Officers arrested a man following a brief pursuit of a stolen car through the Maple Leaf neighborhood late Thursday night.
Officer Garret Hay of the North Precinct was patrolling the area near the 900 block of Northeast 65th Street just before midnight Thursday, searching for a stolen car associated with multiple armed robberies throughout the day. Officer Hay spotted the white Lexus parked in front of a gas station and waited for the occupants to return to the car. Moments later, two people entered the car and took off at a high rate of speed. Officer Hay gave chase, following the suspects until they began traveling at speeds closing on 70 MPH the wrong way down Roosevelt Way Northeast. The stolen car then clipped another car causing the stolen car to roll over and come to a rest on its roof in the 8000 block of Roosevelt Way Northeast.
Officers quickly converged on the stolen car and took the passenger into custody. Seattle Fire Department firefighters had to extricate the driver from the car. The firefighters also rescued a chihuahua from the stolen car. The occupants of the victim vehicle were uninjured in the collision.
Officers interviewed and released the passenger from the scene. The 21-year-old driver of the stolen car was transported to Harborview Medical Center where he is currently being treated for a broken clavicle suffered in the crash. Officers will book the driver into the King County Jail for attempting to elude and possession of stolen property when he is released from the hospital. Robbery detectives are still working to determine if the suspect in this case is connected to the earlier armed robberies.