Suspect Arrested After Patrol Car Joyride

7/10/01
After parking the police cruiser he had been cruising in around
Seattle, an 18-year-old man was arrested as he walked away 
from the parking lot of the Seattle Police Department North
Precinct early Tuesday. 

Authorities said two police cars collided while pursuing the cruiser, 
which was being driven by an unauthorized civilian.

The collision resulted in only one injury, which did not require
hospitalization. Authorities said one officer fired his gun.

The suspect, whose identity was not released, was under investigation 
in two earlier reports of an unauthorized civilian driving a police car 
in the downtown area, one early Saturday and the other early Monday.

"Apparently he's been doing this," Officer Pam McCammon said. "We
have been looking for a patrol car and a person in it who's not an
officer."

McCammon said shortly after 1:30 a.m. an officer on a bicycle in the 
downtown reported a civilian driving a patrol car. The cruiser was 
spotted and chased from the West Precinct.

After "blowing lights and stop signs," the fugitive driver headed 
toward Capitol Hill and an on-ramp to northbound Interstate Five.

Pursuing officers lost sight of the patrol car as it vanished over the
rise. When they topped the rise, they saw a police cruiser that appeared 
to be maneuvering or trying to block the way, and the two collided.

The fugitive headed north on I-5.

A few minutes later, police said they saw the pursued patrol car being
parked in North Precinct, and arrested the suspect as he walked away.

Backup news staff writer Debby Mongeau


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