A Quincy man is behind bars after police say he fled from them in a suspected stolen vehicle.

The Chelan County Sheriff's Office says a Chelan resident reported they had loaned their car to a friend who had failed to return it and had learned that someone else might have been driving it.

"The owner of the vehicle loaned it to a friend and it was the friend's boyfriend that took it," explains Chief of Patrol Seth Buhler.

A short time after receiving the report, a deputy spotted the missing vehicle in Entiat and tried to stop it but the driver sped away.

The deputy was unable to follow the suspect due to current laws regarding police pursuits, but investigators quickly identified the driver as 47-year-old Joey Reyes and tracked both him and the vehicle down in the 300 block of East Wapato Avenue in Chelan the following morning.

Buhler says Reyes was arrested for multiple crimes but managed to slip any charges for driving a stolen vehicle.

"He was charged with eluding and with driving with a suspended license in the third degree. He also had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant. The owner of the vehicle, however, at the time decided not to have it reported as stolen and did not want to press charges, so he was not charged with that."

Reyes is currently being lodged in the Chelan County Regional Justice Center.

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Gallery Credit: Michelle Heart

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