A Seattle man arrested for trying to escape pursuing sheriff’s deputies in August 2019 is facing three new felony charges in Jefferson County Superior Court, including two accusations of identity theft.

Chas Anthony Martin, 34, has entered pleadings of not guilty earlier this month on two counts of second-degree identity theft, unlawful possession of payment instruments, and hit-and-run property damage.

He had earlier been charged in Jefferson County Superior Court of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, second-degree malicious mischief, making false statements to a public servant, and third-degree driving with a suspended license.

Martin allegedly fled from police following a traffic stop near the Chimacum Chevron.

A deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has been monitoring traffic at the Highway 19 and Chimacum Road intersection.

The officer checked the license plates on a Ford Mustang and a Kia Sorento that had pulled up to the gas pumps and noticed the Kia had a right taillight that wasn’t working, according to court documents. The deputy ran a check on the Ford and found it had an expired registration.

When both cars left the gas station, the officer pulled over the Ford and the Kia driver stopped as well.

During the deputy’s talk with a woman driving the Kia, he found she was driving with a suspended license and no insurance. 

While awaiting a confirmation on the woman’s suspension, the deputy said he went to tell the Kia driver about his broken right taillight.  

The driver said he didn’t have his license with him because it had been stolen.

The deputy called in with the man’s name, and after he was told there were no records for someone with that name, the officer went back and asked the driver for his real name.

But when told to shut off the car’s engine, the driver started to back up, then slammed the vehicle into gear and sped off.

The Kia sped away south on Highway 19, and another deputy chased the car in a high-speed pursuit across Hood Canal Bridge at speeds over 90 mph, according to a statement of probable cause in the case.

A JeffCo deputy chased the fleeing driver into Kitsap County toward Port Gamble, where the Kia ran over a traffic sign at one point but was able to drive over it and keep going.

The post was bent almost to a 90-degree angle, court papers note.

The deputy cut off his pursuit after the Kia kept going toward Kingston, where there were more cars and curves in the road.

Kitsap County deputies later found the Kia at Savage Plants in Kingston, where the driver had crashed through a gate and then ran over several landscaping trees in the nursery.

A K-9 unit was brought in, and the dog found Martin hiding in trees at the back of the nursery.

When asked if he was hurt, he said he wasn’t but said he had swallowed his drugs; about 2 grams each of heroin and methamphetamine.

Martin was then taken to the hospital in Bremerton.

The toppled trees were valued at more than $1,000; and earlier estimate of the damaged gate was $1,500.

In the crashed Kia, police found a driver’s license from a woman in California, a driver’s license for a Washington man; a credit card and checks with other people’s names on them; and Social Security cards for three other women as well as two men. 

Authorities also noted finding photocopies of $100 bills, three computer printers, and a computer scanner that had 30 washed $1 bills wrapped in a photocopy of a $100 bill under the top lid.

A backpack taken from Martin at the time of his arrest also contained two glass smoking pipes, two computer laptops, a Tacoma man’s checkbook, and numerous photocopies of $50 and $100 bills.