DEMING, Wash. — A Maple Falls man led sheriff’s deputies on an hourslong chase through treacherous terrain in a stolen U-Haul Wednesday morning.
The suspect rammed into a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office vehicle after a Nooksack Tribal Police Officer attempted to pull him over in Deming at about 7:30 a.m.
He then led authorities on a chase up a logging road where he again stopped, reversed and crashed into a Sheriff’s Office vehicle.
The suspect drove up the mountain, abandoned the U-Haul and fled on foot, at which point a 4 1/2 hour manhunt ensued involving officers from several nearby law enforcement agencies, including the air unit from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Edward Sturgeon of Maple Falls, was finally located by a K-9 team near Sumas Mountain.
Two deputies were injured in the pursuit, but both were treated at the hospital and subsequently released.