MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake police say two vehicle thefts in the city Wednesday night and Thursday morning appear to be related.

About 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night the Moses Lake Police Department received a report from a man who claimed he gave an unknown person a ride from Spokane in his 2007 Hyundai. The man said the passenger injected him with heroin in return for the ride and his vehicle was stolen as he was passed out from the heroin.

About 8 a.m. Thursday morning an MLPD officer was driving in the area of West Broadway Avenue and Melva Lane and reportedly spotted the stolen Hyundai.

“As he turned around to stop the vehicle, the driver, 31-year-old Kenny Major, stopped the car in the middle of the road and moved to the passenger seat,” MLPD Capt. Mike Williams said. “Major apparently forgot that he was the only one in the car and there was no one for him to switch seats with. The officer ordered Major from the car, who complied for a few moments before taking off running from a very fast officer.”

Major was taken into custody a short time later and booked into the Grant County Jail for possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest. In addition to the theft of the Hyundai, the MLPD received an additional stolen vehicle report about 5 a.m. Thursday morning after a pickup was left running outside of a gas station on North Stratford Road.

Williams says the owner of the vehicle was asked by 22-year-old Cheney resident Corbin Finigan for a ride to Spokane. The vehicle owner declined and went into the store. His truck was stolen as he was inside the store. The truck was later located on Interstate 90 heading toward Spokane and Finigan was arrested without incident for theft of a motor vehicle.

“The investigation is ongoing, but it appears that these two thefts are related,” Williams stated.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.