A 22-year-old woman accused of ramming into a deputy’s vehicle is being held in Thurston County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Deputies arrested Josie Caitlyn Locke in Rochester Sunday morning on suspicion of second-degree assault, first-degree malicious mischief, possession of a stolen vehicle and hit-and-run injury, according to the jail booking log.
Court Commissioner Nate Kortokrax found probable cause for the crimes and set the bail amount during Locke’s preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court on Monday. He did not release her on her personal recognizance because of concerns she may commit a violent crime or interfere with the case.
A probable cause statement signed by a prosecuting attorney describes the events on Sunday from the perspective of law enforcement. That day, deputies responded to a suspicious vehicle call near 176th Avenue Southwest and Sargent Road in Rochester.
The caller told dispatch that a woman was taking pictures of their home and she claimed she was looking for her boyfriend, according to the statement.
She fled the scene in a red Ford truck with a flatbed and no license plates, the statement says, but the caller pursued her.
Law enforcement vehicles intercepted the woman’s vehicle, according to the statement, but soon after a deputy reported the woman had rammed his vehicle. The collision caused the deputy’s airbags to deploy, injured his thumb and rendered his vehicle inoperable, per the statement.
He told law enforcement a woman drove the vehicle that rammed his and she fled south on Sargent Road. Another deputy noticed the smell of hot metal just north of 176th Avenue on Sargent Road, according to the statement.
The deputy tracked the smell to the Whispering Woods mobile home park on Sargent Road, the statement says. There, the deputy found the vehicle parked the wrong way in front of a home.
A resident flagged down the deputy, per the statement, and pointed them to a woman who was attempting to hide on their property. The deputy detained her at the scene and identified her as Locke. From there, the statement says deputies took Locke to the initial caller who positively identified her as the woman who drove away in the Ford truck. Locke is due back in court for her arraignment on Oct. 19.
