PORT ANGELES — A man and a woman are in custody after a police chase that led from a Port Angeles school to a tree branch 30 feet above the ground in Olympic National Park.
A patrol officer on traffic duty at Jefferson School on Lauridsen Boulevard saw a pickup truck speed through the area, heading east toward Race Street.
“He hit his [patrol car] lights for a routine traffic stop,” said Brian Smith, deputy chief of the Port Angeles Police Department.
Instead of stopping, the truck sped away , Smith said.
The chase led to Race Street, where the truck turned south and entered Olympic National Park on the road toward Hurricane Ridge.
The truck ran off the road and was damaged as the driver tried to drive onto old Angeles Mountain Road, Smith said.
The driver and a passenger got out of the truck where Angeles Mountain Road is closed off and fled into the woods, Smith said.
A command post was established at the entrance to the park, and a perimeter was established with assistance from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department, U.S. Park Service rangers and U.S. Border Patrol officers, including a Border Patrol unit with a tracking dog.
Port Angeles police dog Jag, with his handler, Cpl. Kevin Miller, tracked the truck’s driver, identified as Damon L. Foust, 36, of Port Angeles, to the base of a large tree, Smith said.
“He looked up and the suspect was 30 feet up in the tree,” he said.
Foust was taken into custody for multiple felony warrants and for investigation of eluding a police vehicle and obstructing a law enforcement officer.
“It was a good team effort,” Smith said.
The alleged passenger in the truck, Katherine L. Roberts, 30, of Port Angeles, was located 30 minutes later and was taken into custody.
Roberts had an outstanding warrant and was booked into Clallam County jail for investigation of eluding a police vehicle and obstructing a law enforcement officer.
The truck was heavily damaged and does not belong to either person, Smith said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.