Fleeing man in stolen truck eludes deputies

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Police are still searching for a 29-year-old man who fled from deputies after officers tried to stop him for reckless driving on US Highway 101.

The police chase started around
2 p.m. Saturday, June 18 after an off-duty sheriff’s deputy reported being passed by a Ford F-250 pickup truck on Center Road near Dabob Road.

The off-duty officer reported the truck was being driven in a reckless manner and added he would have had a collision if there had been traffic on Center Road at the time.

The off-duty deputy was behind the Ford as it continued south, and noted the truck was speeding, passing in an unsafe manner, tailgating, and weaving on the road. The deputy also stated: “He’s driving like he stole it.”

The officer also noted the 2007 Ford F-250 had a canopy with a broken rear window.

Another deputy caught up to the truck near Milepost 298 on US 101, and saw the truck driver tailgating other vehicles, speeding, and making “extreme jerky” moves into the oncoming lane of traffic.

A sheriff’s deputy tried to stop the truck diver in Brinnon for suspicion of driving under the influence and reckless driving. At one point, the driver pulled over and slowed down, smiled at the deputy, then sped away, according to court documents.

The truck driver then passed travel trailers and vehicles towing boats across Walker Pass in the rain.

At times, the truck was estimated to be going 90 miles per hour.

The driver also pulled off US 101 after deputies put spike strips on the roadway, then circled back on the highway and continued north.

Witnesses told police the truck stopped at a home along the highway and hit a tree in the driveway. A 9-year-old girl got out of the Ford, and the driver drove back onto
US 101 where he continued to elude officers.

The Ford was later found abandoned on Penny Creek Road near Lords Lake Loop Road. A deputy discovered the driver’s side door lock was damaged along with the ignition, and the truck had been hot-wired.

Deputies determined the Ford had been stolen out of Pierce County.

A K-9 unit was brought in to search for the driver, and the dog found a track for the missing man near the truck. A drone was also used to find the man without success.

Authorities soon learned from the 9-year-old girl that another person had been in the vehicle, and the other passenger told her to get in the back seat of the truck and hide while they were being chased by police. The other passenger stayed in the vehicle after the girl got out. 

She was found not far from the abandoned truck after she was pointed out by a witness near Elkhorn Ridge Road.

The passenger was later identified as a 26-year-old Tacoma resident, Whinter M. Keller.

Keller was booked into Jefferson County Jail for felony eluding, possession of a stolen vehicle, and reckless endangerment.

She was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle in Jefferson County Superior Court on Tuesday, July 21.

Keller entered a pleading of not guilty at her arraignment Friday.

Conviction for possession of a stolen motor vehicle can result in a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.