Two young men were rescued after they jumped into the Puyallup River during a police pursuit Wednesday.
Pierce County deputies found the men, who were around 18 or 19-years-old, and a teenage girl inside a stolen vehicle at 96th and Pacific in Tacoma at 12:21 p.m. During a pursuit, one of the men drove the vehicle until it reached a grocery store on River Road in Puyallup, Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Darren Moss told The News Tribune.
They left the vehicle and ran off, and the men jumped into the river. Deputies caught the girl, who did not jump into the river, Moss said.
The men tried to swim, but the current made that difficult, Moss said. He said two of the deputies are trained in water rescue and jumped into the river after grabbing some gear. One of the men was able to climb out on his own, but the other man held onto a log and struggled to swim.
The deputies threw the man a life jacket and used a rope to pull him back to shore. The men were evaluated at the scene and later booked into Pierce County Jail for possession of a stolen vehicle.
"Don't run from Pierce County deputies. We will chase you and you will get caught," Moss said. "We are very good at this."
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