Idaho driver in fatal crash near I-90 fled at high speed, police say

A brief police chase Tuesday night reached speeds near 100 mph before the fleeing driver crashed and was killed, the Airway Heights Police reported.

Jeremy M. Burris, 30, was killed about 8:40 p.m. Tuesday when he lost control of the Mazda Protégé he was driving, the Washington State Patrol reported Wednesday in a press release. Burris, of Kuna, Idaho, was fleeing from Airway Heights Police Officer Paul Brasch eastbound on Highway 2.

“Officer Brasch’s actions were well within the guidelines of our pursuit policy,” Airway Heights Police Chief Lee Bennett said.

The chase started after a citizen called Airway Heights Police and said he saw a car that he’d heard discussed earlier in the day over a police scanner, Bennett said.

Bennett said he was not sure what involvement the car or Burris had with law enforcement earlier on Tuesday that led to the information over the scanner.

At the crash site Tuesday night, WSP Trooper Jim Hays said that the Mazda had been reported in Lincoln County as a suspicious vehicle.

Brasch found the car and turned on his overhead lights after he noticed the Mazda drift over the center line and saw that it had a defective exhaust system, Bennett said.

Burris stopped on U.S. Highway 2 near Spotted Road and told the officer he didn’t have any identification with him.

Brasch went back to his patrol car to investigate, but Burris took off.

The officer pursued with speeds quickly reaching about 100 mph, Bennett said.

Just before the crash, Brasch started slowing because traffic was getting heavier as they approached Interstate 90, Bennett said.

Burris lost control near the bridge crossing Geiger Boulevard.

The Mazda struck rock along the highway and rolled.

WSP investigators, who are in charge of the case, were uncertain if Burris was wearing a seat belt, WSP said.

Man who left caregiver found on bus

A man with mental disabilities who disappeared from his caregiver was found Tuesday night on a bus in Spokane County, Spokane Police spokesman Dick Cottam said.

Andrew Sweet, 50, left his caretaker about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday in the 1300 block of West Indiana Avenue. He was found safe and unhurt and was returned to his residence, Cottam said.

Priest Lake woman dies in cycle crash

A 43-year-old Priest River woman died Tuesday night in a motorcycle accident, according to the Idaho State Police.

Catherine D. Thompson was riding a 2001 Harley Davidson south on Spirit Lake Cutoff Road when she attempted to pass another vehicle and hit a Dodge Neon head-on.

The Dodge was driven by a 16-year-old girl who is also from Priest River, according to ISP.

Thompson was wearing a helmet but did not survive the crash.

Snoqualmie man hurt in ATV accident

Wallace

A Snoqualmie, Wash., man was injured in the backcountry Wednesday when he lost control of his all-terrain vehicle.

James E. Humes, 52, was in the Wallace area for the High Mountain ATV Jamboree, but he was not on one of the jamboree’s guided rides when the accident happened, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’ Office.

Humes was with a group of friends in the Cranky Gulch area of Placer Creek when he apparently lost control of his ATV.

It flipped and rolled over him as it rolled down a hill, the sheriff’s office reported.

Humes was transported to a hospital by Med Star air ambulance.

Blast at propane distributor injures one

Dallesport, Wash. A tank exploded at a propane distributor Wednesday, injuring one person and starting a brush fire that shut down a stretch of highway between Washington and Oregon, authorities said.

The explosion at the Amerigas facility was reported Wednesday afternoon, Klickitat County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Eileen Porter said.

The injured person was removed with burns, but the extent of the injuries was not clear, Porter said.

The victim was not immediately identified.

“I haven’t been able to establish exactly what blew,” Porter said.

“I do know that there were five or six additional 30,000-gallon tanks that were in jeopardy.”

The explosion sparked a brush fire in the area, but authorities reported it contained by about 4:30 p.m., Porter said.

About five miles of U.S. 197 were shut down, including a stretch that crosses the Columbia River into north-central Oregon, Porter said.

Portions of State Route 14 also were shut down, said Washington State Patrol Lt. Ron Rupke in Vancouver, Wash.

A corridor along the highway, described as a rural industrial area, was evacuated, Porter said.

Troopers were assisting local authorities with evacuation of the nearby Columbia Hills Trailer Park, Rupke said.

Amerigas, based in King of Prussia, Pa., has roughly 1.3 million residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural and motor fuel customers in the United States.

It’s a subsidiary of UGI Corp. in Valley Forge, Pa.