Fugitive eludes police for 12 hours

A manhunt that lasted over 12 hours around Colfax ended Monday at about 2:30 p.m. when Christopher Allen Davidson, 24, a fugitive from Oregon, was arrested on Railroad Ave., across the railroad tracks from the Perkins House in the Brown’s Addition section of Colfax.

Davidson, who fled from a vehicle on Highway 26 in north Colfax at about 2 a.m. Monday, had been spotted several times by officers and residents in the early morning hours. He then vanished for several hours during the morning and surfaced again at about 2 p.m.

Davidson actually ran through the shop at Jones Truck & Implement on the Walla Walla Highway just before he was arrested Monday afternoon.

Shop mechanics reported Davidson, who was covered in chaff, ran out the back of the shop between two buildings and down the rock bank to the Palouse River. He waded across the river and went up the other side to the dike along Brown’s Addition.

Trooper Bruce Blood, who had spotted Davidson near JTI, came through the shop after Davidson went out the back door.

Because Davidson was covered in chaff, officers believe he had been hiding most of the morning in a pile of chaff in the back of the Jones equipment lot north of the highway or possibly in the back of a combine.

He had last been seen about 7 a.m. crossing the Jones lot on the north side of the Highway.

Hickman said Davidson had been spotted about 6:30 a.m. Monday walking up Harris grade on the Green Hollow Road above Highway 26. When an officer approached, Davidson went down a steep bank into the brush below Harris grade. He was then spotted running across the Jones lot, and Hickman noted at one point he fell.

“Then he just vanished,” Hickman noted.

Officers checked all the cabs on the equipment lot but could not locate the suspect.

Sheriff Myers issued a notice that a fugitive was on the loose in Colfax. He advised residents to lock up vehicles and houses as a preventative measure.

As word spread that a fugitive was on the loose Monday morning, daycare centers and the school Head Start program at Jennings Elementary went into lockdown mode.

After he was arrested, officers discovered Davidson had sustained a cut on his ribs and cuts on his feet. He was not wearing shoes when he bailed out of a car after being stopped by a deputy 12 hours earlier.

Davidson was wanted on a “no bail” warrant issued by the Oregon Board of Parole and Post Prison Supervision. He had been released from prison on supervision in February, but the board suspended the supervision and issued its warrant July 30.

“He was essentially an escapee,” Hickman commented.

Davidson bolted from the early morning arrest scene after being stopped by a Deputy on Highway 26 just across from the Green Hollow Road intersection. He bolted for the river and vanished in the dark.

Chief Hickman said during the night officers received sighting reports on Davidson in the Bellinger Street area and behind Cougar Foodmart which is open all night.

People who sighted Davidson during the night reported he was wet from the waist down, apparently because he had waded the river after bolting from the arrest scene.

Officers learned of Davidson’s identity from a woman who was left in the arrest vehicle with two children. Hickman said the woman was the registered owner of the car and was allowed to leave.

Davidson was scheduled for an initial court appearance at 1 p.m. Wednesday.