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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Two teens arrested after car chase through Perry District

Spokane police pinned a suspect’s vehicle into a staircase at 20th Avenue and Perry Street after a pursuit through the Perry District on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020. (Courtesy photo / Spokane Police Department)

Spokane police arrested two teenagers Thursday night after one of them allegedly attempted to hit an officer with her car, prompting a chase through the Perry District.

The chase began after an officer watched the suspect’s vehicle fail to stop at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and Thor Street at 9:47 p.m. The officer attempted to pull over the vehicle, a maroon Dodge Stratus, but it stopped only briefly before speeding away, police said in a news release.

Police lost sight of the Dodge until 25 minutes later, when a police corporal spotted it near Eighth Avenue and Pittsburg Street. According to the news release, the corporal thought the suspects were going to “bail” from the car, so he got out of his patrol vehicle.

Instead of fleeing, the driver of the Dodge shifted into reverse and attempted to back into the corporal, who jumped back into his vehicle to avoid getting hit, according to the news release.

The corporal began a pursuit through the neighborhood and ultimately pinned the suspect’s car into a staircase at 20th Avenue and Perry Street. All three occupants of the vehicle were detained.

Inside the car, police found “a good amount of a tar-like substance and a good amount of a crystal-like substance” – heroin and methamphetamine, according to the news release.

Police also determined the driver, 19-year-old Haylie M. Pariseau, had been driving under the influence of drugs.

Pariseau was booked into jail on charges of second-degree assault on an officer, attempting to elude a police vehicle, DUI and two counts of drug possession. She also had a warrant from an unrelated DUI case and had recently been released from jail on second-degree robbery charges, according to the news release.

A passenger, 19-year-old Wyatt F. Comer, was arrested on suspicion of illegally possessing a firearm. He also had a warrant from an unrelated malicious mischief case.

While searching Comer, police found ammunition, including loaded .380 cartridges and a shotgun shell. Police also determined he had thrown a gun from the vehicle during the pursuit. Near 11th Avenue and Pittsburg Street, officers found a Ruger .380 pistol, according to the news release.

Comer’s criminal record includes felony convictions for second-degree possession of stolen property, third-degree assault and theft of a motor vehicle, as well as misdemeanor convictions for fourth-degree assault, third-degree theft, third-degree malicious mischief, trespassing and a dangerous weapon violation.

Police said the third occupant of the vehicle, a male, was released from the scene. Police seized the vehicle and requested a search warrant.