EAST WENATCHEE — A 44-year-old East Wenatchee man is in custody this morning after causing three accidents and leading Douglas County sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase through East Wenatchee Monday night.

The suspect was eventually hit with a Taser to end the pursuit, said Harvey Gjesdal, Douglas County sheriff.

At 8:10 p.m., a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy, filling up his vehicle with gas in the 200 block of Grant Road, saw a van leaving the scene of an accident at the intersection of Highway 28 and Grant Road, Gjesdal said. The deputy pursued the van up Grant Road to Eastmont Avenue, where it struck a second vehicle, then continued at speeds between 40 and 60 mph up Eastmont Avenue, with deputies in pursuit.

The van ran a stop sign at Northeast Fifth Street, then, in the 1100 block of Eastmont, struck a third vehicle, said Sgt. William Redfield with the East Wenatchee Police Department.

At Eastmont and 19th Street, the van failed to negotiate a turn and landed in a ditch.

However, with two deputies ordering him out of the vehicle, the driver continued to try to get the van out of the ditch.

At that point one of the deputies used a Taser on him and he was taken into custody, Redfield said.

The van driver was examined at Central Washington Hospital for minor injuries, Redfield said, then was booked into the Chelan County Regional Justice Center on suspicion of vehicular assault, eluding an officer, hit-and-run driving, drunken driving and driving while license suspended.

Redfield said the only other driver who needed medical attention was the driver involved in the first collision, at Highway 28 and Grant Road.

He said he does not have that driver’s name but said the driver complained of pain to his left side and was transported by ambulance to Central Washington Hospital.

Dee Riggs: 664-7147

deeriggs@wenatcheeworld.com