CHEHALIS - Operating on a tip, Lewis County sheriff's deputies and other law enforcement agencies tracked down and arrested Robert J. Maddaus, the prime suspect in the shooting death of an Olympia man whose body was found on Capitol Way about two weeks ago.
Maddaus, 48, facing murder charges in the death of Shaun Allen Peterson, was booked into the Lewis County Jail in Chehalis early Saturday morning, then transferred and booked into the Thurston County Jail about 4 p.m.
Olympia police detectives could not be reached Saturday.
Lewis County sheriff’s deputies learned that Maddaus was staying at a residence in the Chehalis area Friday night, then followed and pulled over Maddaus and another person in a red Chevrolet Corvette in the 1800 block of Rush Road, said Commander Steve Aust of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
Just as the deputy in pursuit put his vehicle in park, the Corvette took off, Aust said. The sheriff’s deputy pursued the vehicle and later nudged the Corvette off the road with a driving maneuver known as a “precision immobilization technique,” Aust said.
“He did a very good job under some pretty difficult circumstances,” Aust said about the deputy. Also assisting in the arrest were the Chehalis Police Department and the State Patrol’s Air Support Unit, according to Aust and the Olympia Police Department. Maddaus was arrested about 11:20 p.m. Friday, Olympia police information shows.
Maddaus and the other person, whose identity could not be determined Saturday, were injured when the car was nudged off the road, Aust said. They were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital. Aust said he didn’t know the extent of their injuries Saturday, but according to Olympia police information, the injuries were “non-life-threatening.”
Olympia police named Maddaus as their prime suspect in the shooting death of Peterson, 40, who was found in the 1700 block of Capitol Way about 2:45 a.m. Nov. 16 after several residents called police saying they had heard gunshots. He died from gunshot wounds, according to Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock. Multiple shell casings were found near the body.
