Enraged driver frightens homeless couple; both sides call 911

Suspecting a transient couple of attempting to access his vehicle, an enraged man chased them from a nearby gas station to their mitigation site, earning himself an arrest for reckless driving last Saturday.

Both the couple and Ezra West, 32, of Tumwater, each called 911 Dispatch within a minute of each other on June 12 at 3:59 a.m.

The couple claimed that West was driving erratic, backwards down a one-way street, and “should not be driving.”

West called 911 Dispatch, claiming that a person named “John” had attempted to open his car door while it was parked at the Marina Shell at 724 State Ave NE, four city blocks from the Franklin St. mitigation site.  

West told dispatch to “send a unit now or you’re going to have a body on your hands.” A recording of this call is posted below this story.

Olympia police contacted both parties at the  Intercity Transit downtown bus terminal.

Inside West’s vehicle was a metal baseball bat in the front passenger seat. According to the police report, West told OPD take the couple to jail or “I’ll handle it for you.” West accused the couple of punching him in the head, of which OPD could find no evidence of injury.

IT security verified that West had been driving the wrong way down State Ave NE, driving in reverse through red lights at a high rate of speed, driving around the IT Center repeatedly, almost hitting several parked cars in the roadway.

Ashley Westlund said that she and her boyfriend had noticed West following them from the Shell station to the mitigation site. She told police that they reside at a camp on Wheeler Ave.

According to Ashley’s boyfriend, who did not want to provide information to OPD, West repeatedly challenged the boyfriend to a fight.

During the conversation with West, he made multiple statements to OPD, including “don’t make me handle this myself” and “you guys won’t do anything, so I have to.”

West was arrested for reckless driving and driving while license suspended, and booked into the Olympia jail.

During his arrest, West allegedly gritted his teeth several times, started “flexing his arm muscles” and was “looking around wildly with his eyes wide open.” West had to be asked several times by OPD to “relax” through the process. West’s car was legally parked and secured nearby.

A recording of the mitigation site's security guard with Ashley Westlund is posted below this story.