Vancouver woman sentenced in police pursuit, crash

A Vancouver woman who led multiple law enforcement agencies on a car chase from Portland’s Hayden Island that ended in a crash on Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard was given credit Wednesday for time served.

Stacey E. Wielenbeck, 29, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle in connection with the April 2 incident that started at Jantzen Beach. The high-speed chase lasted about 11 minutes in Clark County.

According to her attorney, there is a hold on Wielenbeck in Oregon.

Officers with the Portland Police Bureau, Washington State Patrol, Vancouver Police Department and Clark County Sheriff’s Office began pursuing a black 1999 Dodge Dakota pickup after the driver, identified as Wielenbeck, nearly ran over an officer in Portland, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Portland police Officer Brandon Haase and his partner, Officer John Sapper, had attempted to contact Wielenbeck and Jonathan West Nelson inside the pickup for suspected drug use, the affidavit states.

When Haase approached the pickup, Wielenbeck started the vehicle and reversed, pinning the officer against another parked car. Haase was able to move out of the way to avoid being crushed. The pickup brushed up against him a second time as Wielenbeck tried to flee, and he dove out of the way as it lurched toward him, according to court records.

The officers began chasing the pickup and were later joined by the other agencies and an air unit.

A Clark County sheriff’s deputy spotted the pickup in the 6600 block of Northeast 63rd Street in Walnut Grove. The deputy pursued the fleeing vehicle, which ran multiple stop signs and at times traveled about 75 mph in a 25 mph zone, the affidavit said.

Deputies used a pursuit intervention technique, or PIT, maneuver to ram the pickup, and it crashed at Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard and Thurston Way, court records said.

On Wednesday, Judge Gregory Gonzales gave Wielenbeck credit for time served. She faced up to 60 days in jail but had already served more than 100 days.