He ‘showed his hands and then decided to drive forward, striking the deputy’s car’

A Whatcom County man hit a deputy’s car and later drove into a blueberry field early Tuesday near Custer after he was stopped for his suspected role in a string of stolen firearms, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.

John Casey Rasset, 34, is being held in Whatcom County Jail on $75,000 bail on suspicion of hit and run of an attended vehicle, attempting to elude a police vehicle, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful firearms, first-degree burglary, second-degree theft, possession of a stolen firearm and resisting arrest.

Chief Deputy Kevin Hester said deputies were watching for Rasset, who “was wanted in connection to a couple of burglaries and thefts of firearms over the last week or so.”

At approximately 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, a small pickup that Rasset is known to drive was seen towing a boat near Zell Road and Woodland Road, Hester said. A deputy pulled up to the truck, which also had a female passenger in it, and boxed it in, Hester said, before ordering the driver to show his hands and turn off the engine.

“Mr. Rasset showed his hands and then decided to drive forward, striking the deputy’s car — nothing too serious, he just hit the car,” Hester said. “He drove past the patrol car and attempted to flee the area.”

Rasset reportedly headed north on Woodland Road for about a mile and turned into a blueberry field, before running out of room. Hester said deputies took Rasset into custody without incident. They also found a sawed-off rifle near the Zell-Woodland intersection that Hester said was likely thrown from the pickup during the initial stop.

Hester said Rasset is believed to have stolen another firearm that has not been recovered and that deputies continue to investigate other gun thefts in the area.