Man who ditched car in Upper Goose Lake gets 4 years
File photo Deputies search Upper Goose Lake on in January for a car that was ditched in the water following a burglary. The thief, John Monday of Othello, was sentenced to over four years in prison.
EPHRATA — A Othello man who burglarized a Royal City residence and ditched his car into Upper Goose Lake after a high-speed chase will be spending over four years in prison.
John Monday, 30, of Othello, pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in Grant County Superior Court. The burglary charge carried a standard sentencing range of 51-68 months, while the unlawful firearm charge carried with it a standard range of 43-57 months. Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz sentenced Monday to 53 months in prison on the burglary count and 43 months on the unlawful firearm possession count, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Monday’s sentence stems from an incident on Jan. 12, 2016, when a woman returned to her residence in the 15200 block of Road B Southeast, in rural Royal City, to find a car parked in her driveway. The woman took a few pictures of the vehicle and reported witnessing a man, Monday, walk out from the east side of her residence.
Monday got into the car, a Volkswagen Passat which police later learned he had borrowed from his girlfriend to go to a court hearing, and drove off heading north on Road B Southeast. The woman contacted authorities and found the suspect had forced his way into her residence. The only item she initially believed to be missing was a 9mm pistol.
Royal City Police Department Chief Darrin Smith responded to assist with the call and reported seeing the suspect vehicle behind him as he was stopped at the intersection of Road H Southeast and state Route 262. Monday took a right onto SR-262 and immediately started accelerating.
Smith reported reaching 125 mph while chasing Monday, who turned off SR-262 and started driving into the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. Authorities blocked off the exits to the refuge and started searching for the Passat. A deputy located some debris in Upper Goose Lake, as well as fresh tire tracks that indicated, “a vehicle had gone over the embankment and into the lake,” according to court records.
The Passat was ultimately recovered from the lake, whereupon deputies located two rings and a knife in the car that had been stolen in the Royal City burglary. A subject later came forward advising they had given a ride to a man on Jan. 13 from the area of the refuge, to Othello. The passenger, whom the subject later identified from a photo lineup as Monday, was reported to be wet from the knees down and was dropped off in the area of Monday’s girlfriend’s residence in Othello.
Authorities developed further information that Monday was holed up at a residence in the 21000 block of Road W Northeast, in the town of Marlin. Monday’s girlfriend was contacted at the Marlin residence on Jan. 21 and was detained for questioning. She admitted Monday was in the residence and the Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team (TRT) was activated and responded to the scene.
The house was surrounded and Monday was later found lying up against some sagebrush behind the residence by an Adams County Sheriff’s Office K-9. The K-9 was deployed after Monday did not follow commands to show his hands.
“K-9 Garrett was deployed from 10 feet away and the bite duration was approximately 10 seconds,” wrote a deputy.
Monday was transported to Samaritan Hospital for treatment of the bite and was later booked into the Grant County Jail.
Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.