A man who led Yelm police on a dangerous pursuit in 2022 has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for nine charges.
Robert Forgey, 33, of Lakewood, pleaded guilty to eight felonies and one misdemeanor in Thurston County Superior Court on Tuesday. Four of those crimes were committed in Thurston County on March 19, 2022, and the remainder were committed in Pierce County between 2020 and 2022.
Court documents indicate Forgey entered an Alford plea for the four Thurston County charges, meaning he pleaded guilty without making an admission of guilt. Judge John Skinner accepted Forgey's plea and sentenced him to 181 months in prison and 18 months of community custody.
The four charges related to the March 19, 2022, incident, included second-degree assault against a law enforcement officer, first-degree malicious mischief, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and hit and run attended vehicle.
The Pierce County charges included second-degree burglary in Puyallup in 2021, second-degree burglary in Eatonville in 2021, possession of a stolen motor vehicle in 2020, second-degree possessing stolen property in 2022 and possession of stolen motor vehicle in 2022.
The Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney's Office announced the sentence in a Thursday news release. The Pierce County charges were transferred to Thurston County for an agreed resolution, per the release.
A probable cause statement describes the events of the March 19, 2022, incident from the perspective of law enforcement.
That day, Yelm police responded to a report of a stolen Ford F550 Boom Truck belonging to CHS Northwest. An officer spotted the vehicle near a neighborhood called Clearwood and hailed them to stop.
The driver, later identified as Forgey, reportedly accelerated away at a high rate of speed into oncoming traffic. The officer disengaged due to the "dangerous" nature of the pursuit.
Other officers placed spike strips ahead of the vehicle, which successfully punctured both front tires. This caused the car to slow and stop.
The officer who first spotted the truck then exited his car, according to the statement. At that moment, Forgey allegedly put the truck in reverse and rammed the parked police car.
The officer jumped into his car as this occurred. The statement indicates the force of the collision threw the officer "violently backwards," injuring his arm, neck and back.
The news release says the officer turned his steering wheel just in time to avoid a head-on collision. However, the vehicle was still totaled.
Forgey reportedly continued driving as other police cars pursued. He allegedly crossed into incoming lanes several times and at one point, struck an occupied vehicle.
The occupants of the struck vehicle denied medical care, according to the statement. During this pursuit, officers attempted multiple PIT maneuvers to stop the truck.
Yet, the statement notes these maneuvers were unsuccessful, likely due to the size and weight of the truck. Officers reportedly likened the truck to a "battering ram."
Eventually, the truck crashed into a wall on McKenna Bridge. From there, Forgey reportedly jumped over the bridge and into the Nisqually River.
Officers observed Forgey swimming north. They followed him on foot and later arrested him.
The original reporting party told police Forgey struck his vehicle with the stolen truck, injuring his son. He added Forgey broke into a lot of CHS Northwest and fled by driving the truck over a chain link fence.
