Thurston County deputies use grappler to stop 130 mph chase on I-5

Thurston County deputies brought a high-speed chase of a stolen car to an end when they deployed a grappler to rein in the vehicle.

The grappler is a strap mounted on a police vehicle’s bumper that shoots out and wraps around the rear tire of the fleeing vehicle.

The pursuit started on Thursday when Olympia police received a notification of a stolen car from a license plate reader. When officers tried to pull the car over, the driver sped away.

Thurston County deputies found the car near Highway 101 and tried to pull it over, but the driver fled again, and deputies started a chase. At some point, the chase went onto Interstate 5.

Sheriff Derek Sanders said in a Facebook post that the car fled at speeds up to 130 mph and drove on and off the shoulder.