A man was arrested Sunday after leading Washington State law enforcement on a high-speed pursuit. Reports allege he struck two cars during what looked to be an extreme case of joyriding, but the plot thickened as the situation morphed into a police chase along Interstate 5. As they caught up, Washington State Patrol said they noticed there was a dog behind the wheel.
At the time, the vehicle was travelling in excess of 100 mph.
Police used spike strips to finally bring the vehicle to a halt, with trooper Heather Axtman noting that one of her coworkers realized the pit bull was actually sitting in the lap of a man who was helping it steer while also controlling the pedals. Once stopped, he told authorities he was attempting to teach the dog to drive.
“I wish I could make this up,” Axtman told CNN. “I’ve been a trooper for almost 12 years and wow, I’ve never heard this excuse. I’ve been in a lot of high speed chases, I’ve stopped a lot of cars, and never have I gotten an excuse that they were teaching their dog how to drive.”
It seems like the perfect excuse. Dogs, which cannot speak, are ideal for taking the blame for things you’s prefer not to get into trouble for. For most people, this stops at passing gas at a family function. And yet the possibilities are endless so long as its realistic or hysterically funny. Unfortunately, law enforcement didn’t find public endangerment all that comical; as well, the arresting officer couldn’t believe the pit bull had made quite so much progress on her first day of driving.
“He was driving very erratically. So erratically that multiple people called 911,” Axtman noted.
The chase itself sounds pretty reckless, too. The unidentified 51-year-old from Lakewood slapped his 1996 Buick Park Avenue into at least two vehicles in the Seattle area around lunchtime before being spotted 40 miles north of the city on Interstate 5. By the time law enforcement got directly involved, he and the dog were already traveling at a high rate of speed in Snohomish County. Axtman said he was clocked at 109 mph and hinted that there may have been some minor contact with police vehicles.
Local outlet KOMO News reported that the pursuit eventually left the highway and ended on a bicycle route near Kackman Road and Grandview Trail. The Buick endured minor damage as it veered into a ditch, with no injuries sustained to the occupants. Washington State Patrol said the “driver” faces several charges, including DUI, reckless driving, hit-and-run, and felony eluding.
The dog could face charges of driving without a license, though Axtman confirmed her status as a “very sweet girl.” She’s was being held at a local animal shelter (and has hopefully been picked up by now).
[Image: Andrew Williams/Shutterstock]
I thought things like this only made the news in Florida, LOL! :-)
Florida Man moved to Washington state?
Most Washingtonians are inside. The ones who aren’t are either doctors, Amazon delivery drivers, or… well, “special” people.
I’d disagree with that, yes there are fewer people out and about, but there are still a lot of cars on the road, that definitely weren’t Amazon Flex drivers. I had to show a home on Sunday, following the rules released on Friday of course. There were still ~50% of the cars on the road that I’d usually see in that area at that time of day.
He was teaching his dog to drive him quickly into the nearest hospital, in case he got infected with Coronavirus.
Lesson two was to show the dog how to use a GPS.
Lesson 3: heel and toe.
Wait…
That was ruff. Maybe another car was tailing him.
You used to be able to get an Oldsmobile with a Dog Leg shifter, but I don’t know about Buicks.
Dog is my co-pilot.
@SCE to AUX – divine pun!
So… a Buick Park Avenue sustained 100mph+. Huh…
That doesn’t actually surprise me.
My 98 hp ’87 Grand Am with a 2.5 Iron Duke could do it. The 205 hp 3.8 wouldn’t be anywhere near maxed out at that point. Ungoverned, that car shouldn’t have any problem hitting 130, though I’d expect it to be governed at around 110.
Did the dog at least use his turn signals?
Got busted for not using hand signals.
Pit Bulls should be outlawed.
Faulty Software.
Bad Code.
They eat babies and attack people at statistically significant rate.
They have the mindset/predilection and size to do significant damage to people.
Filthy creature.
Pit Bull = the favored doggie of the pig up truck driver.
Canned retort: “They’re trained to be mean; mine’s not that way…”
Idiotic and uninformed opinions aside, did you seriously come here to criticize the dog in this situation?
Dog watches owner drive, dog says to owner, “Here, hold my beer”
With such a light traffic on freeways it is a perfect time to teach you dog or cat to drive a car. My only problem is how explain directions to dog or cat
At least pooch managed to avoid slamming into concrete barriers, 18 wheelers and homeless people.
Which is more than can be said for some of the other creations some insist on teaching how to drive these days…
Having lived in the great state of Washington this story does not ring true because even in a pandemic such as this the chances of getting over 25 mph with all the traffic is nil. Then again maybe if we only let dogs drive we might get to work on time.
Venn diagram:
• Humans
• Non-human animals
• Females
• Drivers
Life lesson: When teaching a non-human animal to drive, begin with a male non-human animal. Tackling “Female” aspect is an unnecessary additional challenge.
Should have used the Pit maneuver.
The police should be commended for their dogged pursuit of this suspect. They were able to hound him until they were able to collar him. Great work!
I expected it to be Florida or California….
-Nate