Members of local law enforcement place a man into custody after he attempted to elude Sunday afternoon in Chehalis.
A man runs by a residence while attempting to elude pursuing law enforcement Sunday afternoon in Chehalis.
A man points law enforcement into the direction of a suspect after he ran through his property Sunday afternoon in Chehalis.
Law enforcement members search for a man attempting to elude in Chehalis on Sunday.
A transient man was arrested by the Washington State Patrol on Sunday after he led police on a pursuit that reportedly started on U.S. Highway 12 near Ethel and ended in a residential neighborhood in Chehalis.
Michael K. Baltunado, 31, was arrested on charges including attempting to elude a police vehicle, second-degree attempted assault, possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of a controlled substance and two counts of possession of another’s identification.
The affidavit of probable cause gives the following account of the pursuit:
On Sunday, Aug. 30, a Washington State Patrol trooper received a report of an erratic vehicle driving westbound on Highway 12 through Ethel. The reporting party informed the trooper that it was a silver Dodge Charger being driven and the driver, later identified as Baltunado, had driven in both lanes of traffic, hit a ditch, lost the car’s rear bumper, then got back on the road again.
Several minutes after the trooper received the report, he reportedly witnessed a vehicle matching the description that was merging onto Interstate 5 from exit 76 and activated the lights and siren on his patrol car.
Baltunado continued to drive erratically at a high rate of speed while on I-5, according to police, until he got off at exit 77 onto West Main Street in Chehalis.
The trooper lost the suspect briefly, but was able to find him again on Southwest Pacific Avenue where he reportedly drove through a house’s yard to get onto Southwest 10th Street, which is a dead end, so Baltunado reportedly turned around, drove toward the trooper’s patrol car nearly hitting it, then cut through a residential lawn once more in order to escape.
From there, police say, he retraced his path, going back onto I-5 where he took exit 81 and was able to lose the trooper.
However, a citizen reported that he saw the Charger park in the parking lot of Faith Baptist Church on Coal Creek Road and that the driver had walked away. The witness saw Baltunado carrying two backpacks with him.
When police caught up with Baltunado, he reportedly dropped the backpacks and took off. Police recovered the packs and one of them reportedly contained a baggie of meth.
Police also ran the license plate number through a law enforcement database that showed the vehicle had been reported stolen out of Utah.
After Baltunado had exited the car, Centralia and Chehalis Police Departments as well as the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department were assisting in the manhunt. A K-9 unit tracked Baltunado from the vehicle to downtown Chehalis, where citizens were able to point law enforcement in the direction the suspect ran.
Officers chased Baltunado through a residential neighborhood where he was observed hopping fences and was eventually arrested. A search of Baltunado subsequent to his arrest yielded a Tennessee driver’s license and a Thurston County Public Works identification card. Baltunado also had warrants out for his arrest in Sebring, Florida and Tybee Island, Georgia.
Baltunado is scheduled to appear in court Monday evening, after The Chronicle’s print deadline.
