High-speed chase could lead to jail

A 22-year-old Clinton man who led a deputy on a high speed chase across South Whidbey is facing jail time.

Nicholas M. Sledge pleaded not guilty in Island County Superior Court Nov. 9 to charges of attempting to elude a pursuing vehicle and third-degree driving while license suspended or revoked.

Island County Deputy Lane Campbell wrote in the affidavit of probable cause that he saw a car with one headlight speeding on Highway 525 near Howard Road on the night of Oct. 28. Campbell activated his lights and pulled behind the southbound car, but the driver didn’t pull over.

According to Campbell, he chased the car at speeds up to 95 miles per hour in a 50 mph zone. He followed the car on the highway until it turned onto Wilson Place and stopped at an apartment complex. Campbell wrote that the driver, later identified as Sledge, got out of the passenger side of the car and ran up to an apartment door, but couldn’t get in.

Campbell arrested Sledge at gunpoint outside the door. The resident of the apartment, Sledge’s girlfriend, eventually opened the door to see what was happening. Sledge told her he drove the car to her apartment because he wanted her to have it, Campbell wrote.

Sledge did not have a valid driver’s license, which apparently was why he ran from the deputy.

Sledge is being held on $5,000 bail. Island County Superior Court Judge Vickie Churchill denied his attorney’s motion to release him without bail Nov. 9. If convicted, Sledge could face between two and six months in jail.

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