Bail was set at $50,000 on Tuesday for a Chehalis woman accused of leading Centralia police and Thurston County deputies on a chase after stealing a truck on Monday, Dec. 15.
Samantha Jo Case, 30, made her initial appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon following her arrest.
She is charged with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison, and theft of a motor vehicle, a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office asked Lewis County Superior Court Pro Tem Commissioner Kathryn Eyraud to set bail at $75,000, noting that Case is alleged to have committed crimes in “several counties” on Monday.
Case has had 23 prior warrants for her arrest and is currently facing a pending charge of possession of a stolen vehicle out of Thurston County.
In addition to the requested bail, the prosecutor’s office also asked that Case be barred from being behind the wheel of a motor vehicle as a condition of her release.
Defense Attorney Rachael Tiller, citing Case’s likely difficulty posting bail, asked for bail to be set at $20,000 maximum.
Eyraud settled on $50,000 bail as Case remains held in the Lewis County Jail.
According to court documents, a white Nissan 4x4 extended cab pickup truck was stolen on Cooks Hill Road Monday after the keys were left in the ignition as it was still running in a driveway.
Officers searched the area and looked at Flock Safety camera images, but the vehicle was not located. The truck was later picked up on a Flock camera in Chehalis and later in Oakville, according to court documents.
At about 11:12 a.m., a Flock camera located the vehicle at West First Street and North Pearl Street in Centralia. An officer then found the vehicle at West Main Street and South Tower Avenue and got behind the truck. When the officer activated his patrol vehicle lights and sirens in the area of Seminary Hill, the vehicle failed to yield and continued to accelerate. The truck made its way back to Centralia College Boulevard, running two red lights before going south on Yew Street and turning west on Mellen Street. The driver was last seen going west on Cooks Hill Road past Military Road. Officers kept searching but were unable to locate the truck.
At about 1:30 p.m., a Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputy informed Centralia police that Samantha Case had been involved in an incident at her mother’s house, leaving before deputies could arrive.
At about 2:05 p.m., a detective saw the stolen truck at Harrison Avenue and Reynolds Road and began pursuing it. Fellow officers and Thurston County deputies joined the pursuit as well.
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders provided the following account in a post on social media:
He said the sheriff’s office “was notified by Lewis County of a stolen vehicle taken in their jurisdiction. Later in the day, a Thurston County citizen called 911 to report that the same stolen vehicle was on their property being driven by a person who appeared ‘very high’ on narcotics. The driver ordered the homeowner to hang up with 911 before ramming the victim’s car and their house and fleeing. When deputies arrived in the area, they located the stolen truck driving at a high rate of speed in Grand Mound, and a pursuit was initiated heading into Lewis County with assistance from Centralia PD and Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect fled onto property belonging to the Port of Centralia, traveling down dirt roads before coming to a stop at a gate. After refusing commands to exit, the suspect pushed through the gate and units pursued through an open muddy field. (The sheriff’s office) and Lewis County were able to conduct a tactical vehicle intervention, pinning the stolen truck in. The suspect surrendered at that time, but not before getting a quick protein bar down the hatch. TCSO recently sent one of our traffic unit deputies to Drug Recognition School, giving us access to a rare resource of having a certified Drug Recognition Expert within our office. Our DRE responded and helped establish probable cause for drug DUI.”
In addition to the charges she faces in Lewis County, additional charges in Thurston County will be referred to prosecutors, Sanders said.
“Both patrol cars sustained minor cosmetic damage from the conclusion of the pursuit,” Sanders wrote. “Great work by all the involved law enforcement agencies to get this career criminal off our streets again.”
