A wanted man led police on a brief chase through North Seattle, ramming several police vehicles and crashing into another motorist before officers were able to pin his vehicle to a tree and take him into custody.
The incident began just before 1:30 PM Tuesday when officers received a 911 report that the 19-year-old suspect had stolen $1,000 worth of tools from a home improvement store near North 116th Street and Aurora Avenue North.
Officers arrived, parked their vehicles behind the suspect, who was inside his car, and approached him on foot.
The suspect then rammed one officer’s vehicle several times, pushing it out of the way. He then drove into a shopping cart rack near an officer and sped away.
Because of the suspect’s escalating behavior, officers called for backup and another patrol officer spotted the suspect driving away from the scene and began following behind him.
The suspect turned eastbound on North 125th Street, struck a motorist—who was uninjured—and continued until an officer attempted to pin the suspect’s vehicle to a wall. The suspect was able to get away and keep driving, until two patrol vehicles rammed the suspect’s car, first pinning it to a wall, and then a tree near 125th and Densmore Avenue. The suspect tried to climb out of his vehicle and run from police, but was taken into custody.
He later told police he had intentionally rammed police cars because he had warrants and didn’t want to go to jail. He will be booked into the King County Jail for investigation of robbery, investigation of assault on an officer, eluding police, and a felony robbery warrant out of Snohomish County.
One officer sustained a minor hand injury during the incident and two patrol vehicles were severely damaged.