Moses Lake man allegedly tries to hide from police under shrubbery

EPHRATA — A Moses Lake man allegedly led police on a high-speed chase and attempted to hide from law enforcement under a bush.

Grant County prosecutors charged Joshua Brown, 24, of Moses Lake, with attempting to elude.

About 8:15 a.m. on May 9, 2015, an officer reportedly passed a vehicle parked on the shoulder at the intersection of Sunny Drive. As the officer passed the vehicle a man, Brown, allegedly ducked down and covered his face in the driver's seat, according to police records. The officer ran the vehicle's license plates and learned the vehicle was registered to Brown’s grandfather and Brown was driving with a suspended license and had a felony Department of Corrections warrant out for his arrest.

The officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle and Brown reportedly drove away. Brown reportedly ended up driving onto Patton Boulevard, where he allegedly traveled at speeds in excess of 80 mph. Brown reportedly attempted to make a left turn at the intersection of Patton Boulevard and Loring Drive. Brown reportedly lost control of his vehicle and it went through the intersection, over a curb and sidewalk, and went into a grass field northwest of the intersection, according to police records.

Brown got out of the vehicle and ran toward some houses and jumped a fence into a backyard. Brown doubled back and ran toward where the vehicle was left. The MLPD officer reportedly saw the vehicle driving back toward Patton Boulevard on the grass and eventually stopped the car.

A woman, identified as Janai Dial, 22, of Moses Lake, reportedly got out of the driver’s seat of the vehicle and Brown was not found in the car. Officers and deputies began to search the area for Brown immediately after detaining Dial.

“I searched the backyards where Brown could be hiding. After a few minutes I saw feet underneath a large bush in a backyard,” wrote an MLPD officer. “When I took a closer look I heard a male voice whisper: ‘OK, OK. Please don’t tase me.’ I yelled at the suspect to show me his hands which alerted other officers I had located Brown.”

Dial told police when the vehicle spun out in the intersection Brown told her “sorry” and took off running. She said she saw an officer turn down Loring Drive and knew the officer was looking for Brown. Dial said she did not know what to do so she was going to drive the vehicle back to the road and wait for officers to contact her, according to police records. Police learned Dial was driving with a suspended license and she was cited for third-degree driving with a suspended license.