[KOMONEWS] A Chelan County Sheriff Brian Burnett said there was nothing deputies could do to stop the man under the new police reform laws that recently took effect.
The bizarre drama unfolded over the weekend and started Saturday morning in Steilacoom, when the 39-year-old man was released from Western State
"Okay, Napoleon. Yer gettin' mainstreamed. Sign here!"
"You'll need my Imperial Seal to make it official, doc!"
Later that evening he was seen walking along Highway 2 near Leavenworth in a yellow dress.
At around 7:40 p.m., employees of Osprey Rafting say they saw the man get into the company's large yellow school bus and drive away.
"Ahah! The Imperial Short Bus! I shall drive to Waterloo!"
Chelan County sheriff's deputies spotted the bus running a red light near Monitor and tried to pull the man over but he refused to stop and kept going.
"Youse'll never take me alive, coppers! Hahahaha!"
Deputies discontinued the pursuit because the new police reform laws no longer allow law enforcement to pursue a fleeing vehicle unless there is cause to believe that a serious felony has occurred, Burnett said.
"Let 'im go, Car 54! It ain't worth the paperwork!"
Douglas County deputies later spotted the bus heading east on State Route 28 and followed it through the city of Wenatchee, but the suspect refused to pull over and they, too, had to break off the pursuit.
"He ain't stoppin', Chief!"
"Okay. See if you can write a few parking tickets. That'll give you somethin' to do until shift change!"
The bus was later found abandoned near Moses Lake.
"What? Outta gas? You and the Old Guard have failed me, bus!"
Police lost track of the man for a time as he hitchhiked across the state to Spokane and then to Chewelah in Stevens County.
"Need a ride, bub? Say! Nice dress! Are those real sequins?"
The next day, Sunday, officials say the suspect stole a front loader and crashed it into his own house, flipping a vehicle into the structure.
"Take that, abode of foulness!"
The suspect's wife had just fled from the home when she learned her estranged husband might be coming. She was uninjured.
"Whaddya mean, 'They let him out?' He's bonkers!"
"Now, now, Mrs Bonaparte! We don't use that kinda language about the reality-challenged anymore!"
The suspect was finally taken into custody in Stevens County, still wearing the yellow dress, and booked into jail for investigation of motor vehicle theft, first-degree malicious mischief and attempting to elude police.