Police Patrol Cars Make Sandwich Out Of Fugitive Vehicle Suspect In Burglary Leads Police On 20-Minute High-Speed Chase

Spokane police put the squeeze on a driver Friday after a 20-minute chase through city streets that left five police cars damaged.

Officers finally stopped the vehicle by wedging it between two police cars near the intersection of Mission Avenue and Upriver Drive, police said.

The chase began about 6:30 p.m. after police received a call of a burglary in progress in the 600 block of North Elm Street. Officers arriving at the scene saw a car leaving and followed it.

The driver of that car led officers south on Ash Street, across the Maple Street Bridge and through downtown. He got onto Interstate 90, racing at speeds of about 90 miles per hour, getting off the interstate at the Garden Springs exit, police said.

At Sunset Boulevard, he turned onto Government Way and eventually ended up eastbound on Northwest Boulevard, where officers tried to bump the car off the road near Cochran Street by ramming it. The driver then tried to ram that police car, police said, and tried to ram another police car after turning south onto Perry. Officers followed the car northwest on Upriver Drive, ramming its left rear and forcing it into a 180-degree spin, police said.

The car hit a park bench and the driver began to speed toward police again when officers sandwiched his car between two patrol cars, police said.

Johnny Longest, 33, was arrested and booked into Spokane County Jail on charges of attempting to elude police and two counts of first degree assault on an officer.

An unidentified woman who was a passenger in the car during the chase was held for questioning Friday while the investigation into the burglary continued.

A police officer responding to the burglary call also was injured in an accident unrelated to the chase when he collided with a car at the intersection of Second Avenue and Walnut Street. The woman driving the other car suffered minor injuries.

After the cars collided, they skidded over the curb at the northwest corner of the intersection, slightly injuring a woman who was waiting to cross.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo