Man Leaps Into River, Vanishes

A man jumped into the Spokane River early Thursday after being chased by Washington State Patrol troopers.

He has not been seen again.

Matthew Norbert, 30, was driving his girlfriend’s car westbound on Interstate 90 when a trooper tried to stop him for having defective equipment.

Sgt. Chris Powell said the suspect exited at Hamilton, then turned west on Trent and refused to stop. He was not speeding at that time, Powell said.

Trooper Bill Dingfield pulled up next to the car and saw a man with long hair and a baseball cap behind the wheel. The driver turned down an alley, shut off his lights and sped away. He was going 60 mph as the trooper pursued him down several streets, Powell said.

The trooper followed him to Riverton and DeSmet, where the driver stopped the car, jumped out and started running along the riverbank.

Then the suspect jumped into the river and swam to the middle, where the current took him, Powell said.

Norbert has two misdemeanor warrants and is facing a felony charge of eluding a police officer.

“Obviously surviving the river this time of year seems very difficult,” Powell said. “But we don’t know where he is or how he is.”