Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies arrested a Port Angeles man who allegedly used his car to force a Jefferson Transit bus to stop on the West End, the Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Following the bus incident, the man is alleged to have smashed his car into a semitrailer near the Lower Hoh River.
The suspect, Peter Brown, 30, was charged with a second-degree reckless endangerment in what authorities describe “a suicide attempt that went afoul.”
According to the Sheriff’s Office report, a man pulled behind the Jefferson Transit bus southbound on U.S. Highway 101 last Wednesday night and forced it to the side of the road twice.
Several times, the man’s car came within inches of the bus, leaving the bus driver with a choice of stopping and hitting the car or striking the guardrail, said Susie Michels, Jefferson Transit transportation supervisor in West Jefferson County.
The bus driver finally stopped the bus — with two passengers inside — at milepost 176 near Olympic Corrections Center.
A dagger and a crystal ball
Waiving a wooden three-sided dagger and a crystal ball, the man climbed on board and allegedly threatened the Jefferson Transit bus driver’s life, Michels said.
The bus driver, Ed Rondeau, was able to drive off after the first confrontation, but Brown allegedly cut him off with his car again, forcing the bus to the side of the road, the sheriff’s report stated.
The man spoke erratically, deputies said.
At one point, the man offered Rondeau three pretzels, Michels said.
