A suspected impaired driver who refused to surrender during a 40-minute standoff in Washington was finally taken into custody after police deployed a K-9 through the driver’s side window, newly released body camera footage shows.
The Vancouver Police Department released body camera and dash camera footage Thursday from a July 26 incident involving a lengthy pursuit that ended with K-9 Midas leaping through the driver’s side window to help officers arrest the suspect.
Police said they responded after receiving multiple reports of a driver who appeared to be impaired, had passed out behind the wheel and was allegedly inhaling from compressed air cans while driving.
After officers located the vehicle and observed the driver continuing to inhale from a can, they attempted to conduct a traffic stop.
Police said the driver refused to stop. Video shows the vehicle striking a curb, accelerating and nearly driving into a yard as it attempted to evade officers.
According to police, the driver’s actions posed an immediate danger to others on the road, prompting an officer to deploy a Grappler device that successfully brought the vehicle to a stop.
Even after the vehicle stopped, the driver refused repeated commands to get out, police said.
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Officers spent more than 40 minutes communicating with the driver and evaluating multiple options to gain compliance, including a 40 mm less-lethal launcher and pepper balls.
Police said the driver continued inhaling from compressed air cans throughout the standoff and refused repeated commands to surrender.
After multiple warnings, officers deployed K-9 Midas through the driver’s side window.
The video shows officers quickly surrounding the vehicle after the K-9 entered the car before safely taking the driver into custody.
The suspect, Brandon Wells, was booked into the Clark County Jail on charges of attempting to elude police, driving under the influence, reckless driving and resisting arrest.
