A 37-year-old fraud suspect finished last in the first-ever Tour de Ballard race Sunday after he led police on a multi-mile chase on a stolen bicycle.
Officers Henry Feldmann and Tabitha Sexton were on bike patrol near 24th Avenue Northwest and Northwest Market Street around 6:15 PM when they saw the 37-year-old riding past them.
Aware that the man was wanted for a felony fraud case, officers turned around and began following him.
The suspect–who was also riding without a helmet–noticed police pedaling behind him and sped up.
When the officers ordered the man to stop, he took off at top speed. Officers pursued the man for two or three miles as he weaved in and out of traffic through Ballard’s industrial area. At one point during the chase, a bystander threw their own bike into the suspect’s path, briefly knocking him off his bicycle, but he remounted it and took off once again. Police were finally able to catch up to the man and took him into custody near NW 43rd Street and 8th Avenue NW.
Officers found the suspect was carrying a small amount of methamphetamine and had been riding a stolen bicycle during the chase, and booked him into the King County Jail.