Suspected Christmas car prowler caught after Kennewick crash leaves Ford T-Bird behind
A crashed car on Christmas night led police to a Thursday afternoon arrest outside a Kennewick apartment building.
Passersby called police after spotting a man prowling through cars near Denny’s on the corner of Kennewick Avenue and Highway 395 around 7:30 p.m.
As officers arrived, they saw the man driving away in his car, Officer Zach Armitage said. They followed to get his license plate number.
When he noticed the officers behind him, he sped away in a Ford Thunderbird. Police trailed him but didn’t give chase.
But his reckless driving caught up with him at the corner of First Avenue and Olympia Street when he hit a fence, said police.
When officers got there, the driver was gone but they were able to link the car to Sergio Diaz, 45, said Armitage.
The Criminal Apprehension Team caught up with Diaz near an apartment building on West Fourth Avenue. They were already looking for him on unrelated warrants in two other active cases, police said.
He tried running, but was caught after a short chase.
When police searched him, they found a small amount of methaphetamine in his pocket.
He was booked into the Benton County jail for the warrants and on suspicion of possessing meth.