Stolen car found at Keller Ferry after chase abandoned

 

Last updated 1/5/2022 at 7:46am



A stolen Cadillac that police stopped following because of a new state law was found at the Keller Ferry Marina the next day anyway.

Grand Coulee Officer Matthew Gilbert began following a suspicious vehicle about 9:35 p.m. Dec. 27. The 1999 beige Cadillac with tinted windows was traveling along SR-155 near the Grand Coulee Dam, another officer had told him.

The Cadillac was going about 10 miles per hour under the speed limit.

Gilbert followed the vehicle onto Federal Avenue, watching it swerve side to side in its lane. 

The Multi Agency Communications Center informed Gilbert that the Cadillac had been stolen out of Elmer City.

He attempted to pull the vehicle over on Hill Avenue, activating his siren as the vehicle approached Martin Road. Continued slow speed and swerving led the officer to believe the driver was impaired.

The Cadillac turned east on SR-174, then “took off at a high rate of speed and

crossed over to the oncoming lane,” according to Gilbert’s police report.

“At this time,” Gilbert wrote, “it became evident that the vehicle was attempting to elude me. I deactivated my emergency light and sirens.”

Washington State House Bill 1054, which took effect in 2021, limits, among other things, the circumstances in which an officer can pursue a vehicle in a chase, including circumstances related to probable cause, weather conditions, the safety of others, and more.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office was told about the vehicle. The next morning, they found it at the Keller Ferry Marina, “stuck and abandoned,” Sheriff Wade Magers told The Star on Tuesday.

The car was towed.

Magers explained that they forwarded information on lead suspects to Colville Tribal Police, which is handling the case because it originated on the reservation.

 

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