allowed the city to unfreeze three police officer positions and buy drones and dashboard-mounted cameras, the Herald reported. Several patrol vehicles have been fitted with grapplers — which snare the wheel of a fleeing car, forcing it to stop — and officers completed certification training in their use. For drivers on the I-5 corridor through Whatcom County, the stop is the first local test of a tool departments say is meant to end pursuits before a fleeing car reaches freeway speed in traffic.