A Vancouver woman received credit for time served Monday in a December police chase that blocked the Interstate 5 Bridge and backed up traffic for hours.
Molly Luyster, 20, was sentenced to 50 days in jail, but she had already served 67 days and will be released, according to Senior Deputy Prosecutor Toby Krauel. She pleaded guilty to attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle; a charge of possession of a stolen motor vehicle was dismissed, court records show.
Luyster was in the driver’s seat of the car, according to court records, when police responded around 4 p.m. Dec. 22 to Vancouver’s Leverich Park for a report of suspicious circumstances. Shane Hirata, 35, was in the passenger’s seat, and police said there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest, in addition to probable cause for charges from a Dec. 6 attempted robbery.
When police arrived at the park, both Luyster and Hirata appeared unconscious in the car, according to a probable cause affidavit. Police blocked the car in with their patrol vehicles and told the pair to raise their hands and step out of the vehicle. That’s when police said Luyster started the car and drove forward, crashing into two police vehicles. She then drove over a concrete parking barrier and sped out of the parking lot toward Northeast 39th Street.
