The people who led police on a chase that blocked traffic on the Interstate 5 Bridge Wednesday afternoon were identified in court records Thursday as Vancouver residents Shane Hirata and Molly Luyster.
Luyster, 20, was in the driver’s seat of the car, according to court records, when police responded around 4 p.m. to Vancouver’s Leverich Park for a report of suspicious circumstances. Hirata, 35, was in the passenger seat, and police said there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest, in addition to probable cause for local charges from a Dec. 6 attempted robbery. Court records show a Cowlitz County arrest warrant was issued for him in July.
When police arrived at the park, both Luyster and Hirata appeared unconscious in the car, according to a probable cause affidavit. Police blocked the car in with their patrol vehicles and told the pair to raise their hands and step out of the vehicle. That’s when police said Luyster started the car and drove forward, crashing into two police vehicles. She then drove over a concrete parking barrier and sped out of the parking lot toward Northeast 39th Street.
Police followed as Luyster sped onto I-5 southbound, court records state. She drove onto the left shoulder to pass other cars and weaved between cars. Police eventually performed a pursuit intervention technique on the I-5 Bridge, stopping the car before it reached the state line, according to the affidavit.
Luyster appeared Thursday morning in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of attempt to elude. Her bail was set at $20,000, and she is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 6.
Hirata was also scheduled to appear on the outstanding warrant and additional allegations of first-degree attempted robbery, attempted theft of a motor vehicle, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle, and third-degree malicious mischief, court records show. However, his first appearance was set over to Monday after a jail deputy testified that he was too sick to attend court.
On Dec. 6, a Clark County sheriff’s deputy responded to 7912 N.E. 18th Ave. in Hazel Dell for a report that a man, later identified as Hirata, had tried to steal a motorcycle. The probable cause affidavit states a neighbor stopped Hirata from stealing the motorcycle. The owner of the motorcycle told police that when they confronted Hirata, he threatened them with a gun.
Hirata is a convicted felon and is prohibited from having a firearm, the affidavit states, and he allegedly fled the attempted robbery on a different stolen motorcycle.
Luyster is the daughter of convicted triple murderer Brent Luyster and sister of Brent Luyster Jr., 17, who is facing a second-degree murder charge in the May fatal stabbing of his stepfather.
Two lanes of the I-5 Bridge were closed for about 1½ hours Wednesday, beginning around 4:15 p.m., for the police activity. Traffic backed up on I-5 to Hazel Dell and as far north as the I-5 interchange on Interstate 205. Drivers on state Highways 14 and 500 were also delayed.
