Suspects in the robbery of a Portland drive-thru coffee stand led officers on a pursuit through Vancouver early Wednesday morning that ended on westbound state Highway 14 near Columbia Shores Boulevard, causing major traffic delays.
The incident started after the Portland Police Bureau informed local police about a vehicle involved in a robbery that had crossed state lines into Vancouver, according to Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp.
Portland police said in a news release that officers responded to TJ’s Xpress Inc., 9320 N. Whitaker Road, about 6:50 a.m. for a report of an armed robbery. A witness told police the suspect vehicle was last seen driving north on Interstate 5, across the Interstate 5 Bridge.
A Vancouver police officer driving east on state Highway 500 spotted the suspect vehicle — a white pickup without license plates — heading westbound on the highway near Falk Road. The officer turned around to pursue the pickup; other units joined the search at that point, Kapp said. The pickup was found parked at an apartment complex in the 4500 block of Nicholson Road, she said.
The pickup sped off when police vehicles began to swarm, hopping a curb and driving through some grass to avoid capture, Kapp said. Officers chased the truck, occupied by two men, through Vancouver, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian.
The pickup’s driver’s side tires popped before it headed onto Highway 14, according to scanner traffic. Police used a Pursuit Intervention Technique, or PIT, maneuver to stop the vehicle. Police halted traffic and talked the two occupants out of the pickup. Kapp said the men were somewhat uncooperative but eventually decided to surrender.
“Once in custody, the suspects were transported by ambulances to a Vancouver hospital for treatment of a medical condition believed to be connected to the consumption of illegal drugs,” according to the Portland Police Bureau news release.
Portland police sent detectives to Vancouver to interview the suspects. Initial information indicates the suspects threatened an employee at TJ’s Xpress with a firearm and obtained an undisclosed amount of cash before heading north to Vancouver, police said.
There were no reported injuries as a result of the robbery.
Police said the suspects would be booked into the Clark County Jail on allegations related to eluding police and will likely be extradited to Portland in the alleged robbery. Their names were not immediately released.
The westbound lanes of Highway 14 were blocked off at Grand Boulevard while officers waited for a tow truck to take away the suspect vehicle, Kapp said. The westbound left and center lanes near Columbia Way were blocked for several hours. Stop-and-go conditions in the westbound lanes stretched beyond Interstate 205.
All lanes reopened by noon.
