Woman held on $50K bail after pursuit, crash in south Everett

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 12, 2016

EVERETT — A Marysville woman who reportedly tried to outrun police Sunday in a chase that wound through parts of north Snohomish County and the wrong way down I-5 before culminating in a crash was ordered jailed on $50,000 bail.

Jennifer Anne Christian, 31, was being held for investigation of a string of offenses, including hit-and-run, motor vehicle theft, attempting to elude police, reckless driving and harassment.

She’s had four warrants for her arrest already issued in the past year and presents a danger to commit violence, Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui was told.

The judge ordered substantial bail, telling Christian her “manner of driving” was a factor.

The trouble began just after 9:30 a.m. at a gas station in the 16400 block of 84th Street NE at Getchell, south of Granite Falls. A man had gassed up his pickup truck, but left it running while he went inside to pay, according to police reports.

Witnesses said a young woman wearing a hoodie was waiting at a nearby bus stop along Highway 92. She jumped behind the pickup’s wheel and drove away.

Word of the theft was broadcast by police dispatchers, and a Lake Stevens police officer spotted a likely match to the pickup turning off Highway 9 and headed west on Soper Hill Road.

The officer followed, and the truck continued toward Marysville, obeying the rules of the road. That changed when the officer attempted to stop the vehicle as it turned onto Highway 528.

The truck’s driver ignored emergency lights and siren and sped away, blasting through a red light, according to police. The officer decided to halt the pursuit, but started it up again after he saw the truck get bogged down in Marysville traffic.

As the patrol car neared, the truck’s driver squirted past the congestion by driving up onto the curb and sidewalks, narrowly missing other vehicles. It then drove the wrong way onto the exit ramp from northbound I-5.

The Lake Stevens officer immediately halted the chase, according to police reports.

The fleeing truck continued south on the northbound lanes of I-5.

“Many 911 calls were coming in, describing the stolen truck being recklessly driven and endangering many freeway drivers,” police reports said.

Everett police were alerted, and one officer set up in a patrol car along Everett Mall Way. Just after 10 a.m. he spotted the truck driving the wrong way on the northbound on-ramp to I-5. It sped southbound onto Everett Mall Way, dodging cars and weaving through oncoming traffic.

When the truck crashed into two cars, the driver jumped out and ran. A bystander followed, and the woman threatened to kill him with a knife, police said.

A police dog was brought in, and the suspect was sniffed out, hiding amid tall grass and mud in an area overgrown by blackberry vines.

No serious injuries were reported from the crash.

According to police, Christian told them she uses methamphetamine and heroin.

She was arrested in March in connection with another vehicle theft. Prosecutors opened a case, but they let it lapse without refiling in Superior Court.