A wanted Olympia man with recent felony convictions was charged Tuesday after he allegedly tried to escape officers from the Centralia Police Department and Thurston County Sheriff’s Office during a high-speed chase through Lewis and Thurston counties Monday night.
Broc Richard Hertwig, 25, faces one count of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Hertwig made a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon.
During the hearing, Judge J. Andrew Toynbee granted the state’s request for a bail amount of $100,000, saying Hertwig posed a “high risk” of failure to appear in court proceedings. Toynbee noted Hertwig’s recent felony convictions, and called the alleged offense an “endangerment to the public.”
According to the probable cause affidavit filed by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, Hertwig was convicted of violation of a protection order and second-degree theft in Thurston County in 2025, and had two active warrants from Thurston County District Court at the time of his arrest.
Hertwig was previously convicted of attempting to elude a police vehicle in Lewis County in 2019, according to the affidavit and court records.
The affidavit indicated Hertwig has had four other past warrants issued for his arrest.
In a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon, Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders released dash cam footage that showed an officer successfully performing a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver on Hertwig’s white Honda sedan, after the sedan had been spiked.
Sanders indicated Hertwig was arrested “without further incident.”
The chase that ended on Interstate 5 in Thurston County began after a traffic stop in Centralia for a “defective brake light and speeding,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
“During the contact Hertwig said that his driver window did not roll down and the driver's door would not open,” the affidavit states.
The officer reportedly suspected Hertwig was under the influence of a stimulant and told Hertwig to “shut off the car,” according to the affidavit.
Instead, Hertwig allegedly drove away.
The officer and other Centralia police pursued Hertwig.
During the chase, Hertwig allegedly drove “at speeds well above the speed limit” and “swerved into the oncoming lane,” according to the affidavit.
“Hertwig ran stop lights in Chehalis before getting onto northbound I-5 at Chamber Way,” the affidavit states.
Centralia police indicated that Hertwig approached speeds of 90 mph during the pursuit.
“Eventually, Thurston County officers were able to successfully spike the suspect vehicle and perform a Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT) on the vehicle near exit 105 on northbound I-5,” the affidavit states.
Hertwig allegedly admitted to using methamphetamine. Two vials of blood were reportedly drawn for analysis to potentially be used to amend the charges against him.
“Nice work by all of the involved agencies last night,” Sanders wrote in his post.
Hertwig was scheduled to appear for an arraignment on Thursday, Jan. 15.
