Soap Lake eluder sentenced to a year in prison

SOAP LAKE — A man was sentenced to a year in prison on Monday after he led police in Soap Lake on a pursuit Friday evening.

Nathaniel Parker, 25, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to attempting to elude and received a year-long prison sentence. A charged of third-degree driving with a suspended license was dismissed in a plea agreement between the prosecution and defense.

The sentence relates to an incident on Friday of last week when a Soap Lake Police Department officer was on patrol and spotted a vehicle parked in the East Beach Park about 11:55 p.m. The officer discovered the registration for the vehicle was expired and he positioned his patrol vehicle on Main Avenue East at Daisy Street to see if the vehicle had moved. The officer spotted the vehicle heading south on Canna Street and the driver, Parker, turned left onto Second Avenue Southeast. Parker refused to pull over and blew through several stop signs before he started heading back toward East Beach.

“The vehicle then drove down a walkway connecting the two portions of the beach and collided with a large rock, causing it to go up on two wheels,” wrote a Soap Lake officer.

Parker continued driving after the collision, despite the damage done to his vehicle, and pulled out onto state Route 17.

“I continued to pursue the vehicle until it could not continue due to the damage caused by the collision with the rock. The vehicle stopped at approximately milepost 76.5 on Highway 17.”

Parker claimed the reason he attempted to flee was a Department of Corrections warrant he had out for his arrest. Police found he was driving with a suspended license. He also claimed he believed he was “in trouble” for failing to register as a sex offender.

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