Man arrested in Spokane Valley after leading deputies on chase that damaged 5 patrol cars

From staff reports

Spokane Valley deputies arrested a man late Sunday after a chase during which five patrol cars were damaged, the Spokane Valley Police Department reported in a news release.

The chase began about 11 p.m. when a Spokane Valley deputy saw a silver Chrysler 300 that deputies believed belonged to a man who had fled law enforcement on multiple occasions and who was a suspect in a burglary case. Deputies attempted to block the car from leaving the parking lot of Walmart, 15727 E. Broadway Ave., but the driver, Dylan J. Cassotta, 28, crashed into two deputy patrol cars as he fled the scene, police said.

Police said the ramming of a patrol car with a deputy inside it constituted a felony assault charge that allowed them to initiate a pursuit of the driver.

The chase ended when Cassotta was driving north in the southbound lanes of Pines Road, north of Sprague Avenue. A deputy struck the Chrysler, and it eventually came to a stop and Cassotta was taken into custody. A woman who was a passenger in the car said she told Cassotta to stop multiple times, police said.

Police said Cassotta will face numerous charges, including assault, reckless endangerment, eluding and malicious mischief.