Quincy man charged for attempting to elude trooper
QUINCY — A Quincy man was charged for allegedly leading a trooper on a high-speed chase that reached almost 110 mph on Interstate 90.
Grant County prosecutors charged Ricardo Gonzalez-Gomez, 31, of Quincy, with attempting to elude.
About 2:45 p.m. Jan. 29 a trooper with the Washington State Patrol was heading east on I-90 and observed a Pontiac Grand Prix heading west on I-90 at a high rate of speed. The trooper clocked the Pontiac at 96 mph in a posted 70 mph zone, according to court documents.
The trooper turned around and was eventually able to overtake the Pontiac, which at the time was reportedly traveling 108 mph in a 70 mph zone. The driver, alleged to be Gonzalez-Gomez, activated his right turn signal and exited I-90 at the state Route 281 exit. Gonzalez-Gomez turned right onto SR-281 and started heading north, allegedly reaching 80 mph in a 35 mph zone, then again in a 60 mph zone.
“The pursuit continued northbound with speeds varying from 60 mph to 80 plus mph. When traffic was clear, I pulled up next to the driver and signaled the driver to pull to the right,” wrote the deputy. “The male Hispanic driver looked at me, waved and accelerated pulling away from me.”
Gonzalez-Gomez turned onto Road 6 Northwest and started heading west. At one point Gonzalez-Gomez’s speed dipped to under 40 mph and the trooper positioned himself to perform a PIT maneuver on the Pontiac, which causes a fleeing vehicle to turn sideways, but couldn’t execute the maneuver due to oncoming traffic.
Gonzalez-Gomez was allegedly talking on his cellphone as he pulled into a cattle feedlot in the 17700 block of Road 6 and came to a stop in front of a garage. Gonzalez-Gomez got out of the Pontiac as the trooper, who had drawn his service weapon, started giving him commands.
“While I could see his hands, I switched to my Taser and gave commands to get on the ground. The driver then appeared to reach with his right hand to the right side of his waist line where I lost sight,” wrote the trooper. “I quickly changed weapons again and had the driver at gunpoint again. When the driver showed me his hands again the phone that was in his hand was now gone. I switched back to my Taser only displaying it.”
The trooper was assisted by a Warden Police Department officer with giving Gonzalez-Gomez commands in Spanish and the suspect was taken into custody without further incident. Upon being searched, a glass pipe with a white residue was found in Gonzalez-Gomez’s left front pocket, according to court documents.
Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.