Washington man arrested on I-84 at 101 mph, intoxicated, suspected meth

Oregon State Police Trooper Tanner Bazer stopped a white sedan on Interstate 84 near the Campbell Street interchange in Baker City after clocking the vehicle at 101 mph, according to the trooper's probable cause affidavit. The driver was identified as 32-year-old Colton Magee Thomas of Richland, Washington, and the stop took place about 3:30 p.m. on March 3.

Bazer wrote that the sedan passed his patrol car while "making rapid lane changes," prompting a follow-up that led to the traffic stop. While following the vehicle, Bazer observed a white object come out of the passenger side window and land on the freeway shoulder, the affidavit states.

The trooper recovered the object and found it to be a sock that contained a "white crystal substance that based off my training and experience I recognized to be methampetamine" [sic], the affidavit states. Thomas was charged with possession of methamphetamine based on that discovery.

Investigators also cited signs of impairment in the affidavit. Bazer reported he smelled a "strong odor of alcohol" on Thomas' breath and observed that Thomas' pupils were constricted. A subsequent breath sample returned a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15, as recorded in the affidavit.

Thomas was booked on multiple charges following the stop. Baker County deputies and the Oregon State Police charged him with driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving and possession of methamphetamine, and he was additionally arrested on an outstanding Benton County, Washington, fugitive warrant for identity theft, the court records show. He was arraigned in Baker County Circuit Court on March 4 and remained in the Baker County Jail Wednesday evening on $50,000 bail.

The incident places enforcement activity squarely on I-84 through Baker City and required coordination between Oregon State Police and Baker County court and jail staff. Court filings note the arraignment but do not list subsequent hearing dates; Baker County Circuit Court docket entries and lab confirmation of the seized substance were not included in the affidavit excerpt. Thomas faces state-level DUII and drug charges in Oregon as well as the Benton County fugitive matter tied to an identity theft warrant.