He allegedly stole 2 cars, wrecked them both and ran the border before he was arrested

A 23-year-old man is now in custody after he allegedly stole two vehicles Monday — both of which he ended up crashing, evaded law enforcement in King, Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties and ran the Peace Arch border crossing into Canada before he was corralled and placed in custody in Maple Ridge, B.C.

Official arrest reports have not yet been posted, but King County Sheriff Sgt. Ryan Abbott said Jason Clemens was being transported to the King County Jail Tuesday afternoon.

Monday’s events started shortly at approximately 10:47 a.m., Abbott said, when Clemens was riding a bicycle in Edmonds and fell, knocking himself out and bloodying his face.

After regaining consciousness, Clemens walked to the Arroyo Village area in Shoreline, where he knocked on the window of a 2006 Subaru Forester, Abbott said. The driver of the Subaru got out to try to help Clemens, who allegedly attempted to wrestle her purse out of her hand. The driver of the Subaru was able to fight off Clemens, Abbott said, but she had her keys in her other hand. Clemens grabbed the keys, got in the Subaru and drove off.

About an hour later, the Washington State Patrol attempted a traffic stop of a Subaru Forester on Lake Samish Road approaching Old Highway 99, trooper Heather Axtman said.

“It was unbeknownst to them that this was the guy from Shoreline,” Axtman said. “They were just making a stop for following too closely.”

The Forester refused to stop and sped off, Axtman said, taking Alger-Cain Lake Road with the trooper in pursuit. The car crashed at the dead end of a dirt road while being driven at approximately 40 mph. Clemens then reportedly jumped out of the Subaru, fled on foot and ran through the forest with troopers giving chase until he jumped in a river and crossed to the other side.

A Customs and Border Protection helicopter located Clemens, who was wearing a baseball cap and a jacket, Axtman said, and tracked him to a construction site along Cain Lake Road, where he reportedly stole a 1999 white box van.

The State Patrol stopped a white box van near Bow, Axtman said, but it turned out to be the wrong one.

The helicopter found the van driven by Clemens, Axtman said, and law enforcement resumed the pursuit, as he led them northbound on Interstate 5 at speeds reaching 90 mph.

The van ran the border at the Peace Arch crossing in Blaine at approximately 1:20 p.m, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Chad Greig told The Bellingham Herald in an interview. The RCMP attempted to stop the box van in the Cloverdale area, but Clemens allegedly sped off.

The helicopter crew continued tracking the van into Canada, Axtman said.

The van continued through Surrey into Ridge Meadows where it was involved in a one-car accident, Greig said, and the RCMP took Clemens into custody.

Axtman said the RCMP reported that Clemens was in custody at 2:18 p.m. Monday and he was transferred to the State Patrol shortly afterward. Clemens was taken to St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham to receive treatment for his injuries before he was taken back to Shoreline.

Nobody in Whatcom or Skagit County was injured in the incident, Axtman said.

This story was originally published November 6, 2018 at 10:15 AM.