PORT ANGELES — The trial of a Port Angeles man facing two separate felony eluding-police charges filed in the past five months is scheduled for December.
Christopher Michael White, 24, has been charged with felony eluding in June and October.
He pleaded not guilty last Friday to one count each of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and obstructing a law enforcement officer after a brief Oct. 2 car chase that ended when the car White was allegedly driving hit a power pole in the Carlsborg area.
Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Murphy pulled White over in the 100 block of Lewis Road, but White allegedly drove away as Murphy approached the car on foot.
Murphy gave chase briefly along Lewis Road but backed off when the speed became too great for the county road, according to Murphy’s arrest report.
White also was charged in June with one count of attempting to elude a police vehicle after allegedly leading a Lower Elwha Klallam tribal police officer on a car chase June 10 that reportedly reached speeds up to 100 mph along U.S. Highway 101.
A preliminary trail date of Dec. 2 has been set in both instances.
White will next appear in Superior Court on Nov. 1 for a status hearing on this case and is slated to appear in court Nov. 8 for a status hearing on the Oct. 2 charges, according to Superior Court documents.
White remained in the Clallam County jail Thursday on $50,000.
Deputy accounts
According to deputy accounts, deputies were looking for the car White allegedly was driving Oct. 2 after security staff at the east Port Angeles Walmart saw the car in the store parking lot at about 4 p.m. and called 9-1-1 because the car had been associated with a shoplifting the day before.
White allegedly failed to stop for Murphy, and the deputy later found the car damaged after it hit a power pole in the 800 block of Lewis Road.
Two passengers were treated on the scene for minor injuries, with one taken to Olympic Medical Center. White was not found near the car.
Sgt. Randy Pieper of the Sheriff’s Office arrested White a short time later on nearby Heuhslein Road.
In the June 10 arrest, White was found in the woods near the 200 block of Bishop Road off state Highway 112 after a search by tribal police, deputies, State Patrol troopers and Port Angeles Police Officer Lucas DeGand and police dog Bogey.
Bogey was loosed upon White and allowed to bite him after he reportedly refused to come out from behind a stand of bushes, according to police accounts.
White was treated at OMC for bite wounds on his right arm and discharged into police custody.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at [email protected]