NORTH BEND, Wash. — A male suspect that led police on a chase around the Eastside was arrested in North Bend Wednesday afternoon.
The chase began around 3:30 p.m. at the Factoria Mall in Bellevue when police saw a white GMC Yukon reported stolen out of Lakewood and tried to make contact, according to preliminary information from the Bellevue Police Department. The suspect fled, hitting two police vehicles as they drove off, said police.
They said one officer suffered minor injuries when the suspect hit the police cars.
Police chased the suspect onto eastbound Interstate 90 through Bellevue, Issaquah and into Snoqualmie. Speeds exceeded 100 miles per hour at times.
"She was like, 'Woah he just ran that light, and all of a sudden there was like a bunch of patrol cars go zooming past us ... I’ve seen things like that in like Los Angeles and New York City, but just, I’ve never seen that in our little town so I was like, 'Woah something’s up," said Nicole Stryjak, a witness who was taking her daughter to dance class.
"I was just kind of shocked," said her daughter Harper.
The suspect drove over spike strips, according to police, and crashed in the trees along Snoqualmie Parkway, where he abandoned the stolen GMC Yukon.
Snoqualmie police said the suspect then went into the maintenance shop at the Club at Snoqualmie Ridge, a golf course, where he is accused of stealing a set of keys to a black Subaru Forester.
Police said he continued to try and escape police, and eventually got back on I-90, where he later exited for a second time, but this time, in North Bend. King County's Guardian One helicopter followed the suspect.
Snoqualmie police said he fled into the woods off NE Third St and SE 120th Street in North Bend, and crashed the Subaru. After he tried to run away toward the Snoqualmie River, the man was taken into custody by a King County Sheriff K-9 unit.
At some point during the chase, police said the suspect briefly drove the wrong way on I-90 in the eastbound lanes.
"It could have been a very worse situation than I think it was today," said Stryjak.
Download our free KING 5 app to stay up-to-date on news stories from across western Washington.
Watch KING 5's top stories on YouTube