Accused car thief arrested after chase in Pasco, Kennewick
A Pasco man was arrested Friday morning in Kennewick after an hours-long pursuit involving three vehicles, two of them reported stolen.
Pasco police were on their way to take a report on a stolen Honda Accord when they spotted a vehicle matching its description at a car wash at 19th Avenue and Court Street, a police official said.
Officers tried to talk with Geovanny Blanco, 20, but he ran around the car wash for several minutes before he jumped into a nearby mini van and drove off. There was a woman passenger in the van and police were not clear if she was a victim or suspect and so they backed off their pursuit as Blanco headed into Kennewick.
Blanco abandoned the van at 26th Avenue and Underwood Street and ran away, said Kennewick police. Officers determined the passenger, 19-year-old Josie Bear, was a suspect and arrested her.
Pasco officers tried to track Blanco down using a police dog, while other officers arrested a woman, Josie Bear, 19, who was left behind in the abandoned van.
About 11:15 a.m. dispatchers received a call about a man hiding in a house near where the stolen van was abandoned.
As officers responded to that call, another call came from a man in the same area who said his truck was stolen after he left it running when he went back inside his house to get something.
The truck was found abandoned near 19th Avenue and Rainier Place. Blanco was spotted walking a few blocks northeast of the truck at 16th Avenue and Olympia Street and was arrested without a fight.
Blanco was booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of auto theft and criminal trespassing before being transferred to Pasco police custody to be booked on charges in Franklin County.
Earlier Friday, Pasco officers pursued a four-door sedan into Kennewick they had tried to stop several days before for traffic infractions. The driver again wouldn’t pull over and drove into Kennewick, eventually crashing through a fence before running away. Officers are still searching for him.
This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Accused car thief arrested after chase in Pasco, Kennewick."