A Spokane man arrested at gunpoint after a police chase three weeks ago was picked up again Tuesday morning after another chase with law enforcement.

 A profusely sweaty Michael S. Wheeler, 38, was taken to a hospital after he told a sheriff's deputy he had eaten an unknown amount of cocaine when he was arrested near Argonne and Bruce roads, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

Deputy Ryan Truman tried to stop Wheeler after spotting he and his passenger “frantically” moving and reaching under the front seats when he approached their parked Jeep Cherokee just north of Hastings Road about 4:30 a.m.

Truman noted a damaged steering column and a punched ignition with a screwdriver sitting on the vehicle's center console. Dispatch reported the car was stolen, and Truman ordered an already “very agitated” Wheeler and passenger Jamie Burdeau, 22, out of the vehicle, the sheriff's office said.

Wheeler instead put the Jeep in reverse and struck a shed, fence and a “junk car” as he fled, officials say. Truman and other deputies found the Jeep abandoned in the area of 3rd Avenue and Railroad Street in Mead. Burdeau was spotted walking near the vehicle and told deputies Wheeler had run east. She later said she and Wheeler had been waiting for a meth dealer when Truman approached them, the sheriff's office said.

A Spokane police K-9 found Wheeler's gray hooded sweatshirt near the Jeep.  Patrol officers found Wheeler at Argonne and Bruce roads, where he was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and felony eluding. Burdeau was arrested on a charge of possession of a stolen vehicle.

Wheeler also faces a third-degree assault charge for allegedly striking a security guard at Holy Family Hospital while running from sheriff's deputies. Deputies said Wheeler ran from them after saying “Have you ever been to jail? It sucks,” according to court records. Wheeler was shocked with a Taser as he struggled to get away from the deputies.

Wheeler was arrested May 3 after a high-speed chase with a state wildlife officer in a stolen car while high on methamphetamine, according to court documents. He was released from jail when prosecutors didn't file charges within three days.

Wheeler also was wanted by Crime Stoppers when he rammed a sheriff’s patrol car in December 2010 while successfully eluding a deputy. Read more here.

A juvenile was arrested for felony eluding police after a chase in Spokane Valley this morning.

The boy, whose age was not released, was speeding through a parking lot in the area of East Sprague Avenue and North Pines Road about 2 a.m. when sheriff's deputy Jason Karnitz followed him and observed several other traffic violations, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

Karnitz tried to stop the car near Pines and Valleyway Road, but the driver fled on Valleyway. Karntiz terminated the pursuit near Valleyway and Adams Road, but the boy continued speeding and crashed into a fence at the intersection.

The boy ran east, but a sheriff's K-9, Gordy, found him hiding under brush nearby. He told Karntiz he was “walking home from work, heard all the sirens and decided to hide because he was scared, the sheriff's office said.
  

A Spokane man with a history of fleeing police led a state wildlife officer on a chase in a stolen car while high on methamphetamine recently.

Michael S. Wheeler, 38, remains jailed on stolen car and eluding police chases after he was arrested at gunpoint Thursday after a high-speed chase that began in the area of 36900 Valley Road.

Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Daniel Rahn was in the area when he noticed a 1986 Doge pickup parked in his neighbor's driveway.

Rahn didn't recognize the truck and watched as the driver approached a parked trailer. The driver told Rahn he was looking for copper wire when stopped, but he soon sped way and a chase ensued.

Rahn ended the chase because of public safety concerns, but a sheriff's deputy was able to stop Wheeler at gunpoint on Deer Creek Road near Elk-Chattaroy after Wheeler lost control of the truck while trying to avoid a spike strip.

Wheeler told police he had taken methamphetamine earlier that day, according to court documents. He said he didn't know the truck was stolen. Police say the truck was stolen that day from a home on Sherman Road in Deer Park.

Wheeler had a Department of Corrections warrant for escape. He has several felony convictions that prohibit from possessing weapons, so he could face another felony charge for a rifle found in the truck.

Wheeler was wanted by Crime Stoppers when he rammed a sheriff’s patrol car in December 2010 while successfully eluding a deputy. Read more here.

A 17-year-old boy in a stolen van was arrested for drunken driving after running into a fast food restaurant, then disabling his front tires by running over a curb.

The boy also faces charges of attempting to elude police, possession of a stolen vehicle, hit and run, possession of marijuana and driving while license suspended after deputies were dispatched to a van driving recklessly Saturday about 7:30 a.m. in the area of East Bigelow Gulch Road and North Argonne Road, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

Witnesses called 911 to report the van, and sheriff's Deputy Matt Spink caught up with near Highway 2 and Day-Mt. Spokane Road.

Spink followed the van and was told by dispatchers that it had just run into the Zip Trip nearby, according to the sheriff's office. He tried to stop the van, but it sped away before the boy drove it over a curb near Lane Park and Chesapeake Road, which disabled the front tires.

Spink arrested the boy. The owner of the van said he'd parked it in front of his home about 11 p.m. the night before and did not know the boy or that his van had been stolen.
  

A Spokane man suspected of domestic violence was arrested on drug charges after a police chase late Sunday.

Shane Patrick Wilson, 34, drove away from the 500 block of East Everett Avenue in a white Acura after officers were called to the area by a man who identified Wilson as his estranged wife's boyfriend, according to the Spokane Police Department. The man told officers Wilson was harassing him and damaging his property.

Officers Ben Yinger and Aaron Ames stopped Wilson in the Acura, but he sped way.

Police say Wilson jumped out of the car in the 500 block of East Nebraska and ran into a home, where officers arrested him for attempting to elude police and possession of methamphetamine. He was booked into jail about 2:21 a.m.

Christopher John Steinbaugh, 31, also was contacted at the home and arrested for possession of meth.

Wilson already faces two felony drug charges for an arrest in January. He was scheduled to be in court Tuesday for those charges; now he'll be in court today on the new charges, too.

Wilson has previous convictions for possession of meth and second-degree robbery.

A 20-minute police chase through northeast Spokane led to arrest of a 40-year-old Spokane woman Monday.

Henrietta Allice Wynne is accused of fleeing a traffic stop by a Washington State Patrol trooper who spotted her driving erratically about 5:13 a.m. as she left the Royal Scot Motel parking lot at 6507 N. Division St.

Trooper Jeff Thoet pursued Wynne's red Ford Taurus from Division to a residential area, where she ran stop signs and reached a speed of 70 mph, according to police.

A sheriff's deputy deployed stop sticks at Lacey and Regal streets that deflated the Taurus' right front tire, but Wynne continued to drive on he tire rim and was able to avoid several attempts by Thoet to perform a pursuit immobilization technique, police say.

Two other tires deflated before Thoet successfully stopped the vehicle.

Police found a drug pipe in the car and arrested Wynne on charges of eluding police, driving while license suspended and misdemeanor warrants.

A Cheney man was arrested for drunken driving and eluding police early today in Stevens County.

Todd Earl Toreson, 38, lost control of his 2004 Ford F150 about 12:46 a.m. near on state Route 231 about 12 miles south of Springdale, according to Washington State Patrol.

His passenger, Beau Earl Lyons, 33, of Sedro Woolley, was injured and transported to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Toreson was not injured.

Wellpinit Tribal police were pursuing Toreson when he crashed the truck and rolled into a ditch, WSP said.

This crash in north Spokane began when a sheriff's deputy tried to pull over the Honda. (KHQ-TV photo)

A man in a stolen car swerved into a police cruiser during a chase in north Spokane this afternoon.

The suspect, Aaron D. Lyons, 33, was arrested after he crashed the 1992 Honda Civic into shrubbery while trying to turn into the Rite Aid parking lot on North Division Street. Deputy Jeff Thurman blocked the Civic with his patrol vehicle and arrested Lyons, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

The chase began about 12:39 p.m. when Thurman tried to stop the Civic in the 8500 block of North Country Homes Road for failing to display license plates.

Before Lyons crashed near Rite Aid, Thurman tried to stop car with a “pursuit intervention technique” that involves nudging the back bumper of a fleeing vehicle, which forces it into a spin and brings it to a stop, but Lyons swerved into Thurman's car to avoid the move, the sheriff's office said.

The Civic was reported stolen on Sunday. Lyons also had a stolen credit card with him, according to the sheriff's office.

Lyons was booked into jail on felony charges of second-degree assault, attempting to elude police, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, second-degree malicious mischief and possession of stolen property, and misdeamenor charges of driving under the influence and driving while license suspended.

A man who fled a police chase in the Four Lakes area was arrested after being shocked several times with a Taser late Sunday.

Jesse Ray Waldvogel, 25, ran from his car at milepost 267 on Interstate 90 about 5 p.m. as state troopers pursued him in a domestic violence investigation, according to the Washington State Patrol. He was believed to be armed, and law enforcement, including a helicopter and sheriff's K-9, scoured the heavily vegetated area but came up empty.

Waldvogel was arrested about 9:50 p.m. near Medical Lake-Four Lakes Road and Granite Lake Road but freed his right hand from cuffs and struggled with officers while saying “something to the effects of 'you're gonna have to kill me!'.” according to court documents. He continued to resist after one Taser shock, according to the WSP, so two to three more were applied.

“After the Taser cycled through Waldvogel stated that he was done resisting and asked something to the effects of 'why couldn't you guys just shoot me?,” according to court documents.

Troopers left the Taser probes in Waldvogel as he was examined by medics and told him he'd be shocked again if he resisted. Waldovgel had cuts on his forehead, hands and feet but declined hospital treatment, troopers say.

Waldvogel described the pursuit to police and said he'd been bit by a snapping turtle while hiding in the water, according to court documents.

He was booked into jail on charges of attempting to elude police and resisting arrest.

A motorcyclist was arrested after a chase that began when police clocked him driving 110 mph on U.S. Highway 195 Thursday.

Another motorcyclist driving alongside the biker at 110 mph escaped after crashing his bike in Moscow, Idaho, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

The arrested rider, Ryan J. Peil, 22, of Cheney, told deputies he didn't know the other driver and apologized for fleeing arrest. He was booked into jail on a charge of eluding police and is to appear in Superior Court today.

Peil and the other rider were driving side-by-side while southbound on the 60 mph highway when Deputy Greg Lance, who was northbound, turned around and tried to stop the pair. The two easily escaped Lance and his Ford SUV, which has a top speed of about 95 mph, the Sheriff's Office said.

Deputy Ray Miller tried to stop the riders at 195 and Plaza Road, but the two slowed to about 20 mph then sped away while passing traffic in a prohibited area.

The motorcyclists split up, and Miller followed Peil into Rosalia, where citizens alerted him to a building Peil was hiding behind. Peil was arrested without incident.

Whitman County sheriff's deputies, along with Pullman and Washington State University police, chased the second motorcyclist to Moscow, where they found a helmet and jacket at the crash site but no rider.

Sgt. Dave Reagan said the crashed bike belongs to a man with warrants in Kootenai County but he did not identify him.

A Spokane man who triggered a weeks-long federal manhunt and a wild police chase in Montana is going back to federal prison.

 Anthony E. Burke, 23, was sentenced to a year in prison last week for escaping from a halfway house last spring. After he serves that sentence he's to return to Montana, where he's to serve four years in prison for criminal endangerment related to the April 2010 chase.

Burke, alias Garver, served three years in federal prison after police found him with 100 rounds of Russian ammunition at his family’s Spokane-area home. He was prohibited from having the bullets because he’d been committed to a mental hospital as a teen.

Burke was to report to a work release center when released from prison, but he never showed up, triggering a search that ended with his arrest on July 31, 2009. He was sentenced to an additional seven months but later left a halfway house for an eye appointment and never returned.

A warrant for his arrest was issued the same day Burke led Montana law enforcement on an intense chase that included Burke driving the wrong way on Interstate 90, driving in reverse, sideswiping barriers and trial, smashing a guardrail. Police drew their guns on him “several times” before h e was arrested after trying to swim away in a creek, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Burke has serious mental health issues and has threatened to kill public officials and cause mass casualties at public events, according to court documents. Documents portray Burke as a troubled man haunted by his stepfather’s abuse and angry at authorities for calling him mentally ill.

Burke will be on probation for nine months after his release. 

Investigators have released the names of the law enforcement officials involved in the pursuit that ended with a diabetic man dying in a head-on crash with a semi truck.

Deputies Jennifer Wrotenbery and Mike Northway were in separate patrol cars when they saw Daniel J. Marinovich, 50, (pictured) driving southbound on Highway 395 at Half Moon Road after receiving reports of an erratic driver in a red Ford Taurus.  

Spokane County sheriff's deputies arrest Kevin L. Hodgson after a freeway chase Wednesday. (SRPhoto/Colin Mulvany)

A man who already served jail time this year for eluding police was arrested at gunpoint Thursday following a high-speed freeway chase.

Kevin Lyle Hodgson, 38, fled police at the Hico at East Sprague Avenue and North Mullan Road before ditching his car and running across Interstate 90 into Spalding Auto Parts, where police and a K-9 tracked him down.

“The defendant did not make much of a statement except to note that he had been stupid,” deputies wrote in an affidavit.

Hodgson's ex-girlfriend called police to report he'd been harassing her, she said he was about ready to stop for gas at the Hico, had a handgun and would potentially ram any police vehicles that tried to stop him, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office. Hodgson ran from deputies at Hico and jumped into a Honda Civic at a nearby car wash as the owner was vacuuming it. The Civic was found crashed at 11021 E. Augusta.

Hodgson has warrants in District and Municipal courts and was sentenced in March to 43 days in jail for a police chase in February.

In that case, Hodgson fled police during a traffic stop in north Spokane and was shocked with a Taser.

Hodgson returned to jail Thursday on charges of theft of a motor vehicle, second-degree robbery, second-degree assault, attempting to elude police, obstructing a public officer and second-degree driving with a suspended license. He's due in Superior Court this afternoon.

A Spokane fugitive was arrested Monday after he knocked over a parking meter with his car while fleeing bail bondsmen, then tried to grab a firearm during a struggle with a Spokane police officer.

Christopher Cleo McCracken, 38, (pictured in 2005) sped away from a parking lot at 907 W. 3rd Ave., Monday afternoon after the bondsmen tried to arrest him on felony warrants, Spokane police said today.

McCracken backed over a parking barrier and a sidewalk, knocking down a parking meter on 3rd Avenue that was left in the middle of the street, police said.

A woman who had a restraining order against McCracken “alluded” to him possibly using a handgun to avoid arrests, so a team of nighttime patrol officers that tracks fugitives and crime trends located him about 5 p.m. near 3500 S. Marshall Road.

Officer Sean Wheeler pursued McCracken as he ran into a wooded area and over a barb wire fence. McCracken grabbed the barrel of the rifle, but Wheeler was able to subdue McCracken and arrest him. In a news release, police emphasized that neither McCracken nor the officers were shot to death.

“This is a prime example of how a possibly deadly encounter resulted in an arrest with relatively minor injuries,” Officer Jennifer DeRuwe wrote. “Officers entered the situation knowing McCracken was a danger to the community, possibly armed and had an extensive criminal history related to drug abuse and violence.”

A reckless driver who cut off a Washington State Patrol detective in the Hillyard area offered this assessment of the man, according to police: “You're a pussy.”

Detective M.C. Bambino said Justin Tyler Whitney, 30, yelled that at him from his 1981 Volkswagen pickup truck before ramming Bambino's unmarked squad car and fleeing the area.

The suspect was arrested Monday - nearly one month after the May 9 incident.

Trooper Troy Briggs, spokesman for WSP, said detectives encountered several dead ends when trying to locate Whitney, delaying his arrest.

Bambino was southbound on North Market Street approaching East Garland Avenue when he noticed a speeding green pickup driving erratically.

The driver insulted him before swerving toward his vehicle, then refusing to pull over, according to an affidavit. The truck stopped in near East Carlisle Avenue, then reversed and rammed a Toyota car that had stopped nearby. The truck then rammed part of Bambino's vehicle and was last seen driving northbound on Greene Street.

Bambino obtained the pickup's license plate, which showed the vehicle was registered to Whitney.
Bambino said Whitney had a “crazed look on his face” during the melee and believes he was on drugs.

Whitney appeared in Superior Court Tuesday on charges of reckless driving, two counts of hit and run and two counts of first-degree assault
  

A Spokane resident celebrated his 18th birthday today by appearing in Superior Court on four felony charges.

Quinn Mikal Ray was arrested Monday after a wild police chase that included Ray trying to run over a police officer and briefly pinning another officer inside a patrol car, charges allege.

But his stint in juvenile detention didn't last long - prosecutors filed charges against him in adult court Tuesday, and he was moved to the Spokane County Jail, where he turned 18 today.

Ray is charged with attempt to elude a police vehicle, two counts of first-degree assault for allegedly trying to hit two officers with his car and one count of second-degree assault for hitting Officer Chris Bode's patrol car and pinning him in the vehicle, according to court documents.

Police believe Ray was intoxicated.
  

A 17-year-old driver briefly pinned a Spokane police officer inside his patrol car during a chase Monday that ended with the boy's arrest, officials said today.

Police were called to a  fight near North Chestnut Street and West Mallon Avenue about 10:30 p.m., where people were reportedly throwing sticks and trying to run over others with their vehicles.

The suspect's vehicle drove toward Officer Art Dollard as he interviewed a witness, causing Dollard and the witness to jump out of the way to avoid serious injury.

Sgt. Dave Overhoff tried to stop the vehicle after it fled the scene, and a pursuit ensued. The boy hit the bumper of Officer Chris Bode's police car before Bode nudged the back bumper of the vehicle with his patrol car, forcing it into a spin that brought it to a stop.

But the boy accelerated, and Bode was briefly pinned inside his patrol car, Officer Jennifer DeRuwe said in a news release.

The boy, whose name was not released, was booked into the Spokane County juvenile detention center on assault and eluding charges. He also faces a drunken driving charge. His passenger was released.

A 26-year-old man tried escaping police by driving more than 100 mph in a 35 mph zone in north Spokane County early Tuesday.

The stolen 1989 Toyota Supra Kory L. Zielke was driving went airborne for more than 100 feet as he sped away from a Washington Sate Patrol trooper about 6:50 a.m., according to court documents.

The trooper found the Toyota abandoned on Russell Road at Highway 2 with steam billowing from under the hood.

Zielke's mother arrived and said her son had called her from her home a half mile north on Russell Road and said he'd run from police.

Police arrested him outside the home.

The Toyota was reported stolen about two hours later. Zielke was booked into jail on a felony charge of eluding police and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and city theft.

A motorist who tailed a Spokane County sheriff's patrol car at speeds up to 90 mph was arrested after being tracked by the Air-1 helicopter, officials said Monday.  

Sergey A. Alekseyev, 19, was arrested after sheriff's Air-1 tracked 1996 Honda Accord he was driving from northbound Freya Street to the 5800 block of Yale Road, the sheriff's office said.

A police chase through downtown ended this morning because officers deemed it too dangerous, but the suspect was arrested 30 minutes later.

Leroy K. Berra, 44, was stopped just before 3 a.m. near Monroe Street and Shannon Avenue and arrested for drunken driving, driving while suspended and for cocaine found in his pants pocket.

His female passenger told officers she feared for her safety during the earlier pursuit, which began when Officer Scott Lesser tried to stop Berra's speeding gray Chevrolet Suburban about 2:30 a.m. in downtown Spokane, police said.

The Suburban had ran red lights without slowing down, and Berra looked at Lesser and accelerated once Lesser tried to stop him. Lesser ended the pursuit because Berra driving “was so reckless that it presented a danger to vehicle and pedestrian traffic,” police said.

Berra faces an unlawful imprisonment charge for not allowing his passenger out of the car during the chase, according to a news release.

He was arrested on the same charge in July 2001 after a woman called police and said he would not let her out of the car as he sped away from police on Fort George Wright Drive, according to news archives.

Berra is due in Superior Court this afternoon.