Feb. 19--WALLA WALLA -- The couple wanted in connection with Friday's high-speed chase and ensuing eight-hour police search near Milton-Freewater were caught today after another high-speed chase that ended in a crash at the intersection of Howard Street and Bryant Avenue.
Vernon Ray Johnson and Myranda Raenn York crashed into the side of a pickup driven by Jeffery H. Callow, 62, while eluding a Walla Walla Police officer that had spotted their stolen vehicle on Wilbur Avenue around 3:20 p.m.
All three individuals were taken to local hospitals.
Callow's injuries were said to be the least serious and Johnson's the worst, with severe head trauma, according to Walla Walla police public information officer Tim Bennett.
Johnson and York were driving a stolen Honda Accord, which police believed the couple used to get away from the Friday eight-hour morning manhunt in the orchards north of Milton-Freewater.
Police had received a call that Johnson and York were in the Eastgate area, and when an officer spotted their vehicle near Alder Street, a chase immediately began south on Wilbur, according to Bennett.
The pursuit continued west on Bryant Avenue and ended when the stolen vehicle struck Callow's 1971 pickup.
The pickup rolled twice and landed in a neighboring yard.
Bennett said officers had to help Callow get out of his pickup while it caught fire.
Johnson and York are wanted in connection with a high-speed chase on Feb. 4 that ended with the couple getting away on foot in a field just outside of Glenns Ferry, Idaho, as well as other charges in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
The Washington State Patrol is handling Sunday's collision investigation.
Copyright 2012 - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Wash.
