Matt Driscoll: When a Tacoma cop barreled his SUV through a crowd, public trust took another hit
News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash. 1/26/2021 Matt Driscoll, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
Jan. 25 For the second time in less than a year, the national spotlight focused its intense glare on Tacoma for all the wrong reasons.
In June, it was the death of Manuel Ellis while in police custody that brought protesters into the street and national media outlets like The New York Times to town.
Late Saturday night, it was video of a Tacoma police officer plowing his cruiser through a swarm of people and up and over at least one person that earned the City of Destiny national headlines.
Police said the incident occurred as they were responding to 911 calls about a crowd blocking an intersection to watch car enthusiasts perform automotive stunts in what is known as a “sideshow.” They said people were beating on the officer’s windows.
The single-vehicle crash occurred the evening of Saturday, Jan. 23, off U.S. Highway 63. Written By: Anne Jacobson | ×
TRENTON TOWNSHIP A Hager City man died Saturday, Jan. 23, after his vehicle entered a wooded ravine, according to the Pierce County Sheriff s Office.
Anthony Wadsworth, 32, was northbound on Highway 63 near 210th Avenue around 7:50 p.m. when his 2007 Dodge pickup left the roadway and down into the ravine. He died of his injuries at the scene, the news release Monday said.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office was assisted on scene by the Wisconsin State Patrol, Ellsworth Fire Department and the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Here’s a video from my personal snapchat. pic.twitter.com/jle0fkzrJM
It’s been nearly a year since Tacoma police were implicated in the death of Manuel Ellis. Video shot in March of 2020 shows Tacoma cops beating Ellis and aggressively restraining him; Ellis died at the scene of what the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office found was “hypoxia due to physical restraint.”
A new variant of COVID has been found in Snohomish County. It’s the same highly contagious variant that was recently identified in the UK, and it’s shown up in nearly two dozen other states. Wash your hands, wear your masks, stay home you know what you need to do. I know it’s tempting to go out to bars and to shop and to visit friends and to take off those INFURIATING straps around your ears, but just don’t, just don’t, just don’t.
Stacia Glenn: Man stabbed to death outside Tacoma store identified as off-duty security guard
News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash. 1/15/2021 Stacia Glenn, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
Jan. 15 A man fatally stabbed outside a Tacoma store has been identified as an off-duty security guard who made headlines earlier this year when he stopped a sexual assault in Seattle.
Tracy Baker, 36, of Fircrest, died Monday of multiple stab wounds, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner s Office.
Police say Baker tried to ignore his attacker, who witnesses say was the aggressor and taunted Baker until Baker briefly put him in a bear hug and told the other man to leave him alone.