Another chase, another charge

A 25-year-old Oak Harbor man who led a deputy on a high-speed chase across North Whidbey has been charged in Island County Superior Court, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged Brian Lawrence Aug. 7 with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and driving with a suspended license. It was the second time in the last couple of years that he’s been charged with attempting to elude.

Deputy Lane Campbell with the Island County Sheriff’s Office was “running stationary radar” on Fakkema Road Aug. 5 when he caught a Volkswagen Jetta speeding. Campbell activated his lights and got behind the car, but it sped up, he wrote.

Campbell chased the car as it sped through narrow residential roads, the report states. The car cruised at about 80 mph in a posted 35 mph zone of W. Fakkema Road, the deputy wrote, and sped up to 65 to 70 mph in a 35 mph zone on Wilson Road.

The vehicle finally stopped at the dead end of Wilson Road and the driver, Lawrence, surrendered without incident, the report states. Lawrence told the officer that he ran because his license was suspended and he was scared, the deputy wrote.

Last April, Lawrence led an Oak Harbor police officer on a moderate-speed chase in a borrowed car that ended with a crash. He pleaded guilty to attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and was sentenced to two months in jail.

If convicted of the current charge, Lawrence could face from three to eight months in jail under the standard sentencing range.

Contact Whidbey News Times Assistant editor Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360.675.6611 ext. 5056.

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