Warden woman gets 40 days for eluding police in stolen vehicle

WARDEN — A Warden woman who led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle in late March was sentenced to 40 days in jail.

Cassandra Ochoa, 23, of Warden, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude and received a 40-day jail sentence.

Ochoa’s sentence relates to an early morning incident on March 26. About 12:30 a.m. that morning a deputy with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office was in the area of Interstate 90 and Road U Southeast due to a stolen vehicle report out of Warden the day before, according to court documents.

The deputy spotted the vehicle in the area and caught up with the driver on Road U Southeast. The deputy followed the vehicle and the driver, Ochoa, turned west onto Road 6 Southeast. The deputy activated his lights and Ochoa accelerated to speeds in excess of 90 mph. As Ochoa was fleeing she approached an intersection that requires either a left or right turn.

Ochoa was driving too fast and drove into a ditch. She was able to drive out of the ditch and turned north onto Road S Southeast and continued fleeing. Ochoa went down a few gravel roads, into and out of another ditch and eventually made her way onto state Route 262 and started heading toward Mardon.

Ochoa didn’t let up and refused to pull over despite additional deputies joining in the pursuit. She later made a turn into an orchard in an attempt to lose the pursuing vehicles. Spike strips were set on Road 10 Southeast at Dodson Road and Ochoa drove over the strips. She continued driving onto a canal road however and drove into a nearby orchard.

At some point during the chase Ochoa stopped and fled the vehicle on foot with her male passenger. K-9 Grizzly was deployed and quickly located Ochoa in the area. Because Grizzly’s handler, Deputy Dave De La Rosa, was injured during the Ochoa’s capture, he wasn’t able to use Grizzly to find the male passenger. As a result, K-9 Chicka and Deputy Ric Char responded and were able to track and take the male into custody.

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