38-mile chase lands 2 in jail

SOAP LAKE — A 38-mile chase that started in Soap Lake landed a pair from Warden in jail on Friday.

About 1:15 p.m. a Soap Lake officer attempted to pull over a vehicle near Fourth Avenue Southeast and Canna Street Souuth. The vehicle, which had license plates attached to it that did not match the vehicle, stopped at first, but then the driver fled.

Police and deputies with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office chased the vehicle about 22 miles from Soap Lake north to Coulee City on state Route 17, with speeds reaching over 110 mph, according to the SLPD.

The pursuit went through Coulee City before the suspect vehicle turned onto Pinto Ridge Road. Deputies successfully deployed spike strips on Pinto Ridge Road and the passenger side tires disintegrated after a few miles. The driver still refused to pull over and eventually turned west onto Highway 28.

“It was then that the Soap Lake Police Department initiated the PIT (Pursuit Immobilization Technique) maneuver on the suspect vehicle. The PIT maneuver was successful, causing the suspect vehicle to rotate and become disabled, immediately and safely ending the pursuit. The two occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody with no further incident,” stated the SLPD.

The driver of the vehicle, identified as Tristan Duplichan, 23, of Warden, and the passenger Noe Duarte, 29, of Warden, both had outstanding warrants out for their arrest. They were both booked into the Grant County Jail on their warrants and additional charges. The vehicle they were in during the chase was later discovered to have been reported stolen in the Puyallup area.

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