Lake Stevens couple, jailed for abandoning kids, arrested again

MARYSVILLE — A Lake Stevens couple who abandoned their children in a decrepit house earlier this year have been arrested again, this time for a police pursuit involving a stolen car.

Amanda Foley and Mark Dorson were arrested Monday near Marysville. He’s under investigation for attempting to elude police, and both remained behind bars Thursday on suspicion of possessing a stolen car.

They reportedly were trying to take the tires and wheels off the stolen car not long before police caught up with them. Foley and Dorson, both 33, made headlines in February when Lake Stevens detectives found their three young children living in squalor without food, heat or a working toilet. The children were taken from them, and Foley and Dorson each were sentenced to six months in jail for misdemeanor abandonment.

It was not clear if the children were in state custody Thursday. Under state law, Child Protective Services can’t release information about the custody of children unless there is a child fatality or near fatality or there is a crime that related to a specific CPS case, officials said Thursday.

The new allegations against Foley and Dorson were not related to a CPS case, said Mindy Chambers, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Social and Health Services.

This week’s trouble started around 6 a.m. Monday, when a Chrysler Pacifica was reported stolen from 63rd Drive NE in Marysville. The owner of the car had left a phone inside, and was tracking the phone’s location, according to the arrest report.

Within about 15 minutes, the tracking system showed the phone was on Hilltop Road, between Marysville and Arlington. A Marysville officer spotted the car there and saw a man nearby. Upon seeing the officer, the man and another person climbed into a nearby Chevrolet truck and sped off.

A chase ensued, but the officer called it off when the Chevrolet reached speeds of 80 mph on 25 mph Hilltop Road. A short time later, the officer found the truck crashed into some bushes near the Centennial Trail. He could hear branches breaking as the two suspects tried to run away.

Eventually, police found the pair in the area of 67th Avenue NE and 132nd Street NE. Dorson reportedly was lying in a ditch and told the officers, “Take it easy on me!”

A tire jack was sitting alongside the Chrysler, and all of the lug nuts were missing, according to the report. The lug nuts allegedly were found in the Chevrolet.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

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