Man Shot Trying To Flee In Patrol Car Police Say Suspect Hit Deputy With Car Before Being Wounded

A Wenatchee man trying to elude two Chelan County sheriff’s deputies here made a big mistake when he tried to flee in their patrol car.

The car struck a deputy and the suspect got shot.

Thursday’s drama began when the deputies got a tip that Christopher Holt was at a house here. The deputies were trying to serve two felony arrest warrants and two misdemeanor arrest warrants on the 30-year-old Holt.

When they got to the house, one of the deputies went to the front door and talked to a woman who answered his knock.

The second deputy went to the back door and chased Holt on foot when he fled, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

After running around the neighborhood pursued by the deputy, Holt returned to the house, where he sidestepped the second deputy and got into their empty patrol car, the release said.

The deputy who had been chasing him stood behind the vehicle, and the other deputy stood in front of it - both ordering Holt to stop.

Instead he backed up, striking the deputy at the rear of the car and knocking him over the trunk, the release said.

The deputy at the front of the car tried to disable the vehicle with a shot at one of its tires. The knocked-down second deputy fired a shot through the driver’s side window, striking Holt in the shoulder.

Holt drove about 50 yards and then stopped. He was in stable condition Friday at Central Washington Hospital.

The downed deputy was treated for knee injuries, cuts and bruises, and both deputies will be restricted to administrative duties until the incident can be considered by a use-of-force review board. One is a 10-year department veteran, the other has worked as a deputy just two months.

The sheriff’s office in neighboring Douglas County is investigating.

Douglas County prosecutors are considering charging Holt with theft of a patrol vehicle and assault on an officer.