Car Chase Ends In Arrest Valley Residents Helped Troopers Capture Fleeing Driver And Passenger

A man police tried to stop for a traffic violation Wednesday morning led them on a high-speed car chase through several Spokane Valley neighborhoods.

The chase ended when the silver Plymouth crashed into parked cars, hit a power pole and ended up in the front yard of a home day care.

Residents helped Washington State Patrol troopers capture the two people who fled the car.

Driver Robert L. Cheers, 31, and passenger Renee D. Patenaude, 24, were both arrested for eluding a police officer and possession of methamphetamine.

About 10 a.m., troopers tried stopping the Plymouth at Pines Road and 13th Avenue because it had studded snow tires, said WSP Sgt. Richard Wiley.

The car suddenly accelerated, reaching speeds in excess of 80 mph before slamming into a car and a pickup parked on the corner of McDonald Road and Eighth Avenue, Wiley said.

The car then glanced off the power pole, sheared a tree and slid to a stop in front of the day care at 12924 E. Eighth. All of the children were in the basement at the time of the incident, and no bystanders were injured.

Cheers and Patenaude were treated at the scene by Valley Fire paramedics and taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Both were treated and released, and booked into the Spokane County Jail.

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