Spokane police arrest 2 after car speeds away, crashes into yard

March 2, 2020 Updated Mon., March 2, 2020 at 10:58 p.m.

By Chad Sokol chadso@spokesman.com (509) 459-5047

Spokane police say a man attempted to speed away from officers before losing control of a stolen BMW and rolling the car into a yard on Monday.

A police corporal spotted the car on Division Street shortly before noon and followed it for several blocks, waiting for backup, police said in a news release.

Several officers then attempted to pull over the car at Standard Street and Bridgeport Avenue, but the car sped away south on Standard through a residential neighborhood. Officers did not pursue it, according to the news release.

Officers then learned the BMW had crashed six blocks away, near Standard and North Foothills Drive, and two men had run from the scene, according to the news release. Several bystanders pointed officers in the right direction, and officers found the two suspects in a large fenced area behind a business at Dakota Street and North Foothills. The men came out after several police commands, according to the release.

Police said the car appeared to have gone airborne after cresting a small hill, and then the driver lost control and the vehicle flipped into a yard. “The collision scene was about two blocks in distance,” police said.

The driver, Chadd Benefield, 35, was treated at a hospital and then booked into the Spokane County Jail on a Department of Corrections warrant. Police reported finding “items consistent with drug usage” inside the car and requested a search warrant. Benefield’s passenger, Joseph Williams, 28, also was arrested on a DOC warrant.

Both men have extensive criminal records, and police were working on charges for Monday’s incident, according to the news release.

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