Man arrested, accused of ramming police cars, driving wrong way on I-90 during chase

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Bellevue Police say a man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after allegedly ramming into two patrol cars and running away. Police say the chase that followed is arguably one of the craziest to date.

“This is one of the most reckless suspects that I have seen in my 18 years in law enforcement,” Bellevue Officer Seth Tyler said.

Tyler said it all started at the Factoria Mall parking lot. He said two officers were already on site arresting two suspected shoplifters when officers noticed a suspicious white SUV pulling into the parking lot.

They ran its plates and found out the SUV had been reported stolen. Before police approached the SUV, officers found out that a woman and young child were inside the vehicle, along with the driver. Once both were out of the SUV, officers engaged. Right as that happened, police say the driver then backed into a car behind him, then rammed into two Bellevue patrol cars, injuring one of the officers.

“He essentially used his car as a battering ram to ram into two police cars and other citizen vehicles that were occupied,” Tyler said.

Police said the suspect then fled east, hopping onto Interstate 90 at blazing speeds. Tyler said that at several points during the chase, the suspect was going over 100 mph. The pursuit involved Bellevue, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, Washington State Patrol, and the King County Sheriff’s Office. Tyler said that at one point, the suspect tried to ram another officer who was outside his patrol vehicle.

“The suspect actually swerved directly at an Issaquah officer who was laying out spike strips in an attempt to hit him,” Officer Tyler said.

Police were able to deploy a set of spike strips after that first incident, disabling the suspect’s car. But police said it wasn’t long after that the suspect stole a Subaru Forrester from a golf course parking lot in Snoqualmie, leading police on yet another pursuit. Police said the suspect’s reckless driving kept escalating to the point he was driving west on eastbound I-90 right into oncoming traffic.

“It didn’t matter if there were units on the ground or not. He was trying to do anything he could to get away,” Tyler said.

Bellevue Police called off their pursuit of the suspect once he started driving into oncoming traffic.

“That is not a situation where we are ever going to chase anyone with a patrol car. It’s too dangerous,” Tyler said.

But King County’s Guardian One helicopter kept up with the suspect once officers had end the chase. Once the driver turned back around to head east, officers again resumed the pursuit. Tyler said the suspect then crashed into a fence at a tree farm, got out of the car and ran.

Police were able to arrest the driver by the banks of the Snoqualmie River.

“That helicopter has single handedly been responsible for catching numerous felony suspects,” Tyler said.

The suspect in the case has not yet been charged, but the King County Prosecutor’s Office said that person has been booked into the King County Jail and is expected to be charged soon.

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