Man allegedly dumps drugs out of car during pursuit

EPHRATA — A Goldendale man allegedly dumped what may have been drugs out of his vehicle while he was fleeing from police at speeds in excess of 100 mph.

Grant County prosecutors charged Jeffery Lewis Jr., 29, of Goldendale, with attempting to elude and first-degree driving with a suspended/revoked license.

On May 28 a deputy with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office was patrolling Interstate 90 and spotted a vehicle traveling east on I-90 at about 123 mph. When the driver of the vehicle, alleged to be Lewis, noticed the deputy’s patrol car he slowed down to about 113 mph. The deputy activated his siren, but Lewis continued driving at speeds between 100 and 128 mph as he was allegedly reaching into the passenger side of area of his vehicle.

“The driver (Lewis) then rolled down his driver’s window and began emptying clear plastic baggies of their contents onto the interstate. The contents appeared to be both white in color and dark in color,” observed the deputy. “The driver would then let go of the plastic baggies after he emptied them, which they would go over the hood of my patrol car and onto the roadway. One clear plastic baggie caught on my passenger mirror.”

Lewis drove in the slow lane and forced other vehicles onto the shoulder or the ditch, or to move over into the fast lane. He reportedly missed striking other vehicles by about 10 feet. A second deputy joined the pursuit west of Dodson Road, but Lewis continued driving at speeds in excess of 120 mph.

“As we passed Hiawatha Road Northeast, the driver aggressively applied his brakes and slid his vehicle off the south side of I-90 just west of milepost 170 by about 200 yards. The driver exited the vehicle with his hands up and laid face down on the shoulder of the roadway,” wrote a deputy.

Deputies did not find any drugs on Lewis, but his vehicle was towed to the Grant County Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team’s impound yard, where it was entered as evidence for a search warrant. Lewis refused to speak with deputies about the incident, according to police records.

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