A Tacoma man who fled from police from Napavine to Tumwater early Sunday morning before pursuing officers used a PIT maneuver to stop him is now facing DUI, driving with a suspended license and attempt to elude charges in Lewis County Superior Court.
The pursuit began at about 1:55 a.m. on April 14 when an officer with the Napavine Police Department attempted to contact the driver of a white passenger vehicle that was stopped at an intersection at Hamilton and Rush roads for an extended period of time despite there being no other traffic, according to court documents.
The officer looked up the vehicle’s license plate and found the vehicle’s registered owner, Dasjon Robinson, 24, of Tacoma, had several active warrants for his arrest.
As the officer approached the vehicle, he reportedly saw a man who was later identified as Robinson enter on the driver’s side and begin driving erratically.
The vehicle reportedly made “a slow, wide deliberate turn onto the freeway on-ramp” and then “accelerated quickly and suddenly slowed” several times on Interstate 5 while “moving side to side in the (center) lane.”
Suspecting the driver was impaired, the Napavine officer activated his vehicle’s emergency lights.
The vehicle “applied its brakes drastically and pulled to the right shoulder” near milepost 74. When the officer got out of his vehicle to contact the driver, the vehicle allegedly “sped off northbound on Interstate 5,” according to court documents.
The Napavine officer reportedly requested backup from additional units as Robinson allegedly fled at speeds of 100 to 125 mph.
Robinson allegedly “drastically braked and came to a stop in the gore point at Exit 77” before taking off northbound again. He reportedly exited I-5 at Exit 79, “blew through the red light” at the intersection of I-5 and Northwest Chamber Way and got back onto northbound I-5.
He exited again at Exit 81 in Centralia, made a right turn and then made a U-turn and ran another red light to get back onto I-5, according to court documents. He again exited I-5 at Exit 88, again blowing through a red light to re-enter the freeway going northbound.
Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) deputies reportedly joined the pursuit near Exit 99, according to court documents.
Robinson exited I-5 again at Exit 102 and continued driving recklessly west on Trosper Road Southwest.
“TCSO took lead on the pursuit as it entered Tumwater, where the suspect was traveling approximately 100mph on Trosper Road. The suspect vehicle then conducted a U-turn, heading back toward I-5 on Trosper,” TCSO said in a Facebook post Sunday morning.
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders and a Tumwater Police Department unit deployed stop sticks, “which got the suspect’s vehicle as well as (the Napavine officer) and another pursuing police vehicle,” according to TCSO and Lewis County Superior Court documents.
At that point, “a deputy utilized the newly constructed roundabout” at the intersection of Trosper Road and Capitol Way “to conduct a PIT maneuver that resulted in no damage to the patrol vehicle or the construction site,” according to TCSO.
Robinson was then taken into custody without further incident.
When questioned by the Napavine officer, Robinson allegedly “admitted to smoking marijuana earlier in the day … believed he was sober and blamed his poor driving on mechanical issues with the vehicle,” according to court documents. He allegedly “admitted he made a poor decision to flee from law enforcement.”
Robinson was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital for a blood draw before he was booked into the Lewis County Jail just after 6:55 a.m. on April 14, according to jail records.
He was charged Monday, April 15, with one count each of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, DUI and second-degree driving with a suspended license.
While the prosecution asked for Robinson’s bail to be set at $100,000 due to his criminal history, which includes a robbery conviction, three other convictions and 14 prior warrants in addition to his three active ones, Judge Joely Yeager opted to set bail at $50,000 due to Robinson’s lack of income.
“He is certainly a risk for flight, just given the amount of eluding that’s alleged here,” Yeager said Monday.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, April 18.
