Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Car-Theft Suspect Apprehended After High-Speed Chase

Dan Hansen And Kara Briggs S Staff writer

The driver of a stolen car led police on a high-speed chase in Hillyard early Friday.

A police dog caught the suspect and bit his right thigh and calf after the driver fled on foot from the wrecked Honda, said Lt. Clyde Ries of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department.

Aaron P. Campbell, 19, was charged with eluding police, driving with a suspended license, first-degree possession of stolen property and driving an unlicensed car, said Ries.

Campbell, who told police he is a transient, was treated for the dog bites at Sacred Heart Medical Center. The wounds did not require stitches, Ries said.

The car was stolen from a Hillyard car lot. Campbell test-drove the car Thursday, the lot’s owner told police.

The chase started near Wellesley Avenue and Freya Street, when a deputy attempted to pull the unlicensed car over about 1:30 a.m., Ries said.

Police said the vehicle went through ran red lights and stop signs, forced one car off the road and nearly hit two others. The chase reached speeds of 90 mph through a 35 mph speed zone.

The driver wrecked the stolen car in the 2400 block of East Gordon and ran from the scene. Police dog King apprehended Campbell a short distance from the crash.

A patrol car received minor damage when it rolled into a parked Ford Bronco while a deputy chased the suspect on foot. The Bronco was not damaged, Ries said.

Vandalism suspects arrested

Two 14-year-old boys were arrested after a spray-painting spree in the neighborhood near Garry Middle School, Spokane police said.

Police said 20 garages and one car were spray-painted with obscenities and gang names. Damage was estimated at between $2,000 and $4,000.

The garages are between the 1500 and 1000 blocks of East Central, between the 1500 and the 1300 blocks of East Bismark, and between the 1500 and 1100 blocks of East Columbia.

The boys are suspected ofgoing on two sprees: one during the last week of February and another last Friday.

The owner of the vandalized car spotted the boys crouching by his car last Friday. Later he saw them walking toward Garry Middle School.

He followed them and asked the school to identify them. Then he called police.

The boys were arrested and then released to their parents. Police recovered two spray cans containing paint of the same colors used in the vandalism.