SEQUIM — Three men arrested after a wild car chase through the streets of Sequim on Tuesday that ended in a crash near the high school campus were involved in a drug deal gone bad, police said Wednesday.
Two Port Angeles men — James C. Charles, 28, and Jeremy J. Paapke, 20 — gave Sequim resident Christopher Lee Haltom, 29, about $400 to buy methadone, said Officer Maris Turner, Sequim Police Department spokeswoman.
Haltom took the money, climbed into his car and took off, she said.
Paapke, with passenger Charles, raced after him, she said.
The screeching chase at speeds between 60 mph and 80 mph ended when the two cars collided in the parking lot of Paradise Restaurant at Hendrickson Road and North Sequim Avenue.
The chase had run along U.S. Highway 101 into Sequim and surrounding Clallam County roads.
Police said Haltom was charged with hit-and-run driving involving property damage, reckless driving, third-degree theft, possession of marijuana at 40 grams or less and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.
Paapke was charged with second-degree robbery, second-degree assault and reckless driving.
Charles was charged with second-degree robbery and second-degree assault.
Paapke was being held in Clallam County jail in Port Angeles on Wednesday on $75,000 bond.
Charles was being held on $50,000 bond and Haltom on $25,000.
Turner said no methadone was recovered in the incident.
Methadone is a synthetic drug used medically as an analgesic and a maintenance anti-addictive for use in patients with heroin or other opiate dependencies.
Police on Wednesday were interviewing witnesses, including a pedestrian who said she was nearly hit by one of the vehicles as it streaked past her through Sequim.
“Right now, we’re in the process of tracking down all the callers and getting their statements,” Turner said.
“They were driving erratically and recklessly, so it was not surprising that we got those reports.”
Witness reports of the chase began to stream into the Police Department at about 2:54 p.m. Tuesday, just minutes before hundreds of school children were to be released from classes.
The men were interviewed at the Sequim Police Department and then were booked into the Clallam County jail in Port Angeles.
They sped through several city streets, including Govan and Fir streets, where police said Haltom hit a fire hydrant. They turned onto Sequim Avenue and drove north through the school zone.
They continued north on North Sequim Avenue into the parking lot of Hardy’s Market at the corner of Sequim Avenue and Old Olympic Highway, where they damaged fencing and collided before getting back onto North Sequim Avenue and driving south.
Haltom turned onto Hendrickson Road near the high school campus, where his vehicle was reportedly struck by Paapke’s vehicle and pushed up onto a landscaped median.
At that point, a physical altercation took place between Haltom and Charles, police report.
Charles later said he got his money back from Haltom during the assault, but how much was unknown.
When officers arrived, Haltom was fleeing the scene. They chased him on foot and found him in a shed not far from the site of the Hendrickson Road collision, where he was taken into custody.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
