Deputies in high speed chase through Silver Lake and Medical Lake

Medical Lake social media lit up Saturday evening when a high-speed chase ensued after Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputies spotted a wanted suspect near Silver Lake.

The pursuit began at 10:45 p.m. when a deputy attempted to pull the suspect over, according to Spokane County Sheriffs Office spokesman Cpl. Mark Gregory.

Wanted on outstanding warrants and a probable cause for a felony crime on Aug. 18, rather than stop, the suspect instead accelerated and reportedly reached speeds as high as 90 mph.

The vehicle, described on social media as a black 2013 Jeep Cherokee, proceeded to evade pursuing deputies by heading northbound on Silver Lake Road before turning westbound onto State Route 904.

The driver continued at a high rate of speed through Medical Lake before heading northbound on Brooks Road.

Near Brooks and McFarlane roads the driver suddenly hit his brakes, which resulted in a minor collision with a pursuing sheriff’s patrol vehicle.

“Obviously at that point we’re going to pull that vehicle out because we don’t know if something’s wrong with it or not,” Gregory said. “So he dropped out.”

With other patrol vehicles continuing to follow, the suspect then turned westbound onto SR 2 before eventually leaving the highway near Coulee Heights Road, where he entered a wheat field and then “into some bogs” still at a high rate of speed, Gregory said.

While the Jeep speed away in the darkness, one of the sheriff’s pursuit vehicles that attempted to follow became subsequently stuck in the mud. A second deputy broke off the chase, Gregory said.

Lincoln County deputies later found the vehicle abandoned about one mile to the northwest near Tramm and Bisson roads.

There was no sign of the driver.

A subsequent K9 search failed to find the lead-footed suspect, Gregory said.

While Gregory would not identify the individual, he did note that additional charges were pending related to the pursuit and the “minor to moderate” damages caused to county patrol vehicles.

At one point Air 2, an OH-58 helicopter from Spokane Regional Air Support, was also involved in the chase.

“They’re continuing to work the investigation,” Gregory said.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].