Man passes out in Jack In The Box drive-thru, leads Spokane Valley deputies on high-speed chase

Spokane Valley authorities say an intoxicated driver passed out in a Jack In The Box drive-thru before leading deputies on a brief high-speed chase early Sunday.

A deputy responded to the restaurant at 1505 N. Pines Road shortly before 2 a.m. to find Michael V. Elston in the driver’s seat of a Ford Focus in front of the drive-thru window, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Elston, 31, was “in and out of consciousness,” his car smelled of alcohol and his eyes were “watery and droopy,” the sheriff’s office said. When the deputy ordered him to shut off the vehicle, Elston said “no” and sped out of the parking lot, past two other deputies who were stopped at a red light at Pines and Mission Avenue, the sheriff’s office said.

After traveling east on Mission, Elston turned south onto McDonald Road, reaching speeds of up to 75 mph, the sheriff’s office said. One deputy rammed Elston’s car after it slowed down near Broadway Avenue, causing it to spin to a halt.

Elston then jumped out of the vehicle and attempted to run away, but he was quickly tackled by Sgt. Damon Simmons. The sheriff’s office said Elston reached toward Simmons’ belt and kept his left hand underneath his body, and Simmons feared he was armed or attempting to grab his gun, so “several strikes were delivered” by the deputies in order to make the arrest.

After receiving treatment for minor injuries at a local hospital, Elston was booked into the Spokane County Jail on charges of driving under the influence, attempting to elude police and operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device, which he was required to do because of a previous DUI conviction.

Another man who was in Elston’s vehicle during the chase was too intoxicated to give a statement and was not charged with a crime, the sheriff’s office said.