One Arrested After I-90 Police Chase Ends In Fiery Crash Near Ritzville

One person is in jail following a vehicle pursuit that ended in a fiery crash in Adams County over the weekend.

The Washington State Patrol says it began at around 10 p.m. on Saturday in the eastbound lanes of Interstate-90 about eight miles east of its junction with State Route 21, when a trooper initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle.

After speaking with the trooper for a few minutes, the driver reportedly fled the scene at a high rate of speed, leading to a pursuit that covered approximately six miles of the interstate.

The vehicle chase abruptly ended when the driver crashed his car into the median near an exit ramp, causing it to burst into flames.

The pursuing deputy arrived at the scene of the crash and immediately began attending to the fire, while also notifying other area law enforcement that the vehicle's two occupants had fled on foot.

A short time later, both occupants were spotted by an officer with the Ritzville Police Department at a restaurant in the 1600 block of West 1st Avenue, where both were arrested without further incident.

The driver of the vehicle, 27-year-old Jose Oscar Ayala-Lara, was booked into the Adams County Jail for attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, while his 16-year-old female passenger was released to the custody of a guardian after being briefly detained.

The fire was quickly brought under control by local agencies before it could spread, and no injuries were reported.