Man suspected of DUI arrested after fiery Tacoma crash injures 4

A 22-year-old driver was arrested Saturday in Tacoma after officials said he fled a traffic stop and crashed minutes later into two cars, injuring four people.

The four people - including a 14-year-old boy, an infant and a toddler - were treated at a nearby hospital, Pierce County sheriff's office spokesperson Deputy Carly Cappetto said. They were not seriously injured, Cappetto said.

A sheriff's deputy was also treated at a hospital for injuries suffered when he tripped in a pothole while chasing the driver, who ran toward Highway 512 and tried hopping a fence immediately after the crash, Cappetto said.

The man, whom Cappetto declined to identify, was booked Saturday night into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence, vehicular assault, felony hit and run, eluding police and resisting arrest, she said.

The first of two police pursuits started at 5:22 p.m. near South Steele Street and 99th Street Court South, where a deputy tried conducting a traffic stop of a red sedan he suspected was stolen because it had no vehicle registration tags, Cappetto said. Investigators later determined the vehicle was not stolen, she said.

The man allegedly drove off and the deputy chased after him for about 30 seconds, when traffic forced the sedan to slow down enough for the deputy to attach a tracking device to the vehicle. Other deputies started chasing after the sedan again about a minute later, when they spotted the driver near South Yakima Avenue and South 84th Street, allegedly trying to remove the tracking device from his car, Cappetto said.

Deputies called off the second pursuit when the man turned onto busy Pacific Avenue South. Less than five seconds later, the driver crashed into two other vehicles near 110th Street South, causing one of the vehicles to catch fire, Cappetto said.

Bystanders helped pull four people out of the burning car, including the driver - a woman in her 20s - her teenage brother, and two children under 2 years old, Cappetto said. No other injuries were reported.

The man suspected of fleeing police allegedly got out of his car and started running through tall grass toward Highway 512. Deputies chased after the man and caught up to him within about 50 yards of the crash, arresting him as he tried jumping a fence, Cappetto said.

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