Fleeing car thief charged in chase
Published 11:08 pm Friday, February 26, 2010
EVERETT — Convicted car thief Andrew Holden was busy boosting Hondas in the days leading up to a high-speed police pursuit that ended in a patrol car pile-up in downtown Everett, according to authorities.
Holden, 31, is tied to five stolen cars, including the one he is accused of driving Feb. 3 when he fled from police and crashed near Broadway and Hewitt Avenue, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Walt Sowa wrote.
Two Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies and an Everett police officer were injured after four patrol cars crashed as they were racing to the scene. None of the injuries was life-threatening.
Holden was charged this week with three felonies stemming from the incident.
He remains behind bars on $50,000 bail.
Holden racked up five felony convictions in 2008. All those were connected to stolen vehicles. He was being supervised by the state Department of Corrections at the time of the pursuit.
Investigators believe Holden was a one-man crime wave between Jan. 12 and Jan. 23, stealing four different Hondas. Forensic evidence connects Holden to the thefts, Sowa wrote.
Holden was behind the wheel of a Honda when he fled from a Snohomish County sheriff’s sergeant earlier this month in unincorporated south Everett. The sergeant reported that Holden blew threw red lights and reached speeds of up to 100 mph on Evergreen Way.
The pursuit ended after officers threw out a spike strip and flattened the Honda’s tires. Holden ran from the car but was later subdued with jolts from a deputy’s electric stun gun.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
