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Accused car thief shot by owner ditches Jeep and knocks on door for help, WA cops say

A man is in the hospital with gunshot wounds after deputies said he stole a man’s Jeep in Spokane County, Washington.
A man is in the hospital with gunshot wounds after deputies said he stole a man’s Jeep in Spokane County, Washington. Getty Images/iStockphoto

An accused car thief was found bleeding and knocking on a resident’s door after deputies say he was shot by the vehicle’s owner in Washington.

Authorities got a call from a Jeep owner about a theft at about 8:40 p.m. Dec. 13, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

The owner got into another vehicle, followed his stolen Jeep and shot at the driver, deputies said.

The man stopped driving and left the Jeep in a ditch near Landt Farms Lane, which is near Nine Mile Falls, deputies said.

He was bleeding when he went to a resident’s home and pounded on their door for help, deputies said.

Deputies said the resident contacted authorities about the man, and deputies then gave him medical attention and arrested him.

He was taken to a hospital with “possible life-threatening gunshot wounds.” He was in “serious but stable condition,” deputies said.

Authorities said he has not been charged yet, so they have not released his name.

The Jeep owner was initially detained but was then released after he spoke with authorities, the sheriff’s office said.

The investigation is ongoing.

Nine Mile Falls is about a 10-mile drive northwest from Spokane.

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This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Accused car thief shot by owner ditches Jeep and knocks on door for help, WA cops say."

Helena Wegner
McClatchy DC
Helena Wegner is a McClatchy National Real-Time Reporter covering the state of Washington and the western region. She’s a journalism graduate from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s based in Phoenix.
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