BALM GROVE, Ore. — A driver who tried to elude police, hit a spike strip, careened off an embankment, crashed through a tree and landed in a Washington County creek Feb. 15 has been charged with several counts of assault and attempt to elude.
The car went into Gales Creek in the 55900 block of Highway 6, northwest of Forest Grove.
Dashcam video from Kellon Obrist (below) showed the car moving at a high speed and crashing into the water.
"It was quick, I've never seen anything like that," Obrist said. "We see a lot of stuff out here driving around, but I have never, ever, ever thought I would see something like that."
Authorities pulled the driver, identified as 23-year-old Jeremiah Libbee, out of the fast-moving creek hundreds of yards away from the crash, but that's when they learned a woman was still trapped in the car.
The woman, who was underwater at one point, was conscious and breathing during the rescue effort. She suffered critical injuries in the crash, according to Washington County Detective Mark Povolny.
On Feb. 18, police said the woman is 21 years old and from Gaston. She was listed in fair condition at a Portland hospital.
In an indictment made public Feb. 28, police said she was a victim. She was assaulted by Libbee who used "a dangerous weapon, to wit: a motor vehicle.
He was indicted for one count of second-degree assault, two counts of third degree assault, attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving, driving while suspended or revoked and DUII.
It took multiple tow trucks and rescue crews to hook up the damaged car and pull it back onto the highway. Fire crews had to cut through the vehicle in order to free the woman. The entire rescue took nearly 90 minutes, according to Forest Grove Fire & Rescue.
Medics took her and Libbee to a Portland hospital.
Libbee has been discharged from the hospital, police said Monday.
Chase began in North Plains area
The chase began around 8:15 a.m. when a North Plains police officer spotted a vehicle going approximately 90 mph on Highway 26, Povolny said.
The driver, later identified as Libbee, accelerated when the officer tried to pull him over.
The chase continued from Highway 26 onto Highway 6 and through the Banks area. Washington County sheriff's deputies and Oregon State Police troopers joined the pursuit.
A deputy deployed a spike strip near a gas station not far from the crash scene and was trying to remove it from the road "because of how out of control this vehicle was," said Povolny.
"I thought it was crazy, I thought there was a film crew going on around here, that it was a movie," said Dawn Haynes, who was pumping gas at the Shell station. "Because it's something that you would see out of a movie. It wasn't something that I would want to see again."
One of the car's tires hit the spike strip before the deputy could remove it and the car quickly went off the road toward the creek. It crashed through a tree before landing in the water.
"Everybody that was around was running to help and you could hear her screaming, 'Help me! Help me!'" Haynes said.
