TACOMA, Wash. — A 21-year-old woman is in jail after reportedly hitting a man in the head with an ax and stealing his car, then stabbing an Uber driver multiple times and also stealing his car, according to the Tacoma Police Department (TPD).
A man reported to police that a person was stealing his car in the 1100 block of South Highland Street on Friday afternoon, March 29. In the call, the man is heard warning the suspect not to hit him with an object, according to Detective William “Mac” Muse, a public information officer for TPD.
A witness later told police the suspect hit the man with an ax and then fled in his car. He was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and is expected to survive, Muse said.
His car was found in the 1800 block of Market Street, about 4 miles away in downtown Tacoma. As officers were recovering the car around 5 p.m., a second report came in about an assault and robbery with the same suspect in the 3400 block of Ruston Way near Duke's Seafood restaurant.
At the scene, police found an Uber driver had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and arms. A person had applied a tourniquet to the man; he was transported to the hospital with serious injuries and is also expected to survive, Muse said.
The suspect fled in the Uber driver’s car. Police said they believe the suspect called the Uber after ditching the first stolen car and that he drove the suspect to the waterfront location. Officers believe the driver and passenger did not previously know each other.
After taking off in his car, police searched through the front and backyards of the South End Tacoma community on East F and E streets.
The Uber driver’s stolen car was found in the 7400 block of East F Street. Officers found the suspect hiding in a nearby yard on East E Street.
A woman was in disbelief to hear that her home had become the center of police activity. The woman, who preferred to remain anonymous, said police found the suspect hiding in her outdoor trash can; more specifically, her compost bin in her front driveway.
She said her daughter witnessed it.
“And then the next thing she knows, she's looking, and they're walking a woman away in handcuffs,” said the woman.
The brazen nature of these alleged crimes caught the attention of several neighbors who live nearby.
"Mental health is a big deal," said one of the woman's neighbors, who preferred to be kept anonymous. "People are very desperate, I guess.”
That neighbor said he was pulling into his apartment complex on Friday when he noticed the first responders and police officers out front of the complex across the street. He asked other neighbors about what happened, and their response shocked him.
"A serious injury wound to the face caused by a hatchet," he said.
Police said the woman who they believe attacked the man is a resident in the apartments on South Highland Ave.
A neighbor told KING 5 that he has heard that many tenants often complained to property management about the many visitors she would host in her apartment.
“There have already been previous red flags with her as a tenant at this location across the street,” he said. “And for it to be ignored? The warning signs? It's obviously telling the story that, you know, something should have been done prior.”
The apartment unit's front glass window was shattered in the incident and later boarded up in the aftermath.
Police said she was arrested and booked into Pierce County Jail for two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of first-degree theft. The suspect will likely appear in court later this week.