BANKS LAKE - An Everett man and four other suspects led law enforcement on a 40 mile chase after they were allegedly caught illegally netting whitefish at Banks Lake.

Two officers were patrolling Banks Lake late Thursday night after receiving several reports of subjects illegally netting whitefish in the area, according to Capt. Chris Anderson with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

While checking parts of the shoreline in the dark, the officers located several bags of fish hidden in the rocks as well as several illegal gill nets deployed in the water north of Million Dollar Mile, Anderson said Monday.

The two Fish and Wildlife officers decided to hide nearby and wait for the suspects to return to retrieve their catch.

At about midnight, a van pulled up and five people reportedly jumped out to retrieve the nets and began loading the fish into the vehicle. When officers tried to contact the suspects, they fled in the van, nearly running over an officer in the process, Anderson said.

The driver, Mikhail Nikolayevi Mitsevich, 38, led officers on a 40-mile pursuit that ended on Highway 2 near the town of Douglas in Douglas County.

During the pursuit, the suspects allegedly tried to dispose of the evidence by throwing the bags of fish and illegal nets out the side of the van alongside the highway, according to Anderson.

The van was eventually stopped near Douglas, where several deputies from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and a state trooper assisted in the arrests.

Fish and Wildlife officers recovered more than 175 fish and three gill nets from the highway.

Mitsevich was booked into Grant County Jail for attempted vehicular assault, attempt to elude, second-degree use of a net and first-degree recreational fishing.

The four accomplices were all cited for gross misdemeanor fishing violations and their vehicle was seized, Anderson said. The names of the accomplices were not released.

"Unfortunately, this activity has become all too common during the late fall and early winter when thousands of these fish begin to gather to spawn," Anderson said. "Anglers are already allowed to retain 15 fish per person, per day with hook and line but apparently that doesn't satisfy the greed of some. Thank you to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and Washington State Patrol for their quick response and assistance with this case."

In January, two Spokane men were arrested at Banks Lake for illegally fishing for 50 whitefish using a long gill net, according to a Jan. 13 Columbia Basin Herald article.