Video from the Centralia Police Department that was recently obtained by The Chronicle shows officers abort the pursuit of a suspect in a catalytic converter theft last week after the suspect’s vehicle took off through a residential area in downtown Centralia.
Dash camera footage from the pursuing officer’s vehicle shows the officer’s vehicle start pursuing a black Infiniti that drove over a section of grass and a curb and sped off westbound on West Magnolia Street.
The officer stopped pursuing when the suspect’s vehicle sped through multiple stop signs on West Magnolia Street.
“Because of current Washington state law, officers were prohibited from pursuing and were forced to allow the suspect and his female passenger to get away,” wrote the Centralia Police Department in a report on the incident.
Officers were initially dispatched to the 100 block of West Magnolia Street just after 9:05 a.m. on April 24 regarding a report of a man looking under vehicles in a parking lot on the west side of North Pearl Street.
The man was getting in a car with a woman in the passenger’s seat when the first officer arrived at 9:11 a.m., according to police reports.
“Due to the large amount of vehicle catalytic converter thefts occurring in Centralia I suspected this individual was in the area attempting to engage in this crime,” stated the officer in his police report.
As he was pulling his patrol vehicle around parked cars in the lot, the officer reported the man — described as a “ a white male with curly brown hair wearing a dark-colored T-shirt” — made eye contact with the officer then began backing up his vehicle. The male looked at me, making eye contact then began backing up his vehicle.”
The vehicle then drove over the curb at a high speed.
The officer radioed another Centralia patrol unit in the area about the situation, and that second officer followed the suspect’s vehicle until it sped through the stop signs.
A couple hours later, the Centralia Police Department was dispatched to the 1400 block of Mellen Street regarding a vehicle “swerving all over the place and “cutting people off.” The description of that vehicle matched that of the Infiniti that fled from officers on West Magnolia Street.
The reporting party told police he had unintentionally followed the vehicle from Mellen Street to the 900 block of Old Airport Way, where the vehicle pulled into a parking lot. An officer wasn’t able to locate the Infiniti in the parking lot, but about half an hour later he was dispatched back to the same parking lot on Old Airport Way regarding a catalytic converter theft in progress. A citizen saw a suspect matching the description of the man who fled from officers on West Magnolia Street cutting a catalytic converter off of another vehicle; but when the citizen approached, the man got into his vehicle and left.
The Centralia Police Department has developed probable cause for the suspect’s arrest on charges of reckless driving, third-degree malicious mischief and driving with a suspended/revoked drivers license, but officers have yet to locate him.
State law currently prohibits law enforcement from getting involved in a high-speed pursuit unless the subject is suspected in a violent or sexual offense or is suspected of driving under the influence.
“I think most officers probably in this state are very frustrated with this particular law,” Centralia Police Chief Stacy Denham told KING 5 News shortly after the incident.
“We made the judgment that it is not worth endangering the lives of the police and innocent people to go solve the property crime immediately,” said Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, who supported the 2021 legislation, to KING 5 News.
