A driver traveling at high rates of speed collided with two cars, causing a fire in one of them, before he was brought to the ground and sedated by deputies, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
Emergency crews were dispatched shortly before 5:30 p.m. to the intersection of state Highway 503 and Northeast 179th Street. They found two damaged cars in the intersection and another car in a related collision a few hundred feet north, Clark County Fire District 3 Capt. Jason Mansfield said.
One of the cars in the intersection, a silver SUV, was on fire when crews arrived, Mansfield said. The fire was extinguished quickly with no one inside.
Three injuries –one of which was listed as traumatic and the other two minor — were reported, Mansfield said. The identities of the two people inside the cars in the intersection were not immediately known.
Roughly 10 minutes before the crash, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Highland Crossing apartments, 11806 N.E. 122nd Ave. A man in a green Jeep Liberty reportedly drove over shrubbery and through a closed gate, almost striking a pedestrian, Clark County Sheriff’s Sgt. Tim Bieber said.
The man then drove north on the highway at high rates of speed before the crash, Bieber said. After colliding with the two cars, the Jeep crashed into a ditch north of the intersection.
The driver of the Jeep, Samuel B. Cassiba, 34, has a history of being combative with police and not being affected by stun guns or less-than-lethal weapons, Bieber said, adding that the office was aware of increasingly erratic behavior over the past few days.
As deputies approached the Jeep, Cassiba — estimated at 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 300 pounds — attempted to walk away, Bieber said. Deputies used a lateral vascular neck restraint, commonly referred to as a chokehold, to bring Cassiba to the ground before placing him in handcuffs and sedating him.
“They can’t transport a guy that big who’s acting violent in the back of an ambulance,” Bieber said.
Cassiba was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries. After his release he will be taken to the Clark County Jail on suspicion of first-degree attempted assault, malicious mischief and hit and run, with more charges possible upon further investigation, Bieber said.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit is investigating the crash.
All lanes on the highway near the intersection were closed for more than an hour, Mansfield said.
