The Chronicle

The suspect, identified as Mitchell J. Borden, 32, of Raymond, was arrested early Friday morning. In addition to any charges stemming from Thursday’s chase including possession of stolen property and attempting to elude police, Borden was arrested on an outstanding warrant with the state Department of Corrections.

The incident began at 9:59 a.m. when the Centralia Police Department responded to a report of a located stolen vehicle at the intersection of North Tower Avenue and Sixth Street in Centralia.

The 911 caller reportedly told dispatchers they were following the vehicle, according to a news release from the police department.

A responding officer attempted to stop the stolen vehicle, but the driver fled at a high speed west on Reynolds Road. The pursuit continued to Lum Road, where the stolen vehicle lost control around a corner and hit a fire hydrant, which popped one of the vehicle’s tires.

An officer attempted to stop the fleeing vehicle with their patrol car, which “resulted in both vehicles locking bumpers causing severe damage to the patrol car,” according to the press

release. The pursuit continued down Borst Avenue, where the stolen vehicle entered the Centralia High School parking lot, then drove to fields behind the school.

“The fleeing vehicle attempted to drive through the thick briers to get away but struck a tree, which stopped the pursuit,” according to the news release.

The driver fled on foot, but two passengers were immediately detained. Police conducted a search of the heavily wooded area. A witness reported the suspect swam across the Chehalis River to escape.

A Washington State Patrol trooper on the scene noted that a Centralia police K-9 unit was engaged in the pursuit as well.

One officer received minor injuries during the chase. The suspect, later identified as Borden, was not located despite help from multiple police jurisdictions searching both sides of the river.

At 2 a.m. Friday, police received an anonymous tip that Borden was hiding in a hotel room. An officer responded an attempted to make contact, but Borden reportedly refused to leave the hotel room.

According to the Centralia Police Department, the officer eventually convinced Borden to give himself up without further incident.

Shannon Horsfall and Mike Calip, two Centralia residents who live across the street from

Centralia High School, said they were able to watch the suspect drive the truck at a high rate of speed onto the school’s property before it went off road and they lost visibility behind the treeline.

“We heard the sirens, we heard the engine rev way down the street, we were out here when we saw the white truck enter the parking lot at a high speed,” Calip said. “It hit right there at the curb where the entry way is and launched itself and then just continued at a high speed all the way back into the woods.”

Horsfall noted that the vehicle the suspect was driving was a particularly big truck.

“It was a full size, four-door truck, it was even lifted,” Horsfall added.