Baby Survives Truck Rollover, Police Chase

A 2-week-old boy survived a freeway rollover, then was abandoned during a police chase Monday.

The infant wasn’t injured during the ordeal and was taken to Deaconess Medical Center for an examination, said Sgt. Chris Powell of the Washington State Patrol. Child Protective Services workers were headed to the hospital Monday to pick up the child, he said.

The boy was riding in a stolen pickup with Hunter W. Olson, 31, a transient, and Ursula D. Hutcherson, 24, Tacoma.

Olson was arrested on charges of possessing a stolen automobile and drunken driving, while his girlfriend was arrested on a stolen vehicle possession charge, Powell said.

The trouble began when a pickup pulling a travel trailer rolled over on Interstate 90 west of Spokane near Salnave Road and caught on fire about 2:30 p.m., Powell said.

The couple escaped the burning pickup with the baby. Hutcherson waited at the scene. She appeared drunk when troopers took her into custody, Powell said.

Olson fled north into the woods with the infant before authorities arrived.

Olson got help from a woman at a nearby home who drove him to a Cheney motel. She left behind a note for her husband, who read it when he got home, became suspicious and called the state patrol.

At the Rosebrook Motel, Olson saw state troopers and Cheney police officers approaching, then abandoned the baby and fled, Powell said.

Authorities rescued the infant and caught Olson after a brief chase.

Hutcherson delivered the baby in Hamilton, Mont., earlier this month, Powell said. The pickup was stolen in Missoula.

The baby was strapped into a car seat during the accident, a state patrol dispatcher said. Olson and Hutcherson were not wearing seat belts.

More charges related to endangering an infant could be filed in the case, Powell said.

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