GPS leads police to car stolen from Spokane dealership; suspects arrested

Police arrested a man Wednesday accused of stealing a vehicle from a Spokane car lot, ramming it into police cruisers and leading officers to a remote area in Pend Oreille County.

Jason R. SiJohn, 29, was taken into custody after Spokane police – with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service, Kalispel Tribal police and the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office – found him hiding under a bed at a friend’s house in Pend Oreille County, police said in a news release.

SiJohn, along with two other people, is under suspicion of stealing a BMW at the Camp Chevrolet Cadillac car dealership in Spokane early Wednesday morning. Officers were able to track the vehicle to Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights, where a police blockade was set up, but the BMW was able to escape the casino parking lot after ramming into police vehicles.

Police said the BMW then fled northbound on North Hayford Road toward Pend Oreille County. With the help of GPS tracking through the BMW, police located the car at the South Skookum Lake Campground, where they again tried to pin the vehicle in with a blockade.

SiJohn and the others were once again able to escape, the release states. Officers located the vehicle several miles away from the campground, where the two passengers were taken into custody.

SiJohn fled the vehicle but was arrested later that night.

The 29-year-old SiJohn, who has two previous felony convictions in Spokane County, faces two charges of assault against an officer, attempting to elude police and possessing a stolen vehicle.