Felon gets 3 years for high-speed chase

MOSES LAKE — A convicted felon who led police on a high-speed chase that ended in significant injuries for his passenger and himself will be spending three years behind prison bars.

Nicholas Romero-Rivera, 29, of Moses Lake, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to vehicular assault-under the influence. The charge carried with it a standard sentencing range of 33-43 months of confinement. Charges of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, attempting to elude and endangerment by eluding a police vehicle were dismissed and Romero-Rivera was sentenced to a little over three years, 38 months, in prison.

Romero-Rivera’s sentence stems from a mid-December incident when a Grant County deputy reported spotting a dark blue BMW, which had been driven during a previous eluding incident, in the Moses Lake area. The driver of the BMW, Romero-Rivera, took off and blacked out the vehicle’s lights when the deputy attempted to pull him over.

A Moses Lake police officer spotted the BMW a short time later heading south on Road M Northeast toward Road 7 Northeast. The officer attempted to light up the inside of the BMW with a spotlight, but Romero-Rivera rolled through a stop sign and turned west onto Road 7 Northeast. Romero-Rivera sped up and reached speeds in excess of 90 mph. At the time of the incident police were searching for Romero-Rivera, who is a convicted felon, after he previously took off from a traffic stop in Moses Lake and hit his passenger and a cop with his car.

Because of Romero-Rivera’s history and his reckless driving, the MLPD cop continued to pursue the BMW. During the chase the BMW reached speeds between 100 and 110 mph. At some point Romero-Rivera drove off of Road N Northeast, south of Wheeler Road. The vehicle rolled several times before it came to a stop and Romero-Rivera and his female passenger were trapped in the BMW and had to be extracted from the vehicle.

The female received a skull fracture from the crash and Romero-Rivera received a broken neck. Investigators located weapons, bullets, open beer bottles and methamphetamine in and around the vehicle.

In early January the female passenger showed police a text message from Romero-Rivera in which he admitted to driving the BMW and claimed he would rather die than be arrested and hauled off to prison. Romero-Rivera was taken into custody Jan. 10 at a residence near Soap Lake after he barricaded himself in the residence.

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