DISCOVERY BAY — A 20-mile, high-speed chase involving a State Patrol car and two motorcycles ended when one of the motorcyclists struck an oncoming pickup truck.
The other motorcyclist, who continued beyond the crash scene, soon was apprehended on a nearby side road.
The motorcyclists, Spencer Scott Phillips, 22, of Steilacoom and Ryan S. Doherty, 23, no residence listed, were clocked at 105 mph on eastbound Highway 101 at River Road in Sequim by a Sequim police officer around 9 p.m. Sunday, said State Patrol spokeswoman Krista Hedstrom.
The motorcyclists’ speed reached 135 mph as they passed Gardiner, where State Patrol Trooper Donald Field joined the chase, Hedstrom said.
About a mile west of Discovery Bay at Milepost 281, Phillips slowed to 70 mph and attempted to pass two cars on a curve, she said.
Phillips lost control of the motorcycle and hit an oncoming 1991 Ford pickup truck driven by William Young, 49, of Port Townsend.
The motorcycle careened back into the southbound lane, and Phillips slid into the northbound lane’s guardrail, Hedstrom said.
“Trooper Field came around the curve and saw the bike coming at him,” she said.
Field turned his patrol vehicle sideways, and the motorcycle hit the trooper’s right rear door.
“He hit the motorcycle, but avoided the rider,” she said.
Phillips, who was wearing a helmet, suffered leg injuries and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center, where he was reported to be in satisfactory condition Monday afternoon.
Doherty was located nearby on Casselary Road by a Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy.
Phillips and Doherty are being investigated for felony eluding, Hedstrom said.
Phillips is also being investigated for reckless driving, she said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
