Police Department

SPD Arrest Suspect After He Flees From a Routine Traffic Stop

Ofc. John O'Brien, PIO

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 11:08 a.m.

Spokane Police arrest suspect after he flees from a routine traffic stop – leaving a trail of drugs and a gun.

On February 3, 2021, around 10:30 p.m., SPD attempted to make a traffic stop on a blue Honda for failure to signal at the intersection of N. Cook Street and E Columbia Avenue.  The driver, later identified Mikaele Harter-Lupesoliai (21), fled from the Honda and ran behind a house as the car rolled to a stop.  Witnesses at the scene informed SPD of the direction Harter-Lupesoliai had fled and officers detained him in the backyard of a nearby residence.  He was not wearing shoes.

Back at the Honda, officers could see an unzipped fanny-pack with small baggies and money in the passenger seat.

Following the route Harter-Lupesoliai had taken from the Honda to where he was detained, officers recovered a loaded handgun, a shoe, a cell phone, and two baggies of fentanyl and methamphetamine that appeared to have been recently discarded.

Harter-Lupesoliai is a convicted felon with a past conviction for Assault 2^nd degree.

Harter-Lupesoliai was transported to Spokane County Jail for Unlawful Possession Firearm 1^st degree, Obstructing a Law Enforcement Officer, and two counts of Possession of Controlled Substance.

After obtaining a warrant to search the vehicle, SPD discovered a wallet with multiple forms of identification for Harter-Lupesoliai as well as a loaded shotgun.  Inside the fanny pack was a bag of marijuana and ten separate small clear baggies containing two individual pills of Alprazolam. This method of packaging is consistent with possession of a drug with the intent to distribute.

A second Unlawful Possession Firearm 1^st degree charge was added, as was a Possession of Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver charge.

# 2021-20019014

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