WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — About 2:30pm today, Wednesday, October 4th, a Lynden Police officer attempted a traffic stop. After pursuing the subject vehicle over 10 miles with the assistance of multiple other law enforcement agencies, the driver was taken into custody in the southbound lanes of I-5.
Lynden Police Chief Steve Taylor told Whatcom News via email that the suspect vehicle, a white pickup truck, had been observed being driven the wrong way through a one-way parking lot on 19th Street. It then continued north on the sidewalk for several hundred yards. During the pursuit, the driver was seen driving erratically.
The pursuit continued on Main Street, Berthusen Road, Loomis Trail Road, Sunrise Road, Birch Bay-Lynden Road and onto I-5.
A Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office deputy successfully deployed a spike strip in the area of Birch Bay-Lynden Road and Valley View Road.
Click for more information
Click for more information
Witnesses reported the suspect vehicle’s tires were “shredded” by the time the vehicle pulled over on southbound I-5 near the Custer School Road overpass.
Taylor said the WCSO’s spike strip deployment caused 3 of the tires on pickup to fail.
After the pickup turned south onto I-5, officers were able to disable the vehicle. “The driver refused to exit the vehicle and had to be pulled from the vehicle by officers,” according to Taylor. “The driver continued to resist officers as they tried to handcuff him. He was eventually brought under control and handcuffed.”
Aid crews were dispatched to the location due to someone at the scene having suffered minor injuries.
Sergio Vasquez Garcia, age 34, was booked into the Whatcom County Jail by Lynden Police and charged with suspicion of the following crimes.
- attempting to elude a police vehicle
- reckless driving
- resisting arrest
Vasquez Garcia has prior felony convictions for 1st-degree malicious mischief.