Lynnwood man charged with eluding Yakima police and fleeing scene of accident | Crime and courts

Charges have been filed against a Lynnwood man accused of fleeing police in a stolen Jeep and crashing into a light pole.

Yakima County prosecutors filed charges of escape, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, hit-and-run and obstructing police against Jacob Robert Brown in Yakima County Superior Court on May 1.

Prosecutors are seeking an enhanced fugitive charge, alleging Brown sped past a school zone and a public park during the pursuit. If found guilty, he could face an additional two years in prison on top of the standard sentence.

Brown is currently out of custody after posting $10,000 bail, but is required to check in with court staff regularly while he awaits trial.

A Yakima police officer was preparing to turn south at the entrance to the Yakima Inn, 1022 N. First St., around 2:35 p.m. on April 27 when he spotted a Jeep Grand Cherokee coming from another entrance to the motel parking lot turned south and suddenly changed lanes at the intersection of East I Street, according to the affidavit. The driver, later identified as Brown, failed to turn on his left turn signal while in the left turn lane on East I Street.

When the officer tried to stop him, Brown sped through the intersection as the light turned green and headed east on East I Street, the affidavit says, and the officer pursued the Jeep for what he estimated was 70 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone was driving near Barge Lincoln Elementary School, where he turned south on North Fourth Street.

The officer called off the pursuit for safety reasons but followed the Jeep past Miller Park, where people were playing basketball, the affidavit said. Brown, who officers estimated was driving 60 miles per hour at the time, ran through stop signs at several intersections before turning east onto East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

As Brown turned, the affidavit said, he struck a concrete-encased lamppost at the southeast corner of the intersection. He and a passenger fled from the Jeep, where the officer caught up with Brown in the alley on the east side of North Naches Avenue.

The officer fired an electric stun gun at Brown after he refused orders to stop, the affidavit said.

Police determined the Jeep's license plate belonged to another vehicle that had been reported stolen in Seattle, the affidavit said. The affidavit said Brown had a revoked driver's license and was required to have an ignition interlock device in any vehicle he drove, and police said the Jeep did not have that device.