By Martín Bilbao
The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.)
OLYMPIA, Wash. — A 39-year-old driver is accused of eluding Thurston County deputies in a stolen Olympia School District truck early Friday morning.
Deputies arrested Kyle Alan Taylor after a high-speed pursuit that began near Yelm Highway and Rich Road and concluded at a dead end in the Rochester area.
Taylor attended his preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court later that day. Judge Christopher Lanese found probable cause for several crimes, including theft of a motor vehicle, attempting to elude a police vehicle, second-degree burglary and second-degree malicious mischief.
Lanese set bail at $50,000, finding that the court could not be assured Taylor would return to court when required. He also said there was a substantial danger Taylor may commit a violent crime, according to court records.
Sheriff Derek Sanders shared a video of the pursuit in a Facebook post. Deputies intercepted the truck after the driver, who law enforcement identified as Taylor, fled from Olympia police, according to the post.
Chehalis Tribal police spiked the truck’s tires and law enforcement attempted a PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver that proved unsuccessful, according to the post. Taylor eventually pulled into a dead end and surrendered to law enforcement.
Olympia police allege Taylor stole the truck from an Olympia School District maintenance yard during a burglary and rammed a fence to exit the yard, according to the post and court records.
A probable cause statement describes the investigation into the alleged crimes from the perspective of law enforcement.
Olympia police responded to a “suspicious circumstance” call in the 2250 block of Swecker Avenue Southeast at about 10:53 p.m. Thursday , according to court records.
Multiple people had called dispatch about a man who had gone door-to-door claiming he ran out of fuel in the area. The man was allegedly associated with a green sports utility vehicle located on the 2500 block of Swecker Avenue Southeast .
The license plate indicated the vehicle was registered to Taylor. However, officers could not find Taylor in the area after searching for over an hour.
Based on Taylor’s past contacts with police, the officers presumed Taylor had abandoned his vehicle and would steal a different one in the area.
Just before midnight, one of the officers spotted a white pick-up truck with a stake bed on the 2500 block of Boulevard Road Southeast. The truck allegedly traveled at over 80 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone.
The officer followed the truck and initiated a traffic stop, but the driver, later identified as Taylor, did not stop. The officer disengaged and Sheriff’s deputies pulled behind the vehicle to attempt another traffic stop. Again, deputies reported that Taylor failed to yield.
Taylor allegedly led deputies on a 30-minute, high-speed pursuit all the way to a dead end on 19600 block of Grand Mound Way Southwest in Rochester where he surrendered.
Deputies noted that the truck displayed Olympic School District badging and the license plate was registered to the district, according to the statement.
A school district employee met with the Olympia police officer who initially spotted the truck and reportedly confirmed the truck belonged to the district.
The employee also showed the officer the maintenance yard where the truck was taken. The statement says a “significant portion” of the fencing was “heavily damaged and torn down,” directly behind where the truck was previously parked.
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