Three-Hour Chase Ends In Arrest

After a nearly three-hour chase around the Valley Friday afternoon, sheriff’s deputies arrested two men near Liberty Lake.

The incident began with a dispute over a bill at the Doubletree Hotel at Sullivan and Mission. It continued with the theft of a vehicle and a high-speed chase before ending in a residential area of Liberty Lake.

Sheriff’s deputies went to the Doubletree at 2:50 p.m. Friday after getting a report that a man had left the hotel bar without paying after a disagreement over the bill, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Several minutes later, a sport utility vehicle was reported stolen from a garage on North Burns Road, less than a mile from the hotel.

The description of the man who took the vehicle - a white male with short hair wearing a gray sweatshirt - fit that of the man who had left the Doubletree bar without paying.

The stolen 1996 GMC Jimmy was reportedly sighted a half hour later at a gas station in Liberty Lake. Two males were seen in the truck.

At about 3:40 p.m., a deputy began following a ‘96 GMC Jimmy with two young males inside. The vehicle was headed west on Country Vista Drive at 75 miles per hour. The deputy turned on his lights to stop the Jimmy, but it turned onto Henry Road and continued at high speeds.

The deputy gave up the chase when the Jimmy crashed through a fence in the 3400 block of South Henry Road and headed up a hill.

A few minutes later, deputies spotted two men running east on Molter Road. A half-case of Budweiser beer, believed to have been carried by the suspects as they fled the vehicle, was found nearby and was taken for evidence.

The suspects were found hiding in yards near the 1900 block of South Molter Road at 5:40 p.m.

Joshua T. Brown, 19, 13007 E. Skyview, was charged with vehicle theft as well as attempting to elude a police vehicle.

Jesse D. Vargas, 18, 10304 E. Broadway, was arrested and charged as an accessory in the theft of a vehicle and attempting to elude a police officer.