Damage still being tallied after Friday’s wild police pursuit through Ferndale
A man who was reportedly found masturbating in his truck in the parking lot of a Whatcom County convenience store, led police on a chase Friday afternoon through Ferndale and on Interstate 5, ramming four police cars, according to a Ferndale Police Department press release.
Ferndale Police booked Ronald Arthur Worthen, 53, into Whatcom County Jail Friday, where he is being held on $30,000 bail on suspicion of attempting to elude a police vehicle, four counts of third-degree assault, four counts of hit and run, third-degree driving while license suspended and indecent exposure. According to jail records, Worthen also had additional warrants from Bellingham Municipal and Whatcom County District courts for third-degree driving while license suspended, abandoning a junk vehicle and third-degree theft.
According to a Ferndale Police Department press release on the incident, officers were dispatched to the AM/PM store at 6890 Grandview Road for a report of a man masturbating in his vehicle in the parking lot. Officers arrived and allegedly observed Worthen still exposing himself.
According to the release, Worthen refused to open the door and exit the truck, and instead started the truck and fled, traveling east on Grandview Road before entering southbound I-5.
Officers placed spike strips on I-5, according to the release, but Worthen avoided them by driving on the median.
An officer attempted to use a Pursuit Intervention Technique, using a patrol car to spin Worthen’s truck sideways, according to the release, but Worthen rammed and pushed police vehicles with his truck until he was able to continue to flee.
Officers again attempted to utilize the PIT maneuver, but Worthen again rammed police vehicles, forcing one into a ditch and disabling it, before continuing to flee northbound in the southbound lanes, the release said.
Worthen reportedly drove the wrong way on the Ferndale Main Street on-ramp against traffic and traveled east on Main Street, where officers attempted a third PIT maneuver and managed to block in Worthen’s truck with three vehicles, though Worthen continued to attempt to ram his way through until police broke out a window in the truck and took him into custody.
The amount of damage caused to the police cars was still being determined, according to an email to The Bellingham Herald Monday morning from Ferndale Communications Officer Riley Sweeney, but no other major damage resulted from the chase.
No officers were injured in the chase or the arrest, according to the release, and the case remains under investigation.
This story was originally published October 29, 2018 at 10:42 AM.