Waterville Councilmember Accused of Fleeing From and Lying to Police
Waterville Town Councilmember Cody Preugschat was arrested for fleeing from and lying to a Douglas County deputy Tuesday.
Douglas County Prosecutors charged Preugschat with eluding a police officer, tampering with a witness, and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant.
On Oct. 9, Preugschat allegedly fled from Douglas County Sheriff deputies while heading home to Waterville.
Around 1:30 a.m., a deputy patrolling US 2 saw a silver pickup truck go eastbound up Pine Canyon.
While driving behind him, the deputy saw the truck swerving on the road as he was driving towards Waterville.
Suspecting a possible DUI scenario, the deputy turned his lights on for the truck to pull over for a routine traffic stop.
The driver of the truck decided to speed up to 85-90 mph, rather than stop. The officer was later advised to stop pursuing the truck, who was last seen going westbound on W Birch St.
That deputy looked up the pickups’ license plate, which was registered under Preugschat’s name.
Later that morning, a different Douglas County deputy visited Preugschat at his Waterville home.
He failed to answer the door, and when deputies touched his truck, they noticed that it still felt warm. They also saw empty beer cans in the back of his pickup truck.
Around 7:30 p.m., deputies drove by his residence again, this time not seeing his truck. They called Preugschat, who stated that he left Waterville the night before the incident.
On Oct. 8, Preugschat said he rode Link Transit from Waterville to Wenatchee, to watch a baseball game with his friends in an Applebee’s.
Later that night, left Applebee’s a couple hours later to go to Joe’s Log Cabin, where he stayed until midnight, before leaving to go to his friend’s house in Yakima to spend the night.
The next morning, Preugschat asked his friend to drop him off in Waterville, stating that he needed to drive and drop off some baseballs for a tournament he organized in Ellensburg.
When deputies asked if he knew anyone who would take the truck without his knowledge, he said he knew of some people he “has been hanging around some people he probably shouldn’t be.”
He declined giving deputies the names of people who may have taken his truck, but said if they found the person to press charges.
Preugschat’s cousin allegedly told him of the truck incident, he also reported some missing checks inside his truck, although he said he was unsure.
In court documents, the deputy writes that his story seemed illogical, due to the excessive driving and gas being nearly $5 a gallon.
After contacting the manager of the Red Lion’s Yakima Center, Applebee’s and Joe’s Log Cabin, along with multiple phone calls placing Preugschat in Waterville when he said he was in Wenatchee, the deputy concluded that Preugshat’s alibi was not adding up.
Initially, Preugschat’s friend confirmed his alibi, however when the deputy told him that he knew both he and Preugschat were lying, he confessed that Cody asked him to cover for him, knowing that the cops were investigating the incident
The next court date is set for November 2, 2022.