Vehicle rams patrol cars in Sifton

A Vancouver man allegedly rammed a pair of sheriff’s patrol cars during a traffic stop Monday afternoon in the Sifton neighborhood. Nobody was injured in the collisions, but the cars were significantly damaged.

Around 4 p.m., a Clark County sheriff’s deputy stopped a green 1995 Toyota Avalon, which pulled into the parking lot of Eastridge Business Park, 12115 N.E. 99th St. The driver wouldn’t acknowledge the deputy and didn’t roll down his window, said Sgt. Randon Walker.

The deputy called for backup. He attempted to open the driver’s door to detain the man for refusing to cooperate. (Drivers in Washington are required by law to provide their driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance if asked by an officer during a traffic stop; failing to do so is a crime.)

The driver locked his door, put the Avalon into reverse and slammed into the deputy’s patrol car, Walker said. The driver then drove forward, hitting a parked car, and crashed head-on into another patrol car that was entering the parking lot to assist the deputy, Walker said.

The sedan traveled east on Northeast 99th Street and then turned south on Northeast 134th Avenue into a residential area. At one point, the car was going the wrong direction on the roadway, Walker said. The driver abandoned the car in front of a house. Police canvassed the area and quickly arrested a suspect, Josh L. McCabe, 33, of Vancouver.

“It was wrapped up within five minutes or so,” Walker said.

McCabe was arrested and booked into the Clark County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault. Police anticipate possible additional charges of hit-and-run driving, eluding police, first-degree driving with a suspended license and driving without an ignition interlock device.

In some cases, people with suspended driver’s licenses have permits allowing them to drive to and from work, so long as they have an interlock device installed and carry documentation.

“That could be the case in this event,” Walker said.