On Monday, a man was sentenced to 75 years in prison for crimes committed during an attempt to escape law enforcement in Lewis and Thurston counties in 2022.
Kaythan Tenry was sentenced in Lewis County Superior Court to 911 months in prison, according to a news release from the Centralia Police Department.
On Nov. 14, 2022, officers and deputies from Napavine, Chehalis, Centralia and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle incident that began in Napavine.
“While pursuing the suspect vehicle northbound on I-5, suspects in the vehicle began shooting at police,” according to the news release. “The suspect vehicle exited at Grand Mound and crashed at the off-ramp intersection. Tenry and his accomplice exited the suspect vehicle and attempted to carjack another vehicle sitting at the red light.”
According to police, the driver of the vehicle refused to get out and was then shot by Tenry and his accomplice. The two suspects then successfully carjacked another vehicle and fled west on Highway 99, where pursuit ended after a shootout with law enforcement, resulting in Tenry being taken into custody.
His accomplice, his brother, died after receiving immediate emergency medical care at the scene. No officers were injured during the shootout. The driver who was shot in the attempted carjacking received emergency first aid by an officer, was transported to a hospital and later recovered from his gunshot wound.
Tenry was convicted of possession of a stolen vehicle, drive-by shooting, two counts of first-degree robbery, attempting to elude police, first-degree murder and two counts of theft of a motor vehicle.
Tenry has been transferred to the Washington Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence, according to Centralia police.
More on the chase
Immediately after the incident, the Grays Harbor Sheriff's Office provided the following account:
The incident began when a citizen called 911 at 11:38 a.m. on Nov. 14, 2022, to report “a suspicious vehicle” at the Chevron gas station located at 1366 Rush Road in Napavine, according to a previous news release from the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office, which is the lead agency in the investigation.
Dispatch sent an officer with the Napavine Police Department, which ran the suspicious vehicle’s registration and learned the vehicle was stolen in an armed carjacking out of Oregon, according to the Grays Harbor County news release. The Napavine officer requested an additional unit to his location, prompting a deputy with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to respond.
Once the deputy caught up with the Napavine officer, they attempted to stop the suspicious vehicle at milepost 81 on Interstate 5. The suspect vehicle failed to yield and fled at a high rate of speed northbound on I-5, according to the news release.
“As the officers pursued the vehicle, the suspects fired a gun at the officers and a patrol vehicle was struck,” according to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers utilized spike strips on the suspect vehicle, which continued traveling northbound on I-5. The suspect vehicle exited I-5 at exit 88 and stopped at the top of the exit near the overpass. The suspects then allegedly exited the disabled stolen vehicle and attempted to carjack another vehicle waiting at the traffic light at the location.
One of the suspects shot the driver of the vehicle they were trying to carjack, according to the news release. “The victim did not exit his vehicle and sped off to get away from the suspects,” according to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office, which reported the victim was shot in the arm. The victim drove down the road to a safe location, where an officer with the Centralia Police Department and a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy contacted him and rendered first aid. The victim was eventually transported to a nearby hospital, per the news release.
The suspects then carjacked a Toyota pick-up from the overpass location.
“During the carjackings, several shots were fired at this location by several law enforcement officers and the suspects,” according to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspects then reportedly fled eastbound on Old Highway 99 in the stolen Toyota truck.
Near the intersection of Old Highway 99 and Violet Prairie Road, the stolen Toyota stopped in the roadway and one suspect exited from the bed of the truck and surrendered, according to the news release.
“The suspect had injuries from multiple gunshot wounds and was eventually taken into custody,” according to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office. Officers did render aid to the suspect and he was transported to the hospital for treatment, per the sheriff’s office.
The other suspect reportedly drove down the road about 50 feet and got out of the stolen vehicle “in a confrontational manner and verbally challenged the law enforcement officers,” according to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office.
“Officers gave the suspect verbal commands, which he ignored. The suspect pointed a handgun at the officers which resulted in two officers firing at the suspect,” per the sheriff’s office.
The suspect was reportedly struck “multiple times” and fell to the ground, per the sheriff’s office. Law enforcement officers rendered aid to the suspect, but the suspect “was fatally struck and was pronounced deceased at the scene,” per the sheriff’s office.
