Suspect arrested after cross-border chase ends in Blaine

A suspect who led Canadian and U.S. officials on a cross-border chase was booked into Whatcom County Jail early Wednesday.

Kashon N. Kohler, 32, was arrested on suspicion of having LSD and the anesthetic drug ketamine, obstructing a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest, said Undersheriff Jeff Parks.

Kohler failed to stop his black Volkswagen Jetta and drove through the Blaine truck crossing into Canada at about 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Surrey, B.C.

In Kohler’s first appearance in Whatcom County Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon, Dona Bracke, the prosecuting attorney, said Kohler brandished a handgun at Canadian border officers.

Officers chased the car into South Surrey before Kohler doubled back and tried to re-enter Washington through the southbound border crossing. The car was stopped just inside the U.S. when officers rammed the car and flattened its tires.

Kohler was uncooperative as U.S. Customs and Border Protection took him into custody, kicking at and struggling with officers, Parks said.

U.S. border officers recovered 16 tabs of LSD and nearly 12 grams of ketamine, Bracke said. Canadian officers later recovered the gun.

The incident closed southbound lanes at the Pacific Highway border crossing for about an hour Tuesday afternoon. There were no reports of any injuries.

Kohler, speaking through a public defender, told Commissioner Leon Henley Jr. he has lived in Clallam County for about the last year.

Henley set Kohler’s bail at $50,000.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Suspect arrested after cross-border chase ends in Blaine."