By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The man who ran a stolen pickup truck into a patrol car prompting a police officer to open fire in a Centralia neighborhood in late July was sentenced to almost five years in prison today after he pleaded guilty in Lewis County Superior Court.
Joshua A. Fitchhorn, 32, of SeaTac, wanted to plead guilty pretty much from day one, his lawyer told Judge Nelson Hunt.
Centralia Police Officer Michael Lowrey is shown as he fires at a pickup truck driving away after it rammed Lowrey's patrol car.
Defense attorney David Arcuri and Deputy Prosecutor Kjell Werner worked out a deal in which one charge was lowered but both agreed to recommend the judge hand out the maximum sentence under the law. Hunt concurred.
Fitchhorn was arrested July 29 after he stole a pickup truck and was chased through town by police officers as well as a pair of men who witnessed the theft.
Charging documents and a residential surveillance camera show Officer Michael Lowrey stopped his patrol car on Euclid Street and the lifted four-wheel drive truck headed toward him and struck the front of the patrol car. The videotape shows the truck back up and then move forward again as though to make a U-turn and strike the patrol car a second time. It shows Lowrey then exit his vehicle and take aim with his handgun as the pickup drove away.
Warner said he understood Lowrey fired three shots and two narrowly missed Fitchhorn.
“The guy’s lucky to be alive,” Warner said after the court hearing. “It was a stupid thing to do, but … he’s lucky.”
Lowrey, an 11-year veteran of the department, was treated for a minor injury to his head after the ramming.
He was put on what Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg described as modified duty pending the outcome of the administrative review. The results of the review have not been released.
Fitchhorn pleaded guilty today to attempting to elude, hit and run, vehicle theft and third-degree assault. The last charge was lowered from second-degree assault in the plea agreement.
The unemployed man who had recently been released from a Chehalis drug and alcohol treatment center had two prior convictions for felony eluding and three times been convicted for second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Warner said it was a good deal for Fitchhorn as none of the final charges would be a strike offense and suggested it was beneficial to the prosecutor’s office as well.
“Honestly, there were some questions of the sufficiency of the evidence,” Warner said.
It looked in the video tape as though the brakes on the truck locked up and he was trying not to hit the patrol car, Warner said.
Fitchhorn when he was questioned by the judge about what he did began to say he didn’t see the patrol car and the judge cut him off.
He was sentenced to 57 months on two of the counts, 43 months on one and 18 months on another. They will be served concurrently.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter