QUILCENE — A high-speed chase ended with a splash for a Quilcene-area man.
The 30-year-old fled from authorities in his 1991 Mazda Protege, reaching speeds of 100 mph southbound on U.S. Highway 101 on Friday night, before bailing from his car and jumping into Lake Leland — only to remember he couldn’t swim.
A deputy donned a life preserver and rescued the man from the water, then booked him into the Jefferson County jail for numerous arrest warrants and on investigation of felony attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ben Stamper said.
Stamper on Saturday agreed it was not a run-of-the-mill pursuit.
“Never had one run from a car and jump into a lake,” he said.
Car flees attempted stop
The chase started at 8:39 p.m. at the junction of Highway 101 and state Highway 104, where a deputy attempted to stop the car for speeding.
But rather than pull over, the car sped up from 74 mph to in excess of 90 mph, eventually hitting 100, Stamper said.
The deputy gave chase, following the Mazda south on Highway 101 as a Port Townsend police car joined the pursuit and another deputy prepared strips of spikes on the road to flatten tires and stop the car.
The Mazda turned off the highway onto the dirt routes of Lords Lake Loop Road and Snow Creek Road, where the pursuing deputy temporarily backed off because the car was traveling about 80 mph, Stamper said.
As the Mazda re-entered the highway from Snow Creek Road, it ran over spike strips that flattened all four tires, but the driver continued slowly for about another mile to the lake.
At 8:53 p.m., the man jumped into the lake, where he walked through the water, refusing to give up, until the water was up to his chin.
“Then he started to panic and said he couldn’t swim,” Stamper said.
