KING COUNTY, Wash. — Michelle Zumwalt said if it weren't for restrictions on when police can pursue a suspect, she likely wouldn't have been carjacked in south King County on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Kent police officers responded to reports of a stolen Cadillac the afternoon of Feb. 13. When they arrived, the vehicle fled.
Citing restrictions on pursuits, police said they could not chase the vehicle but continued to monitor it from the air.
The Cadillac, allegedly being driven by 26-year-old Ernesto Rojas-Renteria of Kent, eventually hit Zumwalt's Ford Expedition. Zumwalt told KING 5 the driver got out and started yelling "get out" while looking under the vehicle like it was on fire.
Rojas-Renteria is a suspect in a homicide.
"I knew I made a mistake," she said. "I thought they were in trouble because there was a woman with him, and she got out with a dog and stumbled ... But the minute I clicked my door open, he raised up wrench about this big and told me to get the **** out or die."
At that point, Zumwalt hesitated, but Rojas-Renteria allegedly grabbed her by the arm and threw her out of the vehicle. Her husband, who had been sitting in the passenger seat, had undone her seatbelt, thinking their vehicle was on fire.
Rojas-Renteria sped away in the Expedition while the woman who was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac got back in and drove off, according to police.
Minutes later, Rojas-Renteria abandoned Zumwalt's Expedition and allegedly carjacked a Subaru SUV.
Around 1 p.m., the stolen Subaru struck a vehicle near 232nd Street and Southeast Petrovitsky Road near Maple Valley. Officers caught up to Rojas-Renteria and took him into custody.
The Escalade, still being driven by the woman who was later identified as a 24-year-old Brandy Marie Gomez from Kent, was involved in a rollover crash near the 20200 block of 148th Avenue SE in Kent. According to a high-ranking sheriff's office official, the Cadillac sideswiped a car before losing control. Gomez fled on foot and was later found by a deputy a short distance away and taken into custody.
Zumwalt said police arrived at the scene of where she and her husband were "within seconds."
"I don't understand why they didn't stop them from all of this happening, besides the stupid pursuit laws, which need to be changed," Zumwalt said. "If they would have stopped them before they got to my car, none of this would have happened. That's the way I feel about it.
"The police handled it amazingly besides that - that six cars were damaged and lives have been changed."
In 2021, state lawmakers passed legislation that increased the threshold for evidence required for a police pursuit. In 2023, lawmakers lowered the threshold for police to pursue a suspect from probable cause to reasonable suspicion for limited crimes. The limited crimes include violent offense, sex offense, or an escape; or DUI, vehicular assault, and domestic violence assault in the first, second, third, or fourth-degree offense.
Near the end of 2023, supporters of Initiative 2113 received enough signatures to get it on the 2024 November ballot. Initiative 2113 would amend the state's controversial police pursuit law by restoring the authority of a police officer to engage in a pursuit when there is reasonable suspicion a person has violated the law.
Charges filed
Meanwhile, the two suspects had their first court appearances on Wednesday, Feb. 14, where bail was set. They were officially charged Thursday, Feb. 15.
Bail was set at $250,000 for Rojas-Renteria. He was charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, attempting to elude police and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Bail was at $15,000 for Gomez. She was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude police.
Both suspects will be arraigned Feb. 26.