A 37-year old man was jailed after a high-speed police chase on Thursday night.
A report from Oregon State Police said at about 11:15 p.m. a trooper was contacted by dispatch and informed of a driving complaint involving a sedan that was in the Cottage Grove area heading southbound at speed estimated to be between 120 and 130 miles per hour. The vehicle was reportedly driving with its hazard lights on, flashing its high beams, and turning its tail lights on and off.
About thirty minutes later the same caller said the vehicle had passed him again near Metz Hill still going at a high rate of speed.
The report said the trooper was waiting along the freeway in Sutherlin when he saw the vehicle pass by at 125 miles per hour, according to radar. The trooper pursued the sedan and said the vehicle’s lights were turned off as it was passing other vehicles at over 120 miles per hour, in an attempt to conceal its location.
By the time the trooper got closer, the vehicle was going 130 miles per hour. Two miles south of Winchester, a second trooper entered the freeway and turned on his rear emergency lights. The suspect driver pulled to the shoulder of the road and stopped.
Patrick Bartholomew was charged with attempting to elude police and for reckless driving. He was detained on $62,500 bail.