A Vancouver woman took the law into her own hands when she found a wanted felon hiding in her garage Monday afternoon.

"What I did was stupid... I should have had a police officer with me," reflected Dawn Livermore, after the incident unfolded.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Mike Kesler said 18-year-old Raul Guevara-Martinez Jr., had ducked into Livermore's garage after an intense car and foot chase that began on I-205 just south of the St. Johns Bridge.

"We'd been on another high-speed call," said Kesler, "but instead of yielding to us, Guevara-Martinez took off and our radar clocked him going more than 100 miles per hour. We think he thought we were coming after him."

Police ran the license plate on the red 2004 Ford Expedition Guevara-Martinez was driving, and learned it had been stolen.

Officers chased Guevara-Martinez through eight miles of country road before reaching 119th Street and 87th Avenue, where Clark County Sheriff's deputies had laid down a spike strip. Guevara-Martinez drove around the barrier by cutting into a field then back onto the road.

Eventually, Guevara-Martinez jumped out of the SUV while it was still running and took off on foot near NE 72nd Avenue and NE 119th Street.

Neighbors said he ran through several yards, hopped fences and tried to open at least one front door before heading to Livermore's property.

"I heard all the commotion and saw all the police cars, so I figured I should check around my house," said Livermore, who grabbed her Colt 380 semi-automatic pistol just in case. "I checked the side door of my garage and it was locked... I knew right then he had to be in there because I never lock that door."

With her pistol in hand and doberman pinscher by her side, Livermore opened the main garage door and went in. There she found Guevara-Martinez hiding behind some boxes and pointed her loaded pistol at him.

"I said, 'put your hands up and get up!' My dog started sniffing at his legs and he said, 'get your dog away from me, I'm scared of dogs!'"

Livermore said the intruder kept inching towards the door so she fired a warning shot off to the side. The bullet went into a container filled with camping gear and Guevara-Martinez went out through the side door.

"I ran outside and didn't see police, so I let another round off in the air," Livermore said.

Minutes later, officers captured Guevara-Martinez and booked him at the Clark County Jail for attempting to elude a police officer and possession of stolen property in the first degree.

Livermore said she's had a concealed weapons permit for 10 years, but this was the first time she'd ever fired at anything but a practice target. She said she hopes it will be the last time she’ll have to, though she wishes there had never been a first.

"I should have gotten a police officer to go inside with me," she said. "It could have turned out much differently if (Guevara-Martinez) had been carrying a weapon.”