PENDLETON — A high-speed car chase along Interstate 84 through Umatilla and Morrow counties on Saturday, Oct. 23, ended in the arrest of a man who officers shot with a stun gun while he was trying to choke a police dog, according to law enforcement officials.

Christopher Rich Mollette, 48, of Boise, is in the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton, for attempting to flee, reckless driving and endangering and interfering with a police animal.

Oregon State Police Sgt. Seth Cooney said he first responded to the chase after receiving reports that a “mentally unstable man” who had gotten into an altercation in Baker City was heading west on I-84. Police reported the man, Mollette, was calling law enforcement, telling them where he was and how fast he was driving. Cooney also said Mollette made threatening remarks.

Oregon State Police called the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office at 9:11 a.m. and reported Mollette was driving in a blue Dodge Dart heading west from Pendleton on the interstate, Morrow County Sheriff Ken Matlack said, adding caching Mollette was considered a “high risk traffic stop.”

Cooney said he positioned himself near the Stanfield interchange, near the bridge that crosses the Umatilla River, and watched Mollette weave in-and-out of heavy traffic at more than 115 mph.

“I don’t believe he slowed down at all,” Cooney said.

He was going so fast Cooney couldn’t keep up and lost him.

“He was just gone,” Cooney said.

Morrow County deputies and Boardman police got involved with the interstate pursuit near Boardman. It was 9:26 a.m. Police chased the Dart past the Boardman rest stop at around 100 mph. Matlack said law enforcement attempted to put down spike strips but were unable.

At one point, Mollette called 911 and told police he wasn’t stopping and then hung up, Matlack said.

At around the same time, a woman who claimed to be Mollette’s girlfriend called police and said he was heading to Vancouver and she was afraid of him. She wanted to know if he would be booked, Matlack said.

At around 9:38 a.m., police followed Mollette into the parking lot of a Shell gas station in Arlington. Matlack said he refused to comply with police instructions. He grew “aggressive,” Matlack said, so a deputy released a police dog on Mollette.

Mollette attempted to choke the dog while it jumped on him. Officers then hit Mollette with a stun gun and promptly took him into custody, Matlack said. He remains in the local jail on preliminary bail of $65,000.