Weekend crashes knock out power on Clearwater, leave truck in canal and more
A driver going 80 mph on Kennewick Avenue on Sunday night crashed into a utility pole, knocking out power to four blocks along Clearwater Avenue, say police.
Police believe Arturo Pulido-Barragan, 24 was speeding down Kennewick Avenue in a Mercedes about 10 p.m. Sunday, when he passed a Kennewick officer headed in the opposite direction, Commander Isaac Merkl told the Tri-City Herald.
When the officer turned around and flipped on his emergency lights, Pulido-Barragan turned down Perry Street, shut off his headlights and fled, said Merkl.
The officer stopped pursuing him, but followed him at a distance, he said. A few blocks away, he found the car smashed into a power pole, knocking it over. A Kennewick police Facebook post said the collision shut down electricity between the 3700 and 4000 blocks of Clearwater Avenue.
Witnesses told police they saw the Mercedes driver run from the crash.
Police believe his girlfriend, Emily Reyes-Lopez, 23, picked him up at a nearby store. But instead of leaving the area, the couple was found in her car in the parking lot across the street from the crash site.
Pulido-Barragan, the registered owner of the Mercedes, was booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of attempting to elude police, hit-and-run and second-degree malicious mischief. Reyes-Lopez was also arrested for false reporting and abetting a hit-and-run.
In other news this weekend:
Driving in a canal
A suspected drunk driver tried to make his way home to Pasco by driving down a canal off Highway 395 on Saturday night, Kennewick police said.
Euticio Gonzalez, 42, reportedly told investigators he had five alcoholic drinks and multiple shots before getting behind the wheel of his Chevy pickup, Merkl told the Herald.
Gonzalez turned off the highway onto a canal access road and drove into the canal near 3324 W. 19th Ave.
Witnesses spotted the half-submerged truck driving in the canal about 11 p.m. and called 911, Kennewick police said in a Facebook post.
He didn’t get far before the truck broke down. Police found Gonzalez sitting inside with the headlights still on.
After officers helped Gonzalez onto the canal bank, they said he was unsteady on his feet, smelled like alcohol and was having trouble concentrating, Merkl said. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Pasco hit-and-run
Pasco police are searching for a driver who left a trail of wreckage behind him after running a stop sign about 1 a.m. Sunday.
An officer tried to catch up with the Mustang with a “No Limit” decal on the rear panel, but before he could, the driver missed a turn at First Avenue and Court Street, Pasco police said in a Facebook post.
The driver crashed through a fence, barely missed a utility pole, hit a wooden pillar on a building, and ended up on the lawn outside the Inspire Development Center.
By the time police reached the car, the driver had fled. Police searched the area for the suspect, but found no one, according to dispatch reports.
The registered owner of the car told investigators that he wasn’t driving the car, police said on Facebook.
Anyone with information about the driver is being asked to contact Pasco police through the non-emergency dispatch number at 509-628-0333 and reference case number 25-052057.