Cops Nab "Bonnie and Clyde" Couple Wanted in Violent Crime Spree
Police nabbed the couple as they attempted to escape in a murder victim’s stolen blue Subaru station wagon.
A couple dubbed "Bonnie and Clyde" by the media for their alleged connection with a violent crime spree that blew through San Bernardino, Los Angeles and San Francisco counties late last year was arrested Wednesday morning after a police pursuit in Washington, authorities said.
SeaTac police nabbed Darnell Washington, 24, and his wife Tania Washington, 25, who took turns driving a murder victim’s stolen blue Subaru station wagon at about 9 a.m. after an officer ran the parked vehicle’s plates, officials said.
When an officer attempted to speak with the pair, they took off, hitting the officer’s car as they sped away, police said. The chase lasted for nearly half a mile before squad cars boxed in the station wagon near a Taco Bell along Pacific Highway (pictured below).
That’s when, police said, Tania Washington traded places with her husband, who took the wheel and began repeatedly ramming the police cars. Officers ordered the couple out of the vehicle at gunpoint. They’ve been booked into King County Jail.
Authorities said Darnell Washington escaped from the San Bernardino County Jail on Aug. 28 with the help of his wife before allegedly embarking on a violent crime spree that spanned the state, including the attempted murder of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy.
On Sept. 2, four days after he absconded from jail, police say Darnell Washington was approached by a sheriff’s deputy in South El Monte responding to a suspicious vehicle. The pair exchanged gunfire. Washington is accused of injuring the deputy with a shotgun.
On Oct. 5, Susan Ko, 55, was found stabbed to death in her home in Hercules, Calif., near San Francisco. Her blue Subaru station wagon – the same one the Washingtons were found driving on Wednesday – was missing after the suspected murder, officials said.
Hercules police are not identifying suspects in the murder, but say they plan to interview the Washingtons about the incident and how they gained possession of the slain woman's car.
Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Hercules Police Department are investigating whether the couple committed a slew of other crimes, including carjacking and robbery while traveling from Southern California to Northern California.
Investigators from SeaTac, Wash., say they will also reach out to authorities in Oregon and Washington.
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