By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch A "career criminal" has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for his worst crime of all GÇô killing a man in retaliation for stealing a car. The sentence was issued Oct. 23 for Christopher William Olsen, 34, who was convicted earlier in the month by a Pierce County Superior Court jury of murder in the first degree in the shooting in Frederickson last year of Robert Ward, 24. Olsen had 16 prior felony convictions, according to authorities. "The defendant was a career criminal and a serious danger to the public,GÇ¥ said Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist. "Our community is safer now.GÇ¥ Ward's mother, sister, grandmother and aunt addressed the court on the day of Olsen's sentencing and described Ward as a loving, kind and caring man, Lindquist said. Authorities said Olsen, who suspected Ward of stealing a vehicle from him, lured Ward on the night of Feb. 16, 2014 to a parking lot at a commercial area at Canyon Road and 176th Street by setting up a phony drug deal. When Ward arrived, Olsen began shooting at him. In a car chase that followed, Olsen shot Ward in the head, causing the car he was driving to crash. He died the next day at a hospital. Olsen fired numerous shots, but no one else was hit. After the shooting, Pierce County Sheriff Department detectives used cell phone records to track Olsen to Idaho, where he was arrested and returned to Washington to face charges.
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