Teenager Killed Trying To Stop Prowler

A 16-year-old Grays Harbor boy collapsed and died Saturday after trying to stop a car prowler, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s office.

The suspect, Jerald Fredrick Bollinger, 27, of Tacoma has been booked into the Pierce County Jail for investigation of first degree murder, possession of a controlled substance and vehicle prowling.

The teenager was working on his disabled car about 10:20 p.m. with his father and his uncle in the parking lot of a BP gas station, the sheriff’s office said, when a man was spotted prowling around the gas station attendant’s car.

The teen’s father and the gas station attendant told the prowler that they were calling the sheriff’s office, and he took off running.

The boy caught up with the man as he was doubling back toward the gas station, trying to shake his pursuers.

Witnesses say the man struck at the teenager with his forearm and may have hit him in the throat, the sheriff’s department said. The teenager was able to hold on to the suspect until his father and uncle caught up. Two other people joined in the struggle to detain the suspect.

The teenager then collapsed. A sheriff’s deputy arrived and handcuffed the suspect, then tried to resuscitate the boy. The victim was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup a short time later.

His name has not been released.