BLAINE, Wash. — Blaine Police arrested a 32-year-old man following a pursuit that began in Blaine when an officer attempted a traffic stop and the driver fled instead.
According to an affidavit filed by prosecutors in Whatcom County Superior Court, on October 12th at about 9pm, the officer reported a traffic stop was being made on a white van in the 700 block of Pacific Highway in Blaine due to having observed the van not staying in its lane and speeding.
The driver failed to yield to the officer’s efforts get them to pull over. Instead, the van entered the southbound lanes of I-5 and reached speeds up to 95mph. Other law enforcement agencies were advised of the pursuit.
South of the W Smith Road overpass, the van was seen crossing over to the northbound lanes and continued southbound driving head on into moderate traffic reportedly “causing near collisions.”
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Click for more informationThe van eventually slowed and turned around to continue northbound in the northbound lanes. It exited I-5 at Ferndale and was located passing vehicles while eastbound on Main Street.
The driver stopped the van and fled on foot. Officers arrived and contacted the passenger who was reportedly related to the driver.
Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office deputies who had already been responding were able to quickly set up a K-9 unit track to locate the driver which happened about 15 minutes later and he was detained.
The man, Edgar A Sepulveda, was ultimately identified as the driver of the van and arrested.
Sepulveda now faces a felony charge of attempting to elude a police vehicle and a gross misdemeanor charge of reckless driving in Whatcom County Superior Court. As of October 18th, he remained in custody in the Whatcom County Jail pending being able to post $150,000 bond bail.