PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man who led a Clallam County sheriff’s deputy on a brief car chase in October has been sentenced to one year in prison.
Christopher Michael White, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count each of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, bail jumping and violation of a domestic violence no-contact order.
The attempting-to-elude charge stems from White leading a brief chase Oct. 2 that ended with the car White was driving hitting a power pole.
The bail-jumping charge was added after White failed to appear for a criminal status hearing in Clallam County Superior Court, according to court documents, which also stated White violated the protection order during the Oct. 2 chase.
White was listed Saturday on the roster of the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton.
In the Oct. 2 incident, deputies were looking for the car White was later seen driving 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, according to deputy accounts.
Deputy Matt Murphy spotted the car and pulled White over in the 100 block of Lewis Road, but White 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.
Murphy 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.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
