Man Arrested After High-Speed Chase

Tue., April 18, 2000

From Staff Reports

A man led police on a chase that reached speeds of 120 miles an hour on Interstate 90 early Monday morning, Spokane police said.

Tracy W. Lynden, 34, refused to pull over inside the city limits and ran several four-way stops, police said.

An officer began to follow Lynden’s car about 2:30 a.m. near 24th and Freya when a registration check indicated the coupe was supposed to be a four-door sedan.

Police said the car sped to Interstate 90 with the officer in pursuit. Lynden said he didn’t notice the patrol car, with siren and lights, until he reached Airway Heights.

As other officers took up the chase, the suspect looped through the airport area on Spotted and Airport roads before heading back to the freeway on U.S. Highway 2.

When he re-entered the freeway, Lynden allegedly accelerated to 120 mph and began passing cars on the right. Officers said he started to take the Maple Street exit, but swerved back onto the interstate. Before he exited at Division, police ambushed him with a tire-flattening spike strip.

Undeterred, Lynden allegedly blew through the four-way stop at Fifth and Sherman, doing 50 mph. Then he headed south on Garfield, through a residential area, to Grant Park.

With two tires going flat, the suspect cut through the park and down an embankment, but police stayed with him until he stopped at Eighth and Ivory. Police spokesman Dick Cottam said Lynden fled on foot to the 1100 block of East Eighth, but couldn’t outrun the police dog who took up the chase.

Cottam said Lynden struck the dog, who “objected” before human officers caught up and took over.

Police said Lynden claimed he didn’t know anything about the methamphetamine they found on him. He said he was wearing someone else’s clothes.

Lynden also said he didn’t know the car he was driving had been stolen from a Post Falls Mazda dealership, police said.

He was booked into jail on suspicion of possessing stolen property, possessing a controlled substance and attempting to elude police.

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