BELLEVUE, Wash. — A suspect is on the loose after evading officers and allegedly carjacking a construction worker and ramming a police vehicle, according to the Bellevue Police Department (BPD).
In a post on the Bellevue Beat Blog, BPD said an officer encountered a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot on NE 20th Street just before 4 a.m. Wednesday morning.
The officer ran the vehicle's plates and discovered the maroon Chevrolet Tahoe had been reported stolen. Someone also appeared to be sleeping inside the vehicle, police say.
Spike strips were placed under the tires, but when officers attempted to contact the person inside the vehicle, the suspect drove over the spike strips. They drove the wrong way down 148th Avenue NE and then entered the eastbound lanes of state Route 520 while traveling westbound. Officers did not chase the suspect due to "extreme danger," according to police.
"Some of these people that are committing these crimes, aren't thinking rationally," said BPD Captain Ryan Parrott. "And they will do anything to get away."
BPD said shortly after driving onto SR 520, the suspect allegedly assaulted a construction worker and stole a vehicle from the construction site. That construction vehicle was used to ram a responding officer's police cruiser, and the officer suffered minor injuries according to BPD.
Police say a pursuit was warranted under Washington state law, but the pursuit had to be abandoned after the suspect again began driving the wrong way on SR 520.
"In doing that we don't want to risk the safety of the community members, that's paramount, and we want to ensure their safety even more so than that of the suspect being brought into custody at that instant," Parrott said.
The stolen construction vehicle was apparently found in Redmond later by officers, but the suspect was not located after a search of the surrounding area.
BPD is trying to identify the suspect and has impounded both vehicles.