Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A Chehalis automobile salesman was carjacked during a test drive this morning, with what turned out to be a toy gun.
A 21-year-old man is in custody, after a high-speed chase that ended in Cowlitz County.
The red 2011 Ford F150 pickup sustained some damage when the suspect drove it through a fence near a weigh station about five miles south of Castle Rock, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s Cmdr. Dusty Breen said it began at I-5 Toyota on Northwest Louisiana Avenue where the supposed customer and the sales person departed for a test drive.
They were traveling on Hamilton Road south of Chehalis when the 21-year-old ordered the man out at gunpoint, Breen said, or, with what appeared to be a handgun.
“The salesman is able to flag somebody down for help,” he said. “Deputies were dispatched.”
That was around 11:20 a.m.
The sheriff’s office and the state patrol began a pursuit that took Interstate 5 as well as some backroads at speeds of 80 and 90 mph, and ended when the driver ran through the fence and bailed out, he said. They were joined by Cowlitz deputies as well.
They got a call from a woman who said there was a man inside her house, out of breath and asking for water, and he borrowed a pair of sunglasses from a person there, put them on and hid under a porch, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.
That was on Pleasant Hill Road, and that’s where law enforcement officers took him into custody.
Cmdr. Breen said Huber Juarez-Arellano, 21, is from Vancouver, Washington. Cowlitz County identifies him as Huber Juarez-Vasques, 22, of Kelso.
Breen said the suspect tossed the weapon out along Barnes Road, and when it was recovered, it turned out to be a painted Airsoft gun.
Nobody got hurt in the incident, he said. The sales associate is a 46-year-old Centralia resident, according to the sheriff’s office.
The suspect was transported back to Lewis County to be booked into the jail for first-degree robbery and felony eluding, Breen said.
The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office reports it will be considering charges of eluding and trespass.
The suspect had left his identification at the dealership before the test drive, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown.