By Dennis Box and John Leggett-The Courier-Herald

A pair of potentially-tragic incidents kept law enforcement authorities hopping early Sunday and Monday mornings.

About 1:30 a.m. Monday, a traffic stop turned into a shoot-out between 37-year-old Roger Ray Barquest and Piece County Sheriff's Department deputies.

A deputy pulled Barquest over at 1:30 a.m. Monday near the 23400 block of South Prairie Road, between Buckley and Bonney Lake. Barquest lives in the Puyallup area and was recently released from prison.

According to Detective Ed Troyer, spokesman for the sheriff's department, Barquest “rammed the deputy's car three times.” The deputy shot at the man as he sped away.

Another deputy executed a “pit maneuver” to force Barquest's car off the road. The deputy who pulled the man over exchanged gunfire with the suspect, wounding him in the shoulder.

Troyer said even after being wounded, Barquest had to be pulled from the car by the deputies.

“They saw him reaching for something,” Troyer said. “He grabbed a beer and when they got him on the ground he took a swig of it.”

The deputies reported the man appeared intoxicated.

Barquest was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center for treatment of the gunshot wound. Troyer said following treatment he will be booked into the Pierce County jail.

Barquest has six felony convictions including burglary, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, assault and attempting to elude a police officer.

Troyer said Barquest was recently released from prison after serving time on a burglary conviction.

In October 2004 Barquest was arrested after ramming a deputy's patrol car. A “stop stick” was used to flatten the tires of the car Barquest was driving, but he continued to drive on the flattened tires until losing control and crashing into trees.

About 5 a.m. Sunday morning, the Easter calm was shattered when three shots rang out in Wilkeson.

Disaster was averted when one of the shots went through a resident's living room window but missed a man who was sleeping on the couch by three feet.

Information was sketchy and Buckley police are still searching for leads or witnesses.

Buckley Police Chief James Arsanto, who has Wilkeson as part of his department's jurisdiction, said the incident was likely a “random act of violence.”

From what he had heard by Monday morning, Arsanto's best guess was that “someone was coming down out of the hills, probably after partying all night long, drove along Railroad Avenue and just popped off three shots from a small caliber handgun.” Shots hit two different houses and Wilkeson Grocery.