Federal prosecutors charge Tacoma woman accused of ramming a Yakima police car while evading cops | Crime and courts

A Tacoma woman involved in a car chase that went from Yakima in the Villages to the Lower Valley has been charged in federal court.

Rachel Kathryn Leggett, 39, was charged in US District Court with conspiracy, bank fraud and identity theft. Leggett was indicted in federal court in Oregon, but the current charges were filed in Eastern Washington District Court in Yakima.

Yakima County prosecutors, who charged Leggett with escape, forgery, hit-and-run causing bodily injury and first-degree identity theft in Yakima County Superior Court, dismissed those charges without prejudice after the federal charges were filed, according to court documents .

By dismissing the state’s case without prejudice, prosecutors retain the ability to file charges again if necessary.

Federal prosecutors allege in court documents that Leggett was part of an “organized fraud ring” that operated in three Oregon counties since 2023.

According to a complaint filed in federal court, prosecutors allege the gang broke into vehicles and took driver’s licenses, credit cards, debit cards, checkbooks and other documents that could be used to impersonate the victim and the stolen checks.

The suspects in car thefts were accompanied by investigators, the statement said.

Leggett is accused of using the woman’s stolen identification and bank card in December 2023 at credit union branches in Eugene and Springfield, Ore., to withdraw $12,000, the complaint said.

On Oct. 9, Leggett is accused of using a woman’s ID and bank card to withdraw money from an account at the West Yakima Avenue branch of Cashmere Valley Bank and then leading the police on a chase that went through the Villages and ended in Lower Valley.

Bank employees called Yakima police shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday when Leggett attempted to fraudulently withdraw $5,000 from a bank account, according to the probable cause statement.

Bank employees told police that Leggett made similar withdrawals in Cashmere Valley’s Cle Elum and attempted to do so at the bank’s Ellensburg branch before coming to Yakima, the affidavit said.

A YPD officer confronted Leggett as he drove by, but she backed off and walked away, according to the affidavit. The officers followed her to the Village and then to Lower Valley. Washington State Patrol troopers and Yakima County Sheriff’s deputies assisted. Leggett’s vehicle collided with spikes near Toppenish and she was taken into custody, the affidavit said.

Leggett is being held in the custody of the U.S. Marshals at the Yakima County Jail.