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Bail is set at $250,000 for the Pierce County man arrested after a Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) traffic stop in Chehalis turned into a police chase that ended with a crash in South Thurston County on Sunday.
Deante R. May, 32, was charged Monday, July 22, in Lewis County Superior Court with one count each of possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver, possession of marijuana with intent to manufacture or deliver, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and felony hit-and-run.
He was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 12:43 p.m. on July 21, according to jail records.
JNET detectives had conducted a traffic stop on May’s vehicle, a 2021 black BMW X5, near milepost 77 on Interstate 5 for not displaying a front license plate, having illegally tinted driver and passenger windows and for driving between 75 and 85 mph in a 70 mph zone, according to court documents.
May initially came to a stop, but allegedly pulled off the roadway under the West Main Street bridge and “drove away rapidly” as the detective exited his patrol vehicle and approached on foot, according to court documents.
The BMW was reportedly seen “passing vehicles on the shoulder, driving at speeds over 130 mph and weaving in and out of traffic,” according to court documents.
Patrol units waiting near mileposts 79 and 81 on northbound I-5 successfully spiked the BMW, which “continued to drive recklessly, striking an uninvolved, occupied passenger vehicle near milepost 81,” according to court documents. The crash reportedly caused the passenger vehicle’s airbags to deploy and resulted in minor injuries to the driver.
The BMW continued to flee north on I-5, but lost control when it attempted to take Exit 88 and collided with the guardrail.
May and the passenger in the BMW were “initially uncooperative with demands to exit the vehicle,” according to court documents.
The passenger exited the vehicle after law enforcement unsuccessfully attempted to break out the back window with less lethal munitions, but May allegedly continued to refuse to exit the vehicle until detectives breached the back window and inserted oleoresin capsicum, also known as OC or pepper spray, into the vehicle.
After May was arrested and a K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics inside the vehicle, detectives obtained a search warrant and recovered 2 kilograms of “fentanyl/cocaine powder” and 2 pounds of suspected marijuana, according to court documents.
Detectives estimated the street value of the fentanyl/cocaine powder was between $120,000 and $200,000, while the estimated street value of the marijuana was $2,400.
May’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for Aug. 1.
His conditions of release prohibit him from operating a motor vehicle until this case is resolved.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Centralia Police Department at 360-330-7680 or Lewis County Communications at 360-740-1105.
JNET is a multi-jurisdictional task force made up of detectives from the Centralia Police Department, the Chehalis Police Department, the Washington Department of Corrections and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
