Deputies report ‘wild’ night of rattlesnakes, scorpions and chases near Tri-Cities
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- Benton County deputies tracked suspects through riverbeds, ravines and wildlife.
- One suspect claimed he hid in 'seaweed' to avoid arrest after fleeing unclothed.
- West Richland police arrested a woman on charges tied to a road closure violation.
Nature proved to be as challenging as the search for a couple of suspects this weekend for Benton County deputies.
A sheriff’s official described it this way in a Facebook post early Monday: “Night shift was wild this weekend.”
In one incident, deputies were trying to arrest a man for some felony warrants when he stripped out of his clothes and jumped into the Yakima River in Benton City.
He managed to elude even a Pasco police dog by hiding in the “seaweed,” in the river, said the post. But he was found and arrested hours later by another shift of deputies.
In a separate case, deputies were called about a burglary in Finley and spotted a suspect fleeing into a ravine.
They used a drone to track him, and he eventually surrendered after realizing escape was unlikely, said the post.
But deputies had to dodge rattlesnakes and scorpions getting to him to make the arrest, they said, posting photos of the encounters.
Officials had yet to release the suspects’ names or charges.
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 12:53 PM.