High-speed chase of Gresham murder suspects leads through Clark County; 3 in custody

Three people were taken into custody in connection with a Gresham, Ore., homicide investigation after they led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase from Portland through Clark County and into Cowlitz County on Friday afternoon.

Trooper Will Finn of the Washington State Patrol said the agency received word from the Portland Police Bureau that officers were pursuing a vehicle heading north on Interstate 205 into Washington. The pursuit crossed into Clark County around 3 p.m.

The tan or brown Cadillac was traveling in excess of 100 mph at times, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian, and Finn said the driver actively tried to elude officers.

The chase proceeded into Cowlitz County, and radio traffic indicated the driver avoided multiple spike-strip deployments and attempted to drive a pursuing officer’s vehicle off the roadway.

Finn said police set up spike strips in the roadway near Kalama to slow the Cadillac. An officer then stopped the Cadillac by striking it with his vehicle in what’s called a pursuit intervention technique, or PIT maneuver, and sending it out of control, Finn said. The three inside the car were arrested without incident at around 3:20 p.m., Finn said. No one was injured.

The Gresham Police Department said officers were investigating the shooting death of an adult male near Southeast 174th Avenue and Stark Street in Gresham around 2:30 p.m. KOIN-TV reported that the incident put a nearby elementary school on temporary lockdown.

All the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 were blocked at Exit 32 for a time following the chase.