Ephrata man sentenced for car theft, eluding police
MOSES LAKE — A Ephrata man was sentenced for stealing a running car from a driveway in Moses Lake and leading police on a high-speed chase.
Fernando Camarena, 22, of Ephrata, pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude. The possession of a stolen vehicle charge has a standard sentencing range of 43-57 months. The attempting to elude charge has a standard sentencing range of 22-29 months. Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell followed a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Mark Laiminger and defense attorney Robert Kentner and sentenced Camarena to 43 months in prison.
On Nov. 1 the Moses Lake Police Department received word of a vehicle theft in the 1500 block of North Buell Drive. The reporting party advised her Kia Rio had been stolen from her driveway and was last seen heading toward Paxson Drive. A MLPD officer later spotted the vehicle on Broadway Avenue traveling 50 mph in a 30 mph zone, according to police records. The driver of the vehicle, Camarena, took a right at the Interstate 90 on-ramp and started heading west.
“At the bottom of the on-ramp I accelerated and passed the vehicle. I moved to the right lane and took the exit for Westshore Drive Northeast in order to block the vehicle from taking the exit,” wrote the officer. “I stopped on the exit and observed as the vehicle passed by in the left lane. The male driver had a blue bandanna pulled up over his mouth and nose. I moved back into the right lane and began to follow the vehicle again.”
Camarena sped up to 90 mph on the interstate, eventually hitting an estimated 100 mph. As he approached the Hiawatha Road exit, Camarena started to slow down, but approached the stop sign too rapidly to take the turn and went through the intersection, causing the vehicle to go airborne.
The car landed in a nearby field and Camarena continued driving through the field and went back onto I-90. Camarena later left the interstate and drove through a barbed wire fence and onto a dirt road. He eventually ditched the car in a nearby field and fled the area on foot. Deputy Dave De La Rosa arrived at the scene with K-9 deputy Grizzly and started to track Camarena from a set of footprints leading away from the abandoned vehicle.
“We followed for approximately 700 feet when I watched as Grizzly's attention turned from directly in front of him towards North Frontage Road. I turned and looked and observed the male (Camarena) I had previously seen behind the wheel of the vehicle standing in the middle of North Frontage Road,” wrote the officer.
Camarena was taken into custody and transported to the Grant County Jail. Estimates put the damage done to the stolen vehicle at over $2,500.
Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.