High speed chase ends in crash

Vehicle reached speeds of 100 mph.

An allegedly drunk driver took a Kitsap County police officer on a nine-minute high-speed chase in the middle of the night Wednesday, reaching speeds up over 100 mph before running a stop sign and crashing into another car at the top of a highway on-ramp, according to police.

Twenty-nine-year-old Tylor Gray was arrested for felony attempting to elude a police vehicle and driving under the influence, and is being held on $100,000 bail, according to court documents filed Thursday in Kitsap County.

Arrest notes filed with the court say a sheriff’s deputy spotted a Honda Civic traveling 81 mph in a 40 mph zone on highway 305 at around 4:50 a.m.

“I activated my emergency lights turning to stop the vehicle,” the deputy wrote, “which showed no signs of slowing.”

He tried to catch the car while driving at 70 mph speeds in pursuit near the intersection of Thompson and Pioneer Hill roads.

They continued on an empty Pioneer Hill road, until eventually reaching Clear Creek Road.

“We continued southbound on Clear Creek road at high rate of speed in excess of 100 mph. At times the vehicle would travel into the oncoming lane of travel for brief moments before returning to the proper lane of travel,” the report states.

A sergeant informed the deputy that he had a spike strip deployed on Clear Creek Road just north of Greaves Way.

But the spikes would not be used. The Honda took an exit for Trigger Ave, off of Highway 3. “I continued toward the off ramp, taking the off ramp in an attempt to catch up,” the officer wrote.

When the officer reached the top of the ramp, he saw that the car had crashed, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee was flipped onto its side.

While keeping his firearm in the “low ready position,” the deputy placed the suspect into custody.

Both the suspect and a passenger were taken to the hospital, although no serious injuries were reported. The driver of the Jeep said when he saw the headlights heading toward him, and he “braced for impact.”

In a supplemental note, an officer said that when he arrived on scene after the suspect was in custody, he noticed a small dog running around, acting “very confused and scared.” He contacted the suspect’s father, who came and took the dog.

A criminal record search revealed the suspect had three prior DUIs and one arrest for felony eluding an officer. He was taken to the hospital to be cleared for booking, and police received a warrant for a blood sample.

The maximum penalty for felony DUI with three or more priors is 10 years in prison and up to a $20,000 fine. The maximum penalty for felony eluding arrest is five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.