Man arrested after chase from Airway Heights to Ritzville

A man led the Washington State Patrol, Sheriff’s deputies and Kalispel Tribal Police on a chase through Airway Heights and Cheney before being captured outside Ritzville Thursday morning.

A Kalispel Tribal Police officer spotted a man trying to remove license plates from a vehicle in the Northern Quest Casino parking lot in Airway Heights around 9:30 a.m. and attempted to stop him. The man, later identified as 49-year-old David Kathrens, allegedly rammed the officer’s patrol car before fleeing, said Washington State Patrol spokesman Trooper Jeff Sevigney.

The chase went on and off Interstate 90 as Kathrens drove to Spokane and then doubled back to Cheney before heading west on the freeway. It was called off several times when Kathrens approached populated areas, including the Eastern Washington University campus in Cheney, and construction zones, Sevigney said.

Troopers put out a spike strip near the Tokio exit on I-90 and Kathrens hit it. Troopers then used a Pursuit Immobilization Technique to spin Kathrens’ car into the median just west of Ritzville, Sevigney said.

Kathrens reportedly put a handgun to his head and threatened to shoot himself, but troopers were able to persuade him to surrender, Sevigney said. The gun was later identified as a BB gun.

Kathrens is in the Spokane County Jail facing charges of vehicular assault, attempting to elude a police vehicle, reckless driving, hit and run, reckless endangerment of roadway workers and driving with a suspended license.

His passenger, 49-year-old Regina Kathrens, was booked into the Adams County Jail on a warrant.