Centralia detectives are investigating an attempt-to-elude case after a man fled from both Centralia and Chehalis police, kept driving after spike strips deflated one of the car’s tires, and escaped on foot after the vehicle was partially disabled on Monday.
Two women who were inside the vehicle when officers found it driving on the shoulder of northbound Interstate 5 near milepost 85 were arrested on unrelated charges. A third woman inside the vehicle was released.
An officer with the Chehalis Police Department tried to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle in the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue just after 5:35 p.m. on Monday, April 22, according to Centralia police call logs. The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed toward Centralia via Airport Road. Centralia officers in the area were able to deploy spike strips, which disabled one of the vehicle’s tires, but the vehicle “sped off at an excessive speed while passing other vehicles and running a stop light,” according to call logs.
Officers did not pursue in order to comply with current Washington state pursuit laws, the Centralia Police Department noted.
A Centralia officer did continue northbound on Interstate 5, where the suspect was last seen traveling, and located the partially disabled vehicle.
When the officer found the vehicle, it was being driven along the shoulder by a 49-year-old Ethel woman “who later claimed ownership of the vehicle.” She complied with the officer’s order to stop.
The woman, “along with her two adult daughters who were seated in the backseat, claimed they did not know the male who had been driving the vehicle,” according to Centralia call logs. Centralia police used a drone to try and locate the suspect, but were unsuccessful.
The Ethel woman was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on an unrelated Chehalis Municipal Court warrant. One of her daughters in the vehicle, 20, of Mossyrock, was arrested by the Chehalis Police Department for criminal trespassing.
“Centralia police obtained a search warrant on the vehicle and located identifying documents belonging to a male who is believed to be the driver. Suspected fentanyl, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were also located inside the vehicle,” the Centralia Police Department stated.
