SEATTLE — Seattle's legal battle with the driver of the controversial "Belltown Hellcat" took a new turn Friday.
City Attorney Ann Davison filed a motion for default judgment against Miles Hudson, who has drawn the ire of many Seattleites over his vehicle's modifications to generate more noise.
The city first filed a civil complaint against Hudson on May 7 over his non-compliance with a March court order to get his vehicle modified to align with Seattle's noise control code by April 15. For each additional day the vehicle is not approved to be in compliance, Hudson would be assessed a maximum penalty of $1,300.
Hudson was also charged earlier this year with two counts of reckless driving after videos shared on his Instagram showed him traveling over 100 mph through Seattle.
Citizens have repeatedly flagged on social media and to city officials videos and images of Hudson appearing to violate his court order to not operate the vehicle and continue to taunt Belltown residents with the vehicle's excessive noise.
“Mr. Hudson has cultivated online infamy by flagrantly breaking Seattle’s laws and waking his neighbors with excessive noise. It’s time for him to face the consequences of his actions. That’s why I have requested that the court find Mr. Hudson in default and award the City all applicable penalties,” said Davison in a statement.
Davison said Hudson now faces almost $60,000 in penalties related to the non-compliance.
Hudson's mother Rebecca is the registered owner of the vehicle and sent an email to the court in mid-May testifying that she was working on getting the car into compliance. Videos posted by her son and others taken by Seattleites since her email appear to show that Hudson continued to operate the vehicle without getting it into compliance.
One clip, which appeared to be recorded from Hudson's Instagram account, shows someone appearing to be Hudson shouting to "rev that b---h" and "wake them up" as the vehicle loudly revs.
The latest court documents show Hudson emailed an update to officials on May 30. He said "the parts come in next week and installation will be within that week or the following week. I will keep you posted." The documents say that Hudson has not appeared or given any official response to its complaint besides the brief email.
The next hearing in Hudson's case is scheduled for June 18.