EVERETT, Wash — A 27-year-old Centralia man was allegedly under the influence of drugs when he led police on a three county, high speed chase that ended with the driver going the wrong way up Interstate 5 through rush hour traffic.
Elius Mendoza Pinal was ordered to be held on $250,000 bail in Snohomish County District Court, Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecutors leveled seven charges against him, three of them felonies.
Washington State Department of Transportation cameras captured the chaos of the chase during the Tuesday evening commute.
Veteran KING 5 photojournalist Dave Wike was heading home from a live shot when he had his close call.
Wike said the suspect was coming right at him, and countless others, who had no idea what was heading their way.
"Boom! This guy goes flying by!" said Wike. "I just was hoping nothing bad would happen. This guy was bad news."
The situation started around 5:20 p.m. in Tacoma when the driver got a flat tire and decided to carjack a woman's Prius. The chase lasted 80 miles and hit speeds of 110 mph.
As the pursuit entered Snohomish County, the driver crossed through the median and continued into oncoming traffic. He drove the last 20 miles going north in the southbound lanes of I-5, nearly hitting dozens of cars.
The suspect eluded spike strips at least four times, but they finally worked near Marysville, where the suspect then allegedly tried to steal yet another car.
Authorities said he was only stopped when a state trooper leaped over the Prius and took him into custody.
"It's extremely surprising that it didn't end in a much more tragic fashion with a serious crash, injuries or a fatality," said Washington State Trooper Rocky Oliphant.
Snohomish County District Court Judge Anthony Howard called it, "some of the most atrocious and dangerous driving" he has ever seen.
Mendoza Pinal's current address is in Centralia. He has no prior criminal history. Prosecutors alleged Mendoza Pinal was under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident.
They wrote he appeared "bug eyed" with a "thousand yard stare" and was "unaware of his surroundings" when he was arrested.
"Someone's not in their right mind if this is the decision making process they're going through," said Oliphant. "To carjack a car, attempt to carjack another car, drive the wrong way for 20 miles in a fairly busy area, I don't know. There may be a mental aspect to this, as well."
The results of toxicology tests are still pending.
So, why did the pursuit last so long?
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) said through most of the chase it was too congested to safely execute what's called a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle.
At one point authorities tried to de-escalate the situation by backing off -- hoping the driver would leave the freeway, as they tracked him with a helicopter, but that didn't work either.
"In a lot of circumstances, if we back off they'll look in their mirror, see we're gone, take the exit and get off the freeway," said Oliphant. "We also didn't want to follow him the wrong way up I-5, making it even more dangerous for everyone."
WSP Sgt. Darren Wright said new laws governing police conduct during pursuits take effect in July, but they wouldn't have had much impact in this case.
Ultimately, authorities said their strategy prevailed.
"We have to weigh the safety of the public in making sure the person is removed off the roadway," said Oliphant. "There's a lot to that and every situation is different."