YAKIMA, Wash. – A 39-year-old woman accused of attempting to fraudulently withdraw money from someone else’s bank account and eluding police had her bail set in Yakima County Superior Court.
On Oct. 9, police were dispatched to Cashmere Valley Bank in Yakima after bank employees reported a suspect in the drive-through attempting to withdraw $5,000 at around 2 p.m.
According to court documents, bank employees were notified of a fraud incident that had occurred earlier at a different branch involving the same account the suspect was attempting to take money from. The suspect had allegedly withdrawn $5,000 from the account at a Cle Elum branch and was later determined to not be the account holder by the bank’s fraud department.
When police responded to the scene, the suspect attempted to leave, allegedly striking the front passenger side of a patrol vehicle that was trying to block the suspect in.
The suspect fled from the scene in her vehicle, leading the police on a pursuit from Yakima to Selah and eastbound on I-82.
The pursuit ended and the suspect was arrested on I-82 near milepost 46 at approximately 2:35 p.m. after police deployed spike strips along the road, according to YPD Public Information Officer Yvette Inzunza. Washington State Patrol and Yakima County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the arrest.
No one was injured in the chase, per YPD.
Court documents explain that the bank account holder the suspect allegedly attempted to take money from had their car broken into the previous weekend and had their driver’s license and bank card stolen.
The woman was booked on charges of eluding, hit and run, identification theft, forgery, possession of stolen property, and attempted theft.
The suspect’s bail has been set at $50k and is currently in custody. Her arraignment is set for Oct. 24.
