by Sequim Gazette staff

A 20-year-old Port Angeles man pleaded guilty Thursday to a string of charges stemming from an April 5 high-speed car chase through Sequim.

Jeremy James Paapke pleaded guilty in Clallam County Superior Court to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree robbery, reckless driving and hit-and-run property damage.

Police said Christopher Lee Haltom, 29, of Sequim, James Edward Charles, 28, of Port Angeles, and Paapke raced their cars at speeds of up to 80 mph through Sequim, crashing into fences, a fire hydrant and eventually each other before coming to a stop in the parking lot of Paradise Restaurant on the corner of West Hendrickson Road and Sequim Avenue on April 5.

Sequim Police Officer Maris Turner said Paapke and Charles gave Haltom cash to purchase methadone, a synthetic opioid prescription painkiller, then Haltom took the money and fled in his vehicle.

Paapke and Charles got into their vehicle and pursued Haltom, with Paapke driving, she said.

Paapke faced a standard-range sentence of 18-20 months in prison and received a sentence from Judge S. Brooke Taylor of 17.5 months in prison followed by 18 months of Department of Corrections supervision.

During the sentencing hearing Paapke apologized for his actions.

He will be transferred to prison from the Clallam County jail, where he has been in custody since the incident.

Charles is set to go to trial for a first-degree robbery charge on Monday.