Let's not forget folks, currently the police, courts and jails are staring at dramatic decreases in funding. If there was ever a time for a groundswell of community support, it is now. Don't let them cut funding for public safety, call their bluff, hold them accountable for funding public safety FIRST.

There is no excuse. These folks are used to running, avoiding, hiding from consequence. There's just no takin' out this kind of trash..it's always around. Thank you police dept. They deserve more/better funding for a thankless job.

Reckless drivers like this should be taken straight to prison for ten years. There's no excuse.

Angelatini, sorry to hear about your car. Thanks for not blaming the cops. I'd like to make a slight correction to "damned if they do, damned if they don’t." They ARE damned by many when they do, but, WE are damned if they don't.
Sorry for the extreme point of view, spg

Why is it that every topic becomes a battle of the extremes? We didn't have a 100 mph hollywood chase scene with police cars driving through shopping malls with guns blazing. Nor did we have a quick flash of the lights and have the car pull over to the curb.
The police went after this guy because he was driving erratically to begin with. When they see something like that they have to take action in the interest of public safety. The "chase" didn't get much over 45mph and the part that wasn't safe was the idiot in the Honda trying to take turns too fast.
I realize that some police chases go bad, but there's got to be a reasonable threshold to chase or not to chase. Otherwise you'd have everyone running from the police and how would that be anything close to safe?
In this case, the guy got caught and isn't going to be stealing my car or breaking into your house for a while and nobody got hurt.

I had an experience with a high speed car chase where I was an innocent victim. I parked my car on a side street in front of 5 cars from the corner. The next morning when I came out to my car there had been a high speed pursuit and when the "bad guy" who had stolen a car and raced through the neighborhood took that particular corner he slammed into the back of the car at the corner. Chain reaction ensued, and he hit so hard that he totalled all 5 cars in a row. He bent the frame of my car...5 cars down.

Now while I wasn't too pleased about the situation, and actually had paid that car off in full AND had to end up with my first car payment over it...it wasn't the fault of the cops. It was the guy who stole the car.

Get real. You can't blame the cops for being proactive. It seems they are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Many of you are missing the point. If a car is evading police who knows what is REALLY going on. You know what high speed chases usually start off as? Routine traffic stops. Just because a car is stolen or a person was speeding doesn't mean there isn't more going on. You hear sirens or hear a cop car get the hell out of the way. Remember it is the suspect that is fleeing and thus leading the charge and responsible for the carnage. The cop is just pursuit. So shut your mouth about things you know nothing about.

Boss hog. Go to komo.com and there one can find and hear the cops etc. "Weirdos"? Knowing exactly what's coming down around us does NOT make one a "weirdo". ALthough, it can lead to one being "informed". But then again, we don't want facts do we, when feelings are so much fun. As I also mentioned before, this city offers an online site to see the 911 aid/fire calls. Sorta like how the news peeps get in the know. Radical huh.

I really could've killed someone today, but boy when that adrenaline gets pumpin' I just have to put the pedal to the metal and catch me a thief.

it wasn't just a car theft? how do you know?
sure he was a convicted felon, but he did his time.

it doesn't look like he's being charged for anything else, now does it?

where's all the weirdos with their scanners to sort this all out?

According to oh boy we can have his car. That's a great attitude. Do you leave the keys in the ignition for us too? You're part of the problem too. In fact you and "here we go" could get together and form a perfect moron for us all. You 2 are sooooo open minded that everything has fallen out. Is this what it means to be "progressive"? How arrogant and friggin lame can some get? If you 2 owned a store would there be a free section? After all, we ARE talkin feelings here, right? Next time it could be a rapist and YOUR wife. What then should the cops do? Ask some here about their feelings? There is one person and one person only to get mad at: the perp. Well, him and a few dopes here.

Its all about retribution. Damn it feels good when they take down wonna them there meth heads. If my young uns are in the way, god bless the police for seeing the light of day and ignoring the threat to the kiddo's well bein so y'all can have that sweet satisfaction of a perp captured that lets you sleep at night. God bless you all and see ya at the Mars Hill hoedown on Sunday!!

All those points are moot, bc it wasn't "just a car theft". Who knows how they would have reacted if it was just a car theft... if history repeats itself, they would have done nothing. So to assume they would react the same way over a car theft or a stolen potato is completely ridiculous. I think you are underestimating common sense.

don't you think if the cops caught some real bad guy, they would've touted as much?

let's say it was just a car theft. would that be ok?

let's say the Green Grocer calls in that someone just ran out with a potato, and DIDN'T PAY. should the police go chasing down the culprit with complete disregard to the surrounding neighborhood? (an ambulance would take arterials, so it is a poor analogy at best).

I'm as much against criminals as the next guy, but what is the threshold for ALL-OUT assault to catch him?

I hope if a friend is in the back of an ambulance needing to be rushed to the hospital, the ambulance goes really really slow through Ballard and breaks for pedestrians to be extra safe.

Oh, and I wish cops wouldn't turn on their sirens when going through residential streets. It breaks up my concentration while reading stories to the homeless guy I took in on my couch.

ok, 'overzealous?' kinda like an idiot, spouting his mouth off, not knowing what the consequence could be. thanks for that...
You and Nik, and others, flat wrong about this. I'd suppose you'd let every nut job race through this Neighborhood unchallenged?
Sorry, Mayor, I didn't expect you to use some lame ass handle here. I'll be expecting it more in the future...

How do you know? Did you hear the call with your own ears? That's my point.

nik is right.
they didn't know he was a convicted felon.
the call came in 'stolen car'
no babies in the back seat.

these are over-zealous cops that need to have a leash put on them. as I stated before, if it was my car that was stolen, I wouldn't want the police chasing it. I'd rather find it in a ditch in White Center than have some kid's face plastered to the bumper.

Jeez, read the damn story before commenting. The crook was a convicted felon, which could mean things a whole lot worse than just a "car theif". While we don't know what kind of felon he is, how about giving the cops the benefit of the doubt?

Suppose the crime was called-in by an overzealous victim who decided to "embelish" the truth? Suppose there was a child in the car? Suppose the perp was running from something much more serious?

The possibilities are endless. I'm not saying that any of those scenarios are true. Nor am I saying cops are always right, but most of the comments here (including mine) are made by folks who view the facts while sitting on their asses in front of a computer. Unless you're sitting in the passenger seat of the cop car, how can you really know if excessive force was used?

Hey Nik, next time you get robbed, call Stupid Hippie.

Last night there was a high speed pursuit, starting around Greenwood, north to 205th, Edmonds, east through Ballinger, south on Lake City Way, and ended up at 145th and Lake city way. It's not uncommon, it is their job. Authorization to pursue, based on the knowledge that the vehicle was stolen, was granted while still in Greenwood, North city. All three suspects apprehended.
Don't expect them not to pursue these punks, I do expect them to. The cops pursuit is not the issue, nor the blame. Get a clue Nik.

It was the cops chasing him that endangered citizens.

I'm glad this ended well, but it could have just as easily ended up with an innocent person dead. Police: Stop chasing people in populated areas, unless you know for sure they are a threat to public safety. A stolen car is not worth the risk.

I pulled out onto 24th yesterday and ended up immediately pulling over to the shoulder. My rear view mirror reflected a high speed pursuit directly behind me and it didn't look good. What an idiot! Endangering neighborhood citizens like us is lame! I am glad he got caught.

I wonder if he really meant to say "I was high on crack that I bought from the guy in front of Golden City bar who wears the black leather coat with the racing flag pattern on the shoulders"
OR
Maybe he just REAAAALY needed to get to trader joe's to buy something and didn't have a way to get there so he borrowed someone's car without permission.

at 44? nope...
old idiot, no new tricks. I'm glad that some kid wasn't plastered against the front of his car...we got lucky. So, what brought this clown into Ballard? I'd love to know what that was...

so do you think he learned his lesson from this stupid mistake?

44? Yep. Stupid is an understatement.

Stupid Hippie-

Your compassion in such a hard time is truly refreshing. Even though i have small kids I went and paid his bail today in the spirit of helping someone down on their luck. Later me and this gentleman are going to the woods for a long walk, we will have a touching moment.

Treat him nicely, give him warm soup.

Thanks Mr. Urquhart, you clearly desire to be accountable to the community, and that is refreshing.
yeah, and 'stupid is as stupid does'...hopefully he's not out and looking for another ride already...

That's what I suspected. Convicted Felon is not the same a Car Thief.

Don't you think the police would have better information to base their chase-or-not-to-chase decision on than say...YOU would?