A burglary suspect who fled from a traffic stop during which two police vehicles were disabled in Centralia on Oct. 8 was arrested in Lakewood on Wednesday.
Joshua Levi Upton, 29, of Lakewood, was booked into the Lewis County Jail just after 1:45 p.m. on Oct. 16 on third-degree theft, second-degree burglary and attempt to elude charges, according to jail records and the Centralia Police Department.
Additional charges of third-degree driving with a suspended license have been referred to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, according to the Centralia Police Department.
Upton is accused of stealing a Dewalt impact drill valued at approximately $395 from a Centralia business on Sept. 26 and of breaking into another Centralia business at about 2 a.m. on Sept. 27 and stealing a Samsung flat screen TV and a cable box.
Centralia police identified Upton as a suspect based on security camera footage and photos taken by a witness, according to a news release.
“An attempt to locate was distributed, however Mr. Upton was not located. Centralia police placed Mr. Upton’s vehicle license plate into the Flock security camera system so officers would be alerted if and when Mr. Upton returned to Centralia, likely to commit additional crimes,” the Centralia Police Department said in a news release Thursday morning.
Two officers in separate patrol cars responded to a Flock camera alert on Upton’s vehicle along Harrison Avenue at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 8, according to the news release and previous Chronicle reporting. The officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle on West Main Street, with one officer parking in front of the suspect’s vehicle and one parking behind to block it in.
“The officer in the lead vehicle contacted Mr. Upton and told him to exit his vehicle, but Mr. Upton would not comply. Mr. Upton then attempted to flee in his vehicle,” the Centralia Police Department stated in the news release.
The officer parked behind Upton’s vehicle then attempted a PIT maneuver, a pursuit tactic where the pursuing vehicle forces another vehicle to turn abruptly.
“However this was unsuccessful and unfortunately caused damage to two police vehicles,” the Centralia Police Department said in a news release.
PIT is an acronym for pursuit intervention technique.
No injuries were reported, but both police vehicles were disabled. One of the police vehicles was unoccupied at the time of the crash.
Another Centralia officer “briefly” pursued Upton, but “terminated the pursuit out of public safety concerns,” according to the Centralia Police Department.
As of Oct. 9, Upton’s vehicle had been recovered in Lakewood, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
On Oct. 16, Centralia detectives reportedly “obtained information that Mr. Upton was at an apartment in Lakewood” and coordinated with Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team detectives and Lakewood Police Department officers to arrest him, according to a news release.
“When officers attempted to contact Mr. Upton in the apartment, Mr. Upton attempted to barricade the bedroom door and flee out of the back window. Officers were able to place Mr. Upton into custody without incident,” the Centralia Police Department said in the news release.
Officers reportedly located meth and fentanyl on Upton when he was arrested.
Upton had a preliminary hearing scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17, in Lewis County Superior Court.
