Police Department

Kidnapping and Pursuit

Sgt. Terry Preuninger, PIO

Monday, August 26, 2019 at 9:41 a.m.

A test drive from a local car dealership turns criminal and dangerous when a woman refuses to return the vehicle to the lot or let the salesman out of the car. She eventually flees from police and rams two patrol cars injuring an officer.

Around 2 p.m. on Saturday Spokane police received a call from an employee of Dave Smith’s Nissan. He advised that he was on a test drive with a couple and the driver was refusing to return the car to the lot or let him out of the vehicle. The employee stayed on the phone with police and continued to update the location of the car. SPD patrol units quickly located the vehicle and tried to pull it over.

The driver of the vehicle would not stop but continued at relatively low speeds. The officers were getting updates from the victim who was still in the car and unable to escape as the driver would not stop the car. The victim was advising that the female driver was stating she wasn’t going to pull over and he thought she was going to harm him. The police dispatcher could hear a woman in the background during the 911 call. She was exclaiming she knew the victim was on the phone with police but she was not going to pull over. As the low speed chase continued the driver then pulled into a parking lot, providing officers an opportunity to attempt to block the vehicle. However the driver avoided the patrol cars and continued out of the lot and back onto the street now increasing her speed.

The driver continued to flee at higher rates of speed and ended up in the area of 14^th and Latawa, this was a dead end, officers again tried to block the vehicle in. The suspect then drove through the police cars striking three patrol cars. Officers recognized that the event was escalating to an even higher level of danger for the victim in the car and the public at large. A patrol sergeant used his vehicle to strike the fleeing vehicle effectively ending the incident.

The suspect and an officer received minor injuries. Both were transported to the ER for evaluations.

Three SPD black and whites and the sergeant’s vehicle were damaged in the incident.

The suspect, 32 year old Kasandra Ayala was charged with kidnapping, Taking a motor vehicle without permission, and several counts of assault. She has had prior contacts with law enforcement in our area.

Below are photos of some of the damage to the vehicles.

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