A Winlock man accused of fleeing from police in the Centralia area in September 2024 was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on Wednesday.
Jeffrey Tye Murphy, 39, was charged Feb. 2 in Lewis County Superior Court with one count each of attempt to elude and escape from community custody.
He is accused of fleeing from a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office sergeant who tried to pull him over for expired tabs on southbound Harrison Avenue near Ives Road in Centralia on Sept. 27, according to court documents.
Murphy, who was driving a red convertible Ford Mustang, allegedly accelerated away from the sergeant and lost control of his vehicle at the intersection of Ives Road and Sandra Avenue and slid off the roadway. The vehicle reportedly recovered and continued to flee, speeding through a stop sign at the intersection of Galvin Road and Harrison Avenue.
The sergeant “continued to try and catch up, but there was a large amount of traffic,” which led the sergeant to discontinue the pursuit. He reportedly continued to follow the convertible, watching it lose control and go up over a curb.
The sergeant reportedly located the convertible “still running but unoccupied” behind the Centralia Safeway, according to court documents.
Visible inside the vehicle at the time were “a large bag of suspected marjuana, a suspected methamphetamine pipe and two license plates that belonged to other vehicles,” according to court documents.
A K9 track to locate the driver was unsuccessful, according to court documents.
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office investigators reportedly identified Murphy as the suspected driver while they were investigating the vehicle’s registration and found that the vehicle’s owner had given it to Murphy to work on.
A relative of Murphy reportedly told investigators that “Murphy has a history of running from law enforcement and making poor choices,” according to court documents.
Murphy was later arrested on an unrelated Department of Corrections warrant on Nov. 4, 2024, according to court documents.
When interviewed in the jail, Murphy allegedly admitted to driving the vehicle earlier the day of the incident, but denied fleeing from law enforcement. He allegedly “became upset” when confronted with more information, with a sergeant noting he “appeared to be nervous and his hands were shaking.”
Murphy was not charged for the incident until February 2025, at which time a $50,000 arrest warrant was issued.
Murphy was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on that warrant at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 30, according to jail records.
His bail was reduced to $25,000 following his preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Thursday, May 1.
Murphy is also being held without bail on an unrelated Department of Corrections hold, according to jail records.
As he was leaving his preliminary hearing on Thursday, Murphy shouted “I didn’t attempt to elude.”
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, May 8.
