Police chase nets man who brandished assault rifle near downtown Spokane

Police chased and captured a man suspected of brandishing an assault rifle Thursday afternoon outside the Union Gospel Mission.

Spokane police Officer Kyle Yrigollen used his police car to ram the suspect’s car as it sped west toward downtown Spokane.

“I had to take him out before he got downtown,” Yrigollen said.

An undercover police car was on patrol when officers inside spotted the man with the rifle driving west on Trent Avenue. “They observed a guy go by the UGM and pull out a rifle,” Yrigollen. “They believed he was trying to do a drive-by.”

The officer activated his lights and siren, but the man sped away. He hit at least two cars at the intersection of Trent Avenue and Hamilton Street. “I believe he was trying to get through traffic,” Yrigollen said.

The man, identified as 35-year-old Nicholas M. McRae, had reached the Riverpoint campus on Spokane Falls Boulevard when Yrigollen used the front side of his car to hit the back quarter of McRae’s car in what is known as a PIT maneuver or pursuit intervention technique.

“His car spun around and he started driving again, but his car was disabled,” Yrigollen said. McRae was arrested after a foot chase. No one was injured, and the drivers of the cars McRae hit appeared to have minor injuries.

“It turned out a lot better than it could’ve,” Yrigollen said.

The rifle with a drum magazine and a handgun were spotted inside McRae’s car. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a single charge of eluding a police vehicle, but additional charges are likely, according to police.