Centralia Police officer Angie Humphreys stands along the railroad tracks on South Street in Centralia.
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A 17-year-old boy from Thurston County is facing felony charges after allegedly stealing a police car belonging to Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer and leading police on a lengthy chase
Troopers with the Washington State Patrol attempted to stop a vehicle driven by the suspect, who was traveling northbound on Interstate 5, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
Troopers and police officers located the vehicle in the parking lot of the Riverside Golf Club.
In addition to the driver, there was also a 15-year-old female passenger in the car, according to the police department.
Police arrested the girl, but the boy fled.
Sonja Sorenson, owner of the Riverside Golf Club, reported to The Chronicle that the suspect drove a gray Hyundai car into the club’s parking lot at about noon, followed by “eight or 10” police officers. Sorenson said she saw officers arrest a woman who was also in the car, while the male suspect ran behind the club’s cart shed.
“By the time I walked toward the clubhouse he was coming down the other side of the cart shed,” she said.
Sorenson told The Chronicle she then saw the suspect get into one of the unmarked police cars while officers were searching the area for him.
The boy allegedly then put the vehicle in reverse, striking a trooper with the open door. He then fled at a high rate of speed.
Sorenson reported she saw an officer deploy a Taser at the suspect.
The suspect was reportedly wearing basketball shorts but no shirt or shoes, she said.
“You could tell he was scared,” Sorenson said.
At this point in the chase, Chehalis Police spokesperson Linda Bailey confirmed just after noon today that officers were chasing a suspect in the gray Chevrolet Impala in the area of Louisiana Avenue before the suspect reportedly ditched the car, which had a damaged front tire, and began running from officers on foot near Exit 81 of Interstate 5.
Officers deployed K9 units in search of the suspect and took him into custody later in the day.
The teen suspect, whose name has not been released due to his age, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital for dog bites and will be booked into Lewis County Juvenile Detention on suspicion of first-degree assault, felony hit and run and felony eluding, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
The injured trooper was reportedly transported to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. His condition is not known. A civilian involved with the incident complained of back pain and also went to the hospital, and his condition is not known, according to the police department.
No further information is available at this time.
