MAN TAKES PATROL CAR, LEADS SPEEDY CHASE
Copyright 2001 The Columbian Publishing Co.
(Vancouver, WA) 08/27/2001

MHARI DOYLE, Columbian staff writer

RIDGEFIELD - A man arrested on drug charges Sunday afternoon
managed to steal a Clark County Sheriff's Office patrol car 
and elude officers from five agencies for nearly 30 minutes 
while driving handcuffed at speed's exceeding 100 mph.

The wild chase started in Brush Prairie and wound through the 
Five Corners, Minnehaha and Rosemere neighborhoods with police
in pursuit before James Clyde Shields, 35, turned the patrol 
car north onto Interstate 5.

Shields, who was weaving through I-5 traffic at speeds one officer
estimated at 110 mph, finally sideswiped another vehicle near
Ridgefield.

Shields hit a pickup driven by a California couple, skidded into a 
ditch an the north side of Pioneer street across from a Chevron
gas station, plowing the rear of the patrol car into a light pole.

Shields was taken to Southwest Washington Medical Center where he was 
treated for a pre-existing heart condition, said Sheriff's Sgt. Dave 
Trimble. Shields was reported to be in critical-but-stable condition
Sunday night.

No one else was hurt during the chase that involved cars from the 
Clark County Sheriff's Office, Washington State Patrol and the
Vancouver, Ridgefield and La Center police departments.

"It was very fortunate, especially in the congested areas," said 
Sheriff's Sgt. Craig Randall. "I am thankfully amazed he didn't hit
any pedestrians. There were a lot out, especially in the Rosemere area."

Charges against Shields stemming from the chase include first-degree theft
and eluding officers, both felonies.

Earlier Sunday, Shields was arrest after deputies were called to investigate
a white Ford Explorer with a man and woman sleeping inside. The deputies 
found materials and paraphernalia in the rear of the Explorer for making 
methamphetamine.

The officers arrested Shields and Paulette Yearout for outstanding felony
charges of theft and possession of methamphetam. The pairs hometowns
and Yearout's age weren't available.

The officers separated Shields and Yearout at the central precinct in Brush 
Prairie.

Shields' hands were handcuffed behind his back and he was placed in the 
back seat of the patrol car parked outside the precinct office.

In the few minute he was left unattended, Shields worked his hands to the 
front of his body and pried open the partition separating the front and
back seats, Trimble said.

Deputies had no idea there was a problem until they saw Shields drive off
in the patrol car.

"I guess he didn't want to go to jail," Trimble said. "And now he's really 
going."

Shields sped down residential streets at 80 mph, first going south, then
west, then east, then north, running one stop sign after another,
according to sheriff's office radio dispatches.

"He would have been able to hear almost everything we were saying," said 
Trimble, adding Shields did not turn on the car's siren or flashing
lights. "But that was the least of his worries."

Randall said he got ahead of the chase on 94th Avenue and 88th Street and
put out spike strips intended to deflate the stolen patrol car's tires.

"But he made a sharp turn and missed the strip," Randall said. One of 
the pursuing patrol cars then ran over the spike strip, deflating its
tires. "It took out one of us," Randall said.

When Shields finally reached I-5 and headed north, he pushed the patrol 
car to 110 mph in heavy afternoon traffic.

Randall said Shields struck a pickup just off the I-5 overpass in Ridgefield.

Robert and Karen Anderson from Cathedral city, Calif., were about to turn 
left onto the I-5 on-ramp when Shields tried to pass them on the left. 
Shields clipped the front of the Andersons' white Ford F150 truck.

"This makes me so angry," said Karen Anderson, who was visiting friends in
Battle Ground with her husband. "I thought it was a policeman driving.
That's why I raced over to help."

Karen Anderson said officers, with guns drawn, surrounded the patrol car.

"It's a good thing we stopped him before he hurt anyone," said Robert 
Anderson. "I guess we had to come up to Washington to be involved in a 
car chase. We see them all the time in LA."


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