SPOKANE, Wash. – To say 38-year-old Daniel Pajas was arrested for a felony on Friday would be an understatement. In the span of just a couple hours, Pajas allegedly committed kidnapping, burglary, carjacking, assault and arson, among other charges. As a reward for his 12-felony alleged crime spree, Pajas is currently being held in the Spokane County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
According to court documents, the string of crimes started at around 6 p.m. at the 3rd Avenue Carl’s Jr. drive-thru in downtown Spokane. Samantha Maddox told police she was picking up her food, when she felt a rock hit her arm. Then a man opened the door to her Hyundai Sonata, told her to get out and took off with it. A Carl’s Jr. employee told police the suspect was a hispanic man dressed in black shorts, a black shirt and a black baseball cap.
While police were questioning witnesses and the victim, Officer Andres Valencia saw the car, driven by a man with the same description on the intersection of Southeast Boulevard and 17th Avenue on the South Hill. The driver, later believed to be Pajas, flipped Valencia off, eventually driving recklessly as Valencia slowly followed him.
Once Valencia turned on his sirens, the car took off, speeding and multiple times heading on the wrong side of 17th Avenue. Police attempted a PIT maneuver, but the Sonata was able to avoid police, continuing to speed off while running stop signs and almost running red lights, at one point almost running into another police officer (who Pajas allegedly also flipped off).
For safety, Valencia stopped chasing the car, later learning the car was abandoned in a South Hill backyard. Valencia and other officers started a K9 search in the area, when learning about an attempted kidnapping about five blocks away.
By the time officers arrived at the scene, nine-year-old Ashlynn Walter approached them to tell them about Pajas allegedly trying to kidnap her. They received security footage of a hispanic man grabbing Walter’s backside, then mouth, and taking her away. According to conversations with Walter’s mother and grandmother, a neighbor named Troy Chappelle stepped into action, startling the man police believe to be Pajas long enough for Walter to escape.
“He loosened me because there was (Chappelle) saying ‘hey’, so he basically let me go,” Ashlynn Walter recalled.
The incident has left a lasting impact on the young girl.
“It’s to the point where I used to go outside everyday, play around, to the point where I feel scared to be on my stairs,” she said. “I’m scared to be on my stairs, like step a foot out of my house. I have a paranoia that something’s just ready to grab me.”
While police talked with Chappelle, they received reports of a hispanic man breaking into a nearby home. Quickly afterwards were reports of a shirtless hispanic man busting out someone’s back fence to enter from one backyard to another. As police came to the area, Pajas was found by police, who chased Pajas while he allegedly ditched two bags he had to try and hit an officer with a rake he found. Finally, Pajas was detained by police underneath a stairwell of a duplex. While being arrested, Pajas allegedly shouted “I hit the officer with a rake” and that he would “shoot officers if he had a gun.”
Between the alleged attempted kidnapping and Pajas’ arrest, police said he burglarized a home, stealing pillowcases, wallets and about $500 worth of jewelry. Then, police allege he went into another backyard, burning a $500 lawnmower and a $1,200 kayak.
On Monday, a judge read Pajas his 12 felony counts and one gross misdemeanor count, setting the bail at $500,000 following a powerful testimony from Ashlynn Walter’s father Dustin Walter.
“It was a terrifying phone call to receive this Friday,” Dustin Walter testified. “I’m just here to let you know that the family of my daughter… is gonna be at his court dates throughout first appearance all the way through conviction.”
Pajas was under a rapid reentry program in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
