The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – An attempted traffic stop at the intersection of West Main Street and Wagon Road in Dayton at 2 a.m. last Wednesday, April 1, led to a high-speed car chase westbound on Highway 12 through Waitsburg and Dixie, in Walla Walla County, before the driver and two passengers were apprehended.

Columbia County Deputy Jason DeVoir planned to pull the driver over on the western outskirts of Dayton to speak to him about his yellow headlights, which are illegal per state law. Instead the driver, 19-year-old Pasco man Giovanny Blanco, sped away westbound first on Wagon Road and then continuing westbound on Highway 12. DeVoir turned on his sirens and asked dispatch for backup.

The 2001 silver Honda Prelude Coupe exceeded 100 miles per hour as it sped away from the two pursuing deputy vehicles on the highway. Through Waitsburg, where speed limits are 35 and 25 miles per hour, the vehicle slowed to 70 miles per hour, according to the probable cause documents filed in court. Several times DeVoir observed the headlights of the fleeing vehicle turn off and on.

Walla Walla County Deputy Christopher Johnson joined the chase in Waitsburg. Meanwhile other Walla Walla County deputies set up spike strips on the highway west of Dixie, which effectively halted the progress of the fleeing Honda Prelude. The vehicle, incapacitated from the spikes, went into a wheat field off the highway, onto Smith Road, over a bridge above Dry Creek, and finally came to rest in another wheat field.

Three people, two males and one female, bailed out of the vehicle and ran into the water at Dry Creek. Deputy Johnson caught up with and took two of the subjects into custody: the female, 22-year-old Jazzmen L. Slack of Pasco, and the driver, Blanco, who was driving without a valid license. Slack was arrested for obstruction, according to court documents; she also gave a false identity at the time of arrest. Further charges may be filed in her case.

Other deputies located the second passenger, 19-year-old Pasco man Joey Ayala, who was arrested at the scene for a Department of Corrections warrant for escaping community custody.

Both Slack and Ayala were transported to Walla Walla County Jail; Blanco was booked into Columbia County Jail and faces charges of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, a Class C felony; reckless driving and two counts of reckless endangerment, all gross misdemeanors; and use of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. He remains incarcerated on a $25,000 appearance bond pending trial.

The Honda Prelude was impounded and searched by deputies last week; further charges may be filed depending on the outcome of that search.