Lawrence Warren Hatch, a 45-year-old repeat customer from Marysville, Washington, just racked up his 98th arrest and this one had all the greatest hits.
It all started on March 22nd, 2026. The deputies were notified that Hatch and the woman with him had just committed an organized retail theft in Lewis County. Hatch was traveling north on I-5 in a white Ford F-150. Thurston County sheriff’s deputies spotted the vehicle and pulled him over.
Hatch was in no mood to talk. He floored it. He was going over 100 mph. He ran red lights. He even drove on the wrong side of the road. He was running wild through downtown Olympia and into Lacey. The deputies attempted a PIT maneuver twice. Both times, the guy was going so crazy that they backed off because they were worried that innocent people were going to get hurt.
A tweet from X.
Eventually, the truck ended up ditched in a residential neighborhood near Mountain View Elementary School in Lacey. A K-9 track took deputies right to Hatch and his passenger, who were hoofing it through the neighborhood on foot. Both got taken into custody at gunpoint. The woman was handed off to Centralia police for the theft case.
Hatch, meanwhile, admitted he’d swallowed a little white baggie of meth when the cops rolled up on him.
When they searched the abandoned truck, things got even better (or worse, depending on your perspective). Thousands of dollars in stolen merch from multiple stores, plus meth, heroin, and fentanyl. But the real showstopper? A custom bong rigged straight into the dashboard so the driver could hit it comfortably while still behind the wheel. Deputies also pulled a blood warrant for DUI charges.
He’s now sitting in Thurston County Jail facing DUI, eluding, narcotics possession, and tampering with evidence. Lewis County is waiting with second-degree organized retail theft charges once he clears some of the current counts. Court records show he already has four prior felony theft convictions and 27 misdemeanors on his rap sheet.
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders put it plainly:
“Nice work by the deputies and dispatchers getting another career criminal into custody… again.”
He called the safe end to the pursuits a mix of luck and smart decision-making by his people.
Bodycam and dashcam video dropped by the sheriff’s office blew up online fast. People latched onto the “98th arrest” detail and that absurd dashboard bong, with plenty asking the obvious question: how does someone with a record like this keep cycling back out onto the street?
No one got hurt in the chase, at least. Hatch stayed in custody without bail on the Thurston charges as of late March, and he’ll head back down to Lewis County for the theft cases when some of the holds lift.
