Police find 3 stolen Tri-City vehicles and the alleged bad-driver thieves

Tri-City police took two alleged car thieves off the streets over the weekend after the suspects had trouble keeping vehicles on the road.

On Saturday morning a Pasco city employee, Juan Tijerina, called 911 to report a man lurking around a neighbor’s car near his home on the 3300 block of Estrella Drive in Pasco.

As Tijerina watched, the man got into the car that had been left unlocked and running, and took off, according to Pasco police.

Police spotted the car exiting Highway 12 onto East Lewis Street, then making a U-turn to get back onto the highway. Instead, it slid off the edge of the entrance ramp.

Jose L. Flores, 20, of Sunnyside, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, according to police.

In Benton County, Mark A. Barnett, 31, of Kennewick, was booked into jail early Sunday morning on suspicion of two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude police.

Richland police attempted to stop him to see if he was driving under the influence, but he drove off and crashed a stolen truck near Harris Avenue and Spring Street, according to Richland police reports.

While police were searching for him near the crash, another truck was stolen, according to police reports.

Police found Barnett soon after in the 1200 block of Gowen Avenue, according to police reports.

This story was originally published December 31, 2017 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Police find 3 stolen Tri-City vehicles and the alleged bad-driver thieves."