Wenatchee-Area Man Dies After Hijacking Cruiser, Dragging Deputy Two Blocks

Authorities are not sure why a Waterville man died shortly after being taken into police custody.

40-year-old Jason M. Nalls was arrested after a wild night that started with sheriff's deputies responding to a call about a domestic dispute at Nall's home around 11 a.m. Monday.

Authorities didn't know who he was arguing with but did determine there had been a verbal dispute.

Later that evening around 10 p.m. Nalls called 911 saying someone was shooting at his home. Sheriff's didn't find any evidence of gunfire, but then Nalls locked himself in a bathroom and refused to come out. Undersherriff  John Wisemore said it's not clear if Nalls came out on his own, or if officers broke down the door, but the man then asked to be taken to Central Washington Hospital for mental health reasons.

He then ran from the house, and eluded efforts to find him until around 1 a.m.  when a deputy spotted him near his home and stopped to talk to him. Nalls jumped into the patrol car and drove off, dragging the deputy nearly two blocks.  The car hit a tree in Pioneer Park before Nalls was finally subdued with help from a taser.

After he was handcuffed in the car, officers noticed Nalls become unresponsive and stop breathing. Despite emergency measures from an EMS crew, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy is scheduled; it is not known if Nalls was suffering from ailments, or was under the influence substances at the time of his arrest and death.