Two children dead after Washington State Patrol forced to terminate chase due to state law – Law Officer

YAKIMA COUNTY, Wash. – Two children — an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy — were killed after the vehicle they were traveling in was struck head-on last week by a driver going the wrong way on I-82 near Sunnyside in Yakima County, Washington.

An hour prior to the double traffic fatality, Washington State Patrol troopers in Ellensburg made an attempt to stop the racing automobile for driving at 111 miles per hour on I-90. However, due to a legislative prohibition on police pursuits imposed on law enforcement personnel by Washington Democrats, the troopers were forced to disengage and allow the violator flee, the Post Millennial reported.

Trooper Chris Thorson with the Washington State Patrol said, “Under current laws that the legislature passed, police officers are not allowed to pursue vehicles unless it’s something felonious in nature or suspected DUI. In this scenario, it was someone speeding really fast and that’s all the troopers had for probable cause at the time. So they had to follow the current law and terminate the pursuit.”

Despite overwhelming data from law enforcement agencies showing a massive spike in crime and people fleeing from police since HB 1054 was passed and signed into law by Democrat Governor Jay Inslee, state Democrats have refused to fix the woefully flawed law they passed in 2021.

The suspect in the fatal collision has been identified as 20-year-old Keith Goings from Springfield, Missouri. He was operating a Ford Mustang traveling in the wrong direction on I-82 at mile marker 65 at the time of the massive wreck. He was transported to Memorial Hospital in Yakima and is being investigated for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, Thorson said.

Goings crashed into a vehicle occupied by a man and three children under the age of 10. Maurilio “Danny” Trejo, 23, was identified as the driver who was taking the children to a supervised visit with their parents as part of his job. He was driving his Nissan Altima shortly after 7:30 p.m. last Tuesday when Going smashed into them, according to the Tri-City Herald.

The children killed in the crash were identified as 8-year-old Delilah Minshew and 6-year-old Timothy Escamilla. They were pronounced dead at the scene while Trejo and the 5-year-old sister of the other children were transported to Harborview Medical Center with serious injuries.