The Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office has released video of a pursuit on I-5 that reached 100 mph.
The suspect had threatened to carry out a "Las Vegas" style attack when he fled Joint Base Lewis McCord in Washington.
Castle Rock Police spotted the Mazda "6" going over 100 mph. The suspect vehicle collided with a semi truck at MP 58. That truck driver was not injured. Castle Rock Police continued the pursuit southbound.
Cowlitz Deputy Geary Enbody saw the car at MP 42. As Deputy Enbody entered the freeway the suspect rapidly swerved from the "fast" lane over the middle lane to the slow lane in an obvious attempt to crash in to Deputy Enbody's patrol car. Deputy Enbody was able to brake hard and serve toward the guardrail to avoid being hit. The suspect rapidly sped to over 100 mph southbound. As other deputies joined to help, Castle Rock dropped out of the pursuit.
At one point in the pursuit the suspect rapidly swerved at other vehicles trying to cause them to crash. At one point the driver swerved over all 3 lanes to get in front of a truck pulling a horse trailer and slammed on the brakes -- causing the truck and horse trailer to slam on their brakes. This was an extremely dangerous event and fortunately that truck driver narrowly avoided crashing.
The suspect continued southbound and erratically slowed down to 45 mph swerving over all 3 lanes and alternately sped up to over 100 mph on several occasions. The suspect was also passing people on the shoulder of the freeway.
At about MP 33 the suspect attempted to pass a car driven by Caitlyn Roettger on the left hand shoulder and collided with Roettger's vehicle. At this point, the suspect lost control of his car and it spun off I-5 and landed up against the BNSF railroad track base (not on the tracks). The suspect exited the car and was taken into custody. He received a minor cut on his head and was taken to the hospital for treatment and was released and booked in to the jail.
Roettger received a cut on her head but did not require medical attention. Roettger's car sustained significant damage and was towed.
35-year-old Christopher James Bleavins of Lakewood, Washington is retired from the military and suffers from PTSD.
He was arrested for Assault 1st degree, Eluding Police, 2 counts of Hit and Run and Reckless Endangerment.