Alleged vehicle thief almost crashes into off-duty officer

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man was arrested Tuesday night after he reportedly almost crashed a stolen vehicle into an off-duty officer.

About 9 p.m. the officer was reportedly on his way to work when he was almost struck by a vehicle driven by Luis Martinez, 23, of Moses Lake. The officer recognized the vehicle, a Ford Focus, was stolen on Monday after it had been left unattended and warming up outside of a residence in the 2500 block of West Peninsula Drive.

The officer contacted MACC Dispatch and followed the vehicle. Martinez reportedly drove around in circles and finally stopped at a residence in the 4000 block of Windy Street. Capt. Mike Williams says the officer was concerned Martinez would flee before on-duty officers arrived, so he held him at the scene until they did. Martinez was taken into custody without incident.

“He gave conflicting stories about how he got the vehicle, which is somewhat incriminating since he was the only person being interviewed,” Williams said. “None of his stories included him stealing the vehicle, which was weird, since it had been stolen and he was driving it.”

Martinez was booked into the Grant County Jail for possession of a stolen vehicle and driving with a suspended license.

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