Police: Chase Suspect Was Inhaling Fumes During Pursuit

Authorities say a Vancouver woman was inhaling fumes from a canister while eluding police in a  chase that spanned several streets and ended with a wrong-way crash Monday in downtown Centralia.

Robin R. Wick, 52, who reportedly has a history of running from officers, was arrested following the pursuit and charged with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, driving under the influence, hit and run and unlawful inhalation of fumes. Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely O’Rourke placed Wick on a $250,000 cash bond at her preliminary appearance Tuesday afternoon.

Downtown Centralia was a flurry of police lights and sirens Monday afternoon as officers pursued Wick, a hit and run suspect. A police department press release distributed Tuesday reads that at 3:40 p.m. Monday, police were dispatched to a hit and run collision at the intersection of Tower Avenue and Sixth Street. A silver Ford Edge, allegedly driven by Wick, t-boned a semi truck. Court documents indicate the collision deflated a tire on Wick’s vehicle.

Police found her minutes later, and attempted to pull over the SUV.

“Wick continued driving and (made) several turns down side streets along Tower Avenue and Pearl Street, failing to stop at all stop signs while driving in the oncoming lane of traffic,” reads the press release.

Stop sticks were deployed on North Pearl Street, deflating two more tires on Wick’s vehicle. During an interview at the time, Centralia Police Sgt. Carl Buster said the stop sticks, which were deployed early on during the chase, helped lessen the severity of an already dangerous situation, adding later that the chase through downtown was at a time of day known for heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Court documents state that one officer had seen Wick while she was still behind the wheel breathing in fumes from a whip-it canister — small canisters filled with nitrous oxide. Police allegedly found approximately 30 more canisters in the vehicle when the chase came to a close. Court documents do not indicate how many of the canisters appeared to have been used.

The chase circled blocks in downtown Centralia, with Wick allegedly disregarding stop signs and red lights along the way. Police attempted several Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT) maneuvers. Twice, those maneuvers successfully stopped Wick’s vehicle, but she was able to start the SUV up again and drive away.

Eventually, the tactic was successful. While driving on South Gold Street, a PIT maneuver spun her vehicle around, and she allegedly kept driving straight — the wrong way on the one-way street. A final PIT maneuver brought the vehicle to a stop at the intersection of Gold and Summa streets.

Wick allegedly continued to be uncooperative, and an officer broke out her SUV’s back window, and deployed pepper spray.

Wick complained of pain to her back and neck, said Buster, and she was taken to a local hospital for a blood draw and treatment.

During her appearance in Lewis County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon, Wick appeared in custody and wearing a neck brace.

The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, represented Tuesday by Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh, said the accusations leveled against Wick indicate an “extreme indifference to human life,” and said her alleged behavior wasn’t the first time she’d been at the receiving end of such allegations.

In April 2011, The Columbian reported a story that in many ways mirrored the alleged incident in Centralia on Monday.

In that story, Oregon police said Wick hit speeds of 80 miles per hour while inhaling fumes from a whip-it canister and leading a vehicle pursuit. She pulled over and surrendered to Oregon State Police in southeast Portland.

At her preliminary hearing Tuesday afternoon, defense attorney Rachael Tiller asked O’Rourke for a $50,000 cash bond, as opposed to the $250,000 requested by the prosecutor’s office.

O’Rourke opted for the prosecutor’s request, calling the charges against Wick “one of the most outrageous set of allegations I’ve ever seen.”

Wick has an arraignment hearing scheduled for Thursday Sept. 20.