A vehicle pursuit east of Raymond Tuesday led to a drug bust the next day at a home on Heckard Road, according to Pacific County Sheriff’s Office Chief Criminal Deputy Pat Matlock.

Deputy Jesse Eastham noticed a vehicle being driven recklessly in the Old Willapa area east of Raymond around 9 p.m. Tuesday, said Matlock. When Eastham tried to pull over the speeding vehicle, “The suspect vehicle failed to yield and continued attempting to elude Deputy Eastham at a high rate of speed.”

The chase continued for several miles, with officers from the Raymond and South Bend police departments assisting, until the vehicle exited onto Mill Creek Road and onto a gravel logging road for several more miles before coming to an abrupt halt.

Eastham and South Bend Police officer Jordan Dockter followed two men who left the car and run into the woods. They found the two, including the 25-year-old driver, who was arrested on charges of driving with a suspended license, attempting to elude a police vehicle and other charges and held on $100,000 bail. Suspected methamphetamine and heroin were located in the vehicle, said Matlock. The passenger was released at the scene.

Following up on the case the next day, Eastham developed information that led him to believe the two men involved in the pursuit were involved in narcotics sales.

“Deputy Eastham was listening to recorded jail conversations between (the suspect driver) and his girlfriend,” said Matlock. “Information discussed between the two during the conversations related to narcotics dealing.” The pursuit passenger was mentioned in those conversations, and Eastham “prepared and obtained a narcotics related warrant to search the residence that all three shared located in the 2000 block of Heckard Road.”

Serving the warrant, deputies located over 20 grams of suspected heroin, electronic weigh scales displaying brown residue suspected of being used to weigh heroin for individual sale, several new small plastic baggies used to package narcotics for sale, cash, suspected methamphetamine and other various articles of narcotics paraphernalia.

The passenger in the previous night’s pursuit was arrested and charged with possession with intent to deliver, and the driver’s charges were amended to include that same charge.

The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by officers from the Raymond and South Bend Police Departments during the service of the warrant.

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