Felon in stolen truck tries to run down 2 Kennewick officers

A convicted felon is accused of trying to run over two Kennewick officers in a stolen pickup and then leading police on a chase to Columbia Center mall.

Officers tried to stop Dominic Woodward just before 8 a.m. Tuesday outside the Motel 6 in Kennewick.

They had been looking for a green Ford pickup that was seen on a camera picking up people from a stolen car Monday.

Tuesday, the officers were at the motel on an unrelated case when they saw the truck and tried to get it to stop. But Woodward drove straight at them, police said.

“Luckily, the officers were able to create some distance and the driver turned away at the last minute,” Sgt. Isaac Merkl said in a news release. “We are glad they were not hit, as the two officers believed the vehicle was going to strike them.”

The officers and Benton County sheriff’s deputies chased Woodward, who has 11 prior convictions, including illegal gun possession. But they worried the chase could be dangerous for the public so they stopped in the area of Canal Drive and Edison Street, said Merkl.

Soon after a deputy spotted the pickup in the Columbia Center parking lot, where Woodward had hit a parking island near Banner Bank.

Woodward took off running but was quickly caught, said Merkl.

Police found meth and fentanyl on him, and discovered he’d thrown a gun out of the truck during the chase, he said.

Woodward was booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion for attempting to elude police, two counts of third-degree assault, possession of a stolen vehicle, unlawful possession of drugs and illegal gun possession.

Police believe Woodward may have been involved in other crimes in the area and are continuing to investigate.

Anyone with any information on Woodward, is asked to call Kennewick police through the non-emergency dispatch number at 509-628-0333.