Moses Lake woman who fled police in stolen car sentenced to over four years

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake woman has been sentenced to a little more than four years in prison after pleading guilty to a June incident when she fled from police at high speeds in a stolen vehicle.

Cassandra Jasmine Ochoa, 25, pleaded guilty earlier this week to charges of theft of a motor vehicle and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle. Ochoa was sentenced to 50 months in prison, according to court documents. She has previous felony convictions in the last three years, including for two previous charges each of attempting to elude police and theft of a motor vehicle.

Additional charges of endangerment by eluding a police vehicle and manufacture, delivery or possession of methamphetamine, were dismissed by the court, according to records.

A Moses Lake officer was traveling on East Broadway Avenue in early June and reportedly spotted a black Honda Accord that had been reported stolen a week prior, according to court documents. The officer pulled the car’s four occupants over, ordering them to put their hands up.

As the driver and a passenger in the rear exited the vehicle, a second passenger crawled into the driver’s seat and began to drive away, running a red light, according to the police report. During the chase, the vehicle reportedly went more than 30 mph above the speed limit, weaving around traffic as it fled police.

The driver then reportedly made a sudden turn in an attempt to get onto eastbound Interstate 90, almost losing control of the vehicle. Once on the highway, the fleeing vehicle reportedly started driving at speeds approaching 100 mph, before exiting the highway onto Road U Southeast.

The Honda failed to negotiate a turn from Road U Northeast to North Frontage Road, driving off the north shoulder and becoming stuck in the steep dirt embankment, according to court documents. As officers approached, the driver reportedly continued to rev the engine.

Officers extracted the driver from the vehicle, who initially refused to identify herself but was determined to be Ochoa based on a jail booking photograph. While detaining Ochoa, an officer reportedly located a pipe in her pocket caked with a white crystallized residue that officers identified as methamphetamine.

Further records showed that Ochoa had been driving with a suspended license and had outstanding warrants out for her arrest.