Packwood Man with History of Running from Police Pleads Guilty to Six Felonies

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A Packwood man pleaded guilty Monday morning to leading a Lewis County deputy on a high-speed pursuit earlier this year, and then fleeing the courthouse prior to his hearing. 

Bradley W. Hamrick, 33, pleaded guilty to six felony charges in two separate cases. He is set to be sentenced to prison time during a hearing at 9 a.m. Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court’s Department 2.

Hamrick pleaded guilty to two charges of possession of a controlled substance and bail jumping and single counts of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Members of the Lewis County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team arrested Hamrick in June in Cowlitz County. He’s been held in the Lewis County Jail on $500,000 bail ever since.

According to court documents, on March 3 a Lewis County deputy tried to pull Hamrick over to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. Hamrick allegedly drove to a house, ran inside and was arrested shortly after re-emerging from the house. The deputy said he found a plastic bag holding meth on Hamrick’s person and a loaded 9 mm handgun in his car. Hamrick cannot legally possess a gun due to prior felony convictions.

He later bailed out from jail.

On May 25, a Lewis County deputy reported Hamrick led him on a high-speed pursuit down U.S. Highway 12 — hitting speeds of 105 miles per hour. At some point during the chase, authorities say Hamrick bailed from the car and made a run for it. He was caught and arrested after a 100-yard foot chase — marking the third time he had been booked for fleeing from law enforcement.

During a search at the jail in the May case, authorities say they found a plastic bag with meth on his person.

Hamrick posted  $5,000 bail and was released prior to a preliminary hearing for that case in Superior Court. Hamrick showed up to the hearing in person, and was seen sitting in the courtroom as other cases on the docket were being heard.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead later said he intended to have Hamrick remanded into custody during the hearing for landing in legal trouble while the case from March was still active — a violation of one his conditions of release. 

Hamrick must have caught wind of the prosecution’s intention, said Halstead, because Hamrick stepped out of the courtroom under the guise that he was taking a phone call and didn’t return.