BELLEVUE, Wash. — The driver of a vehicle that led police on a chase that ended up shutting down Interstate 90 for hours on Oct. 12 allegedly tried to light a tennis ball with 50 grams of explosive powder before being arrested.
The 42-year-old man is being held in King County Jail on $750,000 bail after the court found probable cause for assault, attempting to elude, possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of an explosive device. He is expected to be formally charged later this week.
Just before 10:40 a.m., officers responded to reports of a driver and passenger sleeping in an idling black sedan at Enatai Beach Park. The vehicle was reported stolen.
It took several commands over a PA system for both the men inside the vehicle to wake up, according to probable cause documents. When they did, the driver drove away. All four tires were immediately deflated by a tire deflation device set by police.
Due to all of the tires being deflated, the vehicle never exceeded speeds of 10 miles per hour.
The vehicle eventually made it onto westbound I-90.
About a quarter-mile from Exit 8 on I-90, the vehicle nearly came to a complete stop and the passenger jumped out, fell to the ground and was arrested. The 48-year-old man had a felony warrant for taking a vehicle without permission and a misdemeanor warrant for possessing drug paraphernalia. He had about 50 fentanyl pills on him, according to probable cause documents.
Shortly after the passenger was arrested, Washington state troopers performed a PIT maneuver on the suspect vehicle. The driver got out and a short foot pursuit began.
The suspect then turned toward the officers with what looked like an improvised explosive device in one hand and a lighter in the other. He attempted to light it, according to probable cause documents. There were seven law enforcement officers in close proximity.
Officers took the suspect into custody.
An ATF special agent reported that the suspect had a tennis ball with about 50 grams of explosive powder inside and a fuse inserted into it. It was later confirmed that the powder was energetic and the fuse was functional.
The passenger denied knowing anything about explosives.
Two more explosive devices were later found inside the black sedan.
At the time of his arrest, the suspect driver had a bench warrant stemming from a case in 2020 involving a stolen vehicle.