Two-hour police chase ends at Vantage

Two men arrested, wanted in connection with Idaho murder

VANTAGE — A high-speed police chase that started between Colfax and Pullman ended just outside Vantage Sunday evening with the arrest of two fleeing suspects in a Moscow, Idaho, shooting death.

Matthew R. Wells, 27, and his brother, James J. Wells, 25, both of Seattle, were arrested just outside of Vantage in Kittitas County after they took police on a two-hour chase in their late-model BMW at speeds that reached up to 90 miles per hour.

The incident began Sunday at 5:24 p.m. when Moscow police officers responded to the shooting of 19-year-old Eric McMillan, a University of Idaho student, at his home in Moscow.

McMillan was taken to Gritman Medical Center with a single gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at 4 a.m. Monday.

According to a press release from Moscow Police Chief Daniel L. Weaver, witnesses near the scene described two males fleeing the shooting in a late-model white BMW.

A description of that vehicle was released to area law-enforcement agencies, according to Weaver.

Deputies with the Whitman, Idaho County Sheriff's Department spotted a vehicle matching the description between Pullman and Colfax and began the pursuit, according to Weaver.

Washington State Patrol troopers entered the chase at Colfax when they received an alert from Whitman County sheriff's deputies.

The white BMW continued along Highway 26 through Washtucna, Othello and Royal City with state troopers in pursuit, Rich Magnussen, spokesman for the Washington State Patrol, said.

At Adams County, the state patrol continued the pursuit via aircraft, Magnussen said.

During the chase, the white BMW was traveling as high as 90 miles per hour on Highway 26, which is two lanes almost all the way, Magnussen said.

At the exit onto west I-90 outside of Vantage, state troopers laid down a spike strip, which popped three tired of the suspect's vehicle, Magnussen said.

The BMW continued along I-90 across the Columbia River bridge with three blown tires, Magnussen said. On the other side of the bridge, the suspects stopped the car and troopers initiated a "felony stop," he said.

The Wells brothers surrendered without incident at 7:39 p.m. Sunday, he said.

The two men are in the custody of the Whitman County Sheriff's Department, according to Weaver. The release made no mention of any charges filed with regards to the murder.

Moscow police will release further information to the media Tuesday morning, according to Weaver.

The pursuit involved two Grant County deputies, two Royal City police officers, six Washington State Patrol troopers and two sergeants, Magnussen said.

"It's a real long pursuit," Magnussen said. "The good thing was there were no accidents and no injuries."