Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeWednesday, Dec. 03, 2008
Car chases keep Mid-Columbia police agencies busy for hours
By Franny White, Herald staff writer
Two simultaneous and unrelated chases -- one that started in Grandview and ended in Benton County, and another that started in Benton and went into Yakima County -- tied up law enforcement agencies for hours, authorities said Tuesday.
Officers from the Benton and Yakima County sheriff's offices, the Grandview and Prosser police departments and the Washington State Patrol assisted Monday in the two chases, both of which ended in hours-long searches for suspects.
"I guess when it rains, it pours," Benton County Sheriff Larry Taylor said Tuesday.
The first chase began shortly after 1 p.m. Monday, when Grandview police learned two people who unlawfully had firearms were driving a Chevrolet Suburban. Police tried to stop the car in the 600 block of East Wine Country Road, said Mark Ware, Grandview's assistant police chief.
But the Suburban sped away and hit another occupied vehicle. No one was injured.
The chase, which reached speeds of nearly 100 mph, left city limits and went east into Benton County. The Suburban eventually stopped near Evans Road, where its two passengers ran into a vineyard. The passenger, a 16-year-old Grandview boy, was caught soon after.
But the search for the driver, a 20-year-old Grandview man whose name was not released, lasted about six hours until he was found hiding under a porch about a mile away, Police Chief David Charvet said.
Police found four firearms in the Suburban, including a sawed-off shotgun and a machine gun, Charvet said. Seven marijuana cigarettes and about seven grams of methamphetamine were also found inside.
The second chase started around 1:10 p.m. when two people were interrupted stealing all-terrain vehicles on Olson Road in northwestern Benton County, said Sgt. Kevin McCary of the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
A relative of the vehicles' owner saw two people take two Suzuki ATV's from an Olson Road property, said Lt. Brian White. The two then fled west into Yakima County, where they were seen driving in and out of orchards.
One ATV was later found dumped in an orchard, White said. Officials looked for the suspects, whose names were not immediately available, for several hours Monday. They remained at large Tuesday afternoon, Taylor said.
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