By Cody Neuenschwander

The Chronicle

A pair of suspects accused of a prolific amount of prescription medication fraud along the Interstate 5 corridor — and who had a brush with Tenino law enforcement late last month — remain at large.

Tenino Police Chief Robert Swain said the Washington State Attorney General’s Office and the state’s Department of Health are primarily leading a multi-agency investigation on Terra L. Buraas, 45, and Louis Shipley, 47. The pair are accused in more than 50 instances of defrauding pharmacies to obtain prescription medication through the state.

“They’ve pretty much gone up and down — north and south — on the … I-5 corridor, and they hit several places along the way,” said Swain.

On March 27, the two allegedly went on the run from pursuing Tenino officers after a pharmacist at Hadden’s Pharmacy reported to police that the two were in the area. Swain said the pharmacist had been warned about the pair and that they’ve been known to commit fraud.

Police responded to the area, and the two were spotted leaving the pharmacy and getting into a vehicle.

As they began to drive away, Swain said, the driver committed a traffic violation. At the time, they were also suspected of committing fraud at the pharmacy, but that hadn’t been proven at the time, he added.

“It was determined they had tried to falsify several prescriptions at the same time,” said Swain.

When the officer tried to pull the vehicle over, it allegedly sped off, leading police on a chase with “excessive speeds” that spanned from Tenino to the intersection of Henderson Boulevard and Old Highway 99 near Olympia — a stretch nearly 10 miles long.

Swain said that at that point, the pursuing officer made the decision to terminate the chase, saying there were safety concerns regarding the high rate of speed.

Swain said the suspects don’t have a connection to the Tenino area other than their recent brush with police.

“Tenino remains a very safe community, and we were fortunate enough to identify the suspects and know who they are,” he said.

Charges were filed against them for felony counts of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and multiple felony counts of prescription fraud.

Since then, the case has remained under investigation. It was determined that Buraas had multiple active felony arrest warrants.

Anyone with additional information on the suspects’ whereabouts is asked to contact authorities. The Tenino Police Department can be contacted at 360-264-2626.