Passenger tells deputies it’s because of police reform legislation

On Friday (Oct. 14), just before 9 p.m., a Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a black SUV with no license plates, northbound on NE St. Johns Rd. in Vancouver after observing the vehicle run the red light at the intersection of NE St. Johns Rd and NE 88th St. The vehicle attempted to recklessly elude the deputy by accelerating and running the red light at the intersection of NE St Johns Rd and NE Lalonde Dr. 

The deputy immediately terminated his attempt to stop the vehicle, pursuant to RCW 10.116.060. Seconds later, the deputy observed a cloud of dust caused by a vehicle collision on NE St Johns Rd., near the Interstate 205 overpass. CCSO deputies responded to find the black SUV had attempted to recklessly drive between two moving vehicles, striking a pickup in the process. The collision sheared the driver side wheels off of the SUV and forced the pickup through a median, across the road, and into a utility pole, breaking the pole. 

The driver of the black SUV was identified as Kostyantyn Kray, 26, of Vancouver. He was taken into custody without further incident. A passenger in the SUV told deputies they had heard the police had been defunded and that law enforcement was short-staffed and would not pursue vehicles which attempted to elude a traffic stop. The passenger told deputies they believed Kray wanted to see for himself if this was true. Luckily, there were no injuries reported as a result of the collision.

Kray was transported to an area hospital to be medically cleared before he was booked into the Clark County Jail for Attempting to elude police vehicle. NE St Johns Rd. was closed in both directions for over an hour due to the immense amount of debris in the roadway from the collision, and to allow tow companies to access the involved vehicles as well as the Clark Public Utilities Department to perform maintenance on the damaged utility pole. 

Attempting to elude a police vehicle is a Class C Felony in the state of Washington.Information provided by Clark County Sheriff’s Office.