Driver in police crash was on the lam

Just 10 days out of prison, Mary Jane Rivas was on the run from the law — again.

Wanted on arrest warrants for prostitution, DUI, malicious mischief and two thefts, Rivas had blown off a meeting on Aug. 4 with her parole officer, and the state was still looking for her.

At 4 a.m. Sunday Rivas was behind the wheel of an SUV, speeding through Seattle's Central District. She barreled through a red light at an estimated 80 mph and broadsided a police cruiser driven by rookie Officer Joselito "Lito" Barber.

When police officers reached the mangled wreckage at East Yesler Way and 23rd Avenue South, Barber was unresponsive; Rivas was sitting in the passenger seat of the GMC Yukon claiming the driver had just fled the scene.

After a brief manhunt, Rivas, who gave police a false name, was identified as the driver, police sources say.

It's unclear who owned the SUV, but Rivas was not the registered owner.

Barber, a 26-year-old who had just joined the department this year, was pronounced dead at Harborview Medical Center.

Rivas, who did not have a valid driver's license, is being treated for a broken leg and ankle at Harborview Medical Center.

The state Department of Corrections (DOC) on Monday filed a hold with the King County Jail to make sure Rivas, 31, is arrested for using drugs and failing to report for probation. Rivas is believed to have had drugs in her system when the crash occurred, according to DOC spokeswoman Mary Christensen.

Rivas had been ordered to meet with her probation officer the day after she was released from prison on a cocaine-possession conviction.

Rivas has been in and out of prison since 1995 — for possession of stolen property, attempting to elude police, illegal possession of a firearm and possession of heroin and methamphetamine.

The crimes occurred in Seattle, King County, Renton and Tukwila.

On Monday, an uncle said she was trying to put the past behind her; she wanted to spend more time with her young son, who lives with his father.

"She had her hard times, but she was a good girl," he said, asking not to have his name published for fear the incident might hurt his business. "She said she was going to church and wanted to get her life together."

Rivas' father, Dave Reisdorph, said his daughter called him after she got out of prison. He said she promised she was kicking drugs. "She's been saying she'll be good for some time," he said. "I kind of disowned her a long time ago."

Rivas' relatives said they received a letter from her about two weeks ago. She was happy about getting drug treatment and help.

"She got mixed up in stuff. She just seemed to be tangled up in the wrong crowd," her uncle said.

Rivas, who has gone by at least 11 criminal aliases, served 2 ½ months this summer at the Pine Lodge Corrections Center, near Spokane, for the cocaine conviction. She was described as a trouble-free inmate.

Snohomish County prosecutors had recommended that Rivas serve a much longer sentence — one year and one day — because Everett police had found crack cocaine on her during a September 2005 traffic stop, Deputy Prosecutor Helene Blume said.

Rivas had skipped out on a court hearing about two weeks after her arrest, requiring a judge to issue an arrest warrant. She was arrested in February and remained behind bars until a May 16 plea hearing.

Rivas' public defender and the Department of Corrections recommended to a judge that she would benefit from a Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (DOSA) sentence, Blume said. Rivas pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and received a reduced sentence.

On Aug. 4, the day after her prison release, Rivas was supposed to check in with her Pierce County probation officer. But last Friday, after not hearing from her, probation officers went looking for her. She wasn't living where she said she would be in Pierce County.

"The department attempted to locate her when this tragic event occurred," said DOC spokesman Gary Larson. "Clearly we had no legal right to hold her any longer than we did."

Seattle Times researchers

Gene Balk and David Turim contributed to this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com