Moses Lake woman sentenced for trying to elude deputy

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake woman was sentenced for attempting to elude a Grant County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

Tameria Valenzuela, 36, of Moses Lake, pleaded guilty to attempting to elude. Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell followed a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Mark Laiminger and defense attorney Michael Morgan and sentenced Valenzuela to four months in jail.

The sentence stems from an incident on Oct. 5, when a deputy with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office was stopped at a stop sign on Cochran Road, waiting to turn onto Airway Drive, and spotted Valenzuela turn left onto Cochran Road from Airway Drive. The deputy recognized Valenzuela from previous contact and knew she had a suspended driver’s license. She reportedly moved a hat down over her face as she passed the deputy in an attempt to shield her face, according to police records.

The deputy turned around and followed Valenzuela as she turned onto Ottmar Road Northeast. The deputy turned on his siren and Valenzuela turned her head around and allegedly started pointing ahead, as if she was going to pull over. She then sped up turned onto Dahl Road and made a few more turns until she pulled her vehicle into a driveway in the 7500 block of Rainier Road.

“I placed my bike onto its kickstand as quick as I could, as Tameria was attempting to walk away. I ordered Tameria to remain at her car as she was under arrest,” wrote the deputy. “Tameria stated, ‘what for? Why are you chasing me?’ I again ordered Tameria to stay put as she was under arrest. Tameria stated, ‘no’ and took off running across the front lawn to the west.”

The deputy was able to catch up with Valenzuela and grabbed her shirt and right arm. She stopped running and attempted to pull away and the deputy used a leg sweep to take her to the ground. Valenzuela was holding onto the deputy as she was falling backward and the deputy fell on top of her, according to police records. Valenzuela continued to resist arrest, but eventually complied and was taken into custody.

“I advised Tameria why she was under arrest, which she denied ever seeing my patrol car behind her. I then ended the conversation as Tameria continued to lie about not see(ing) me, then it was because she is tired of being harassed by the police, then it was because she just wanted to go home and not to jail.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.