I-5 Car Chase Ends In Crash At SR-16 Interchange: Police

TACOMA, WA - A 19-year-old Tacoma man led a Washington State Patrol trooper on a 5-mile chase early Monday before crashing his car at the Interstate-5/State Route-16 interchange. Pending charges include driving under the influence, attempting to elude police, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Sacramento Esquivel Cornelio was taken to Pierce County Jail following the crash. His bail is currently set at $1,000.

Cornelio was traveling south on I-5 in his white 2014 Chevrolet Malibu around 3:30 a.m. March 11. Near 54th Avenue East in Fife, about three miles east of Tacoma, WSP Trooper Shannon McKenzie pulled over Cornelio for unspecified reasons.

After pulling over, however, Cornelio opted to flee the stop at a high rate of speed.

McKenzie reportedly followed Cornelio west through the SR-16 interchange, where Cornelio apparently tried to exit but instead ping-ponged his Malibu between the Jersey barriers before coming to a stop just east of South Sprague Avenue in Central Tacoma.

Cornelio was reportedly uninjured in the crash, but the incident blocked traffic at the interchange in some capacity for more than an hour.

Cornelio was booked just after 7 a.m.

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