Vancouver man arrested after allegedly leading police on high-speed chase

A six-mile high-speed chase in an allegedly stolen car Sunday night landed a Vancouver man in Clark County Superior Court on Monday morning.

Edneil A. Hanif, 23, is accused of eluding police while his four passengers pleaded with him to stop. One of the passengers jumped out of the car during the chase.

Hanif appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of attempt to elude, four counts of unlawful imprisonment and possession of a stolen vehicle. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Friday.

Judge Robert Lewis held him on $50,000 bail and appointed attorney Jeff Staples to defend him.

According to a probable cause affidavit and Vancouver police reports, Officer Scot Hammond spotted Hanif at about 6:45 p.m. Sunday. Hanif was driving a 1997 Honda Civic northbound in the 3200 block of Northeast 62nd Avenue.

Hammond checked and discovered the car had been reported stolen. He followed as the driver turned westbound on Northeast 34th Street, southbound on Northeast 57th Avenue and then westbound onto Fourth Plain Boulevard through a red light, the affidavit says. The officer briefly lost sight of the vehicle, then caught up with it again as it continued at a high rate of speed northbound on Stapleton Road. He followed the vehicle as it turned eastbound onto state Highway 500 and attempted to stop it just east of the Andresen Road exit. The driver cut off other vehicles and crossed three lanes of the highway, said Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp.

Police continued to follow the vehicle, which took the Northeast Thurston Way exit. At one point, the vehicle was two or three feet away from hitting a patrol vehicle head-on, Kapp said. That prompted one of the passengers to jump out of the vehicle before the Honda continued back onto Highway 500.

That male passenger suffered injuries including road rash; additional information was not immediately available. He told officers that all of the passengers had pleaded with Hanif to stop and that they didn’t want to be in the car, according to the affidavit.

The Honda then exited the highway again onto Northeast 112th Avenue, weaving through the North Image Neighborhood. A female passenger inside the vehicle called 911. saying she didn’t want to be in the car, Kapp said.

Vancouver officers, with assistance from Clark County sheriff’s deputies, continued to follow the vehicle and eventually boxed in the car at the intersection of Northeast 147th Avenue and Northeast 76th Street.

They then arrested the alleged driver, Hanif.

A male passenger, Aaron D. Buell, 24, who had no listed address, was arrested on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine.

Police are continuing the investigation.