Deputies say teenage driver hit 90 mph

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

Sergey A. Alekseyev, 19, was arrested after the sheriff’s Air-1 helicopter tracked the 1996 Honda Accord he was driving from northbound Freya Street to the 5800 block of Yale Road. The 24-minute pursuit began Saturday about 11 p.m., when Alekseyev allegedly sped up behind Cpl. Dave Ellis in the 1800 block of Greene Street, then refused to stop and sped away on Illinois Avenue at about 60 mph.

Ellis and another driver had to brake and swerve to avoid a crash, and the helicopter joined the pursuit around Freya Street. The Honda turned its headlights off while northbound on Florida, and Ellis terminated the pursuit while the helicopter continued the pursuit.

He caught up with the Honda after it drove south near Spokane Community College and popped its passenger-side tires on spike strips. The car continued on its rims before Deputy Daryl Smith used a maneuver to stop it on Yale Road.