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One man arrested in MLPD chase

JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 3 weeks AGO
by JOEL MARTIN
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | July 7, 2026 5:28 PM

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man was arrested Friday following a brief police chase Friday morning. Canaan Nickolas Elliott, 18, was arrested on an out-of-county warrant in the Cascade Valley area of Moses Lake, according to a statement from the Moses Lake Police Department. Elliott was previously arrested in June on suspicion of third-degree retail theft with special circumstances, obstructing a law enforcement officer and second-degree burglary, according to Columbia Basin Herald archives. 


The incident began around 5 a.m. when officers were dispatched to a hit-and-run collision on North Buell Street, according to the statement from the MLPD. While en route to the call, one of the officers heard shots fired in the area and located the alleged hit-and-run vehicle.


The driver of the vehicle fled and came to a stop after a collision in Cascade Valley near Valley and Denton roads. Six occupants fled the vehicle, five of whom were captured by MLPD officers with the help of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.  


The sixth was the driver, who has been identified but had not yet been arrested Tuesday afternoon. The suspects ranged in age from 16 to 21, according to the statement.  


Officers located a firearm and casings in the vehicle, according to the MLPD statement, and the vehicle was impounded pending a search warrant. The juvenile suspects were released to their parents pending crime lab analysis and the filing of formal charges. 


It was unclear what, if anything, the alleged shots were aimed at and no victim had come forward Tuesday afternoon, according to the MLPD. The investigation is ongoing. 


ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN

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Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday

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