Full Notification

Thirty-eight mile long pursuit of stolen car ends safely

Sent on behalf of the Soap Lake Police Department.
Contact Chief Ryan Cox, 509-246-1122 (office), 509-237-4708 (cell)

On March 1, 2019, at around 1:15 p.m., a Soap Lake Police officer initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle near 4th Ave SE and Canna Street S. The vehicle had license plates attached that did not belong to that vehicle. The suspect vehicle stopped at first, but then fled as the officer was attempting contact.

Soap Lake Police and Grant County Sheriff’s Office pursued the vehicle about 22 miles from Soap Lake to Coulee City on State Route 17. At times, speeds reached 114 mph on the highway.

The pursuit traveled through Coulee City streets, almost striking a police unit, before continuing down Pinto Ridge Road. Sheriff’s deputies safely and successfully utilized spike strips on the suspect vehicle on Pinto Ridge Road. After several miles, the two passenger side tires disintegrated, but the vehicle continued.

After traveling the 16 miles down Pinto Ridge Road from Coulee City, the suspect vehicle turned west onto Highway 28. It was then that the Soap Lake Police Department initiated the PIT (Pursuit Immobilization Technique) maneuver on the suspect vehicle. The PIT maneuver was successful, causing the suspect vehicle to rotate and become disabled, immediately and safely ending the pursuit. The two occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody with no further incident.

The driver, 23-year-old Triston Duplichan of Warden, had several outstanding arrest warrants. The passenger, 29-year-old Noe Duarte of Warden, also had several outstanding arrest warrants. They were booked into Grant County Jail on their outstanding warrants and several additional charges.

After the scene was secure, it was confirmed that the vehicle was reported stolen out of the Puyallup area.

This is an excellent example of how well a multi-agency response works. The Soap Lake and Grand Coulee police departments, along with Douglas and Grant county deputies all responded to assist. While this pursuit reached speeds in excess of 100 mph at times, the training and experience of these officers and deputies were able to bring this pursuit to a safe and successful ending with no injuries to any civilians, suspects, officers or deputies.

The Multi Agency Communications Center (MACC) did an amazing job, not only making sure responding agencies knew where to go to assist, but also for making calls to nearby schools to place them into lockdown for precaution.

Case number 19SL0207