Ex-private investigator arrested after chase
By Leslie Slape
lslape@tdn.com
Longview police and Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies arrested Mitchell Bert McLean, 49, Longview, at gunpoint Monday after he allegedly led Columbia County law enforcement on a high-speed chase down Rainier hill and over the Lewis and Clark Bridge.
Local law enforcement boxed in the intersection at the foot of the bridge around 11 a.m. Monday after Columbia County dispatchers radioed that the driver of a Chevrolet Cavalier with Washington plates was driving erratically down the Rainier hill at more than 100 mph with Oregon law enforcement in pursuit.
He was driving on a shredded front tire after running over a spike strip, dispatchers reported. The car had slowed to about 20 mph by the time it reached the Washington side, the report said.
Oregon officers said they initially tried to pull the Cavalier over because the driver crossed the fog line a few times. McLean told officers he didn't stop because he just wanted to go home, the report said.
At the jail, McLean told officers he tried to swallow all his prescription drugs (21 Xanax pills) as he was driving over the bridge, the report said. He was transported to St. John Medical Center for treatment.
After the hospital released him, police booked him into jail in connection with felony eluding, driving under the influence and having an open alcohol container in a vehicle. Bail was set at $100,000.
Mitchell, a private investigator whose license is revoked, was convicted in 1999 of assaulting a Cowlitz County sheriff's deputy. He also has several convictions for driving under the influence.
