Rider on Honda XR400R Motorcycle Leads Sammamish Police on Chase

It started with a man without a helmet cruising along 228th Avenue Northeast on a Honda XR400R motorcycle last week.

It grew into a cat-and-mouse chase through Sammamish streets, with a 28-year-old motorcyclist, accelerating, looking back and then gunning the engine again.

By then, a King County Sheriff's deputy had turned on the patrol car's emergency lights. The chase was on - and the motorcyclist even went through a ditch.

It ended with the deputy pulling out his service handgun and ordering the man twice to get down on the ground. After the first command to stop, the man walked toward the deputy, according to a  report.

On Aug. 2, the deputy was traveling south on 228th Avenue Northeast when the motorcyclist without the helmet made his way in the northbound lanes.

The deputy wanted to make a quick U-turn to pursue the rider. Heavy traffic delayed that move. Meanwhile, the man on the dirt bike turned right onto Southeast 24th Street and kept moving east, according to a police report.

With the U-turn successful and emergency lights flashing, the deputy accelerated to investigate. Near 244th Avenue Southeast, the deputy had caught up to the motorcyclist.

But the biker - who looked back at the flashing lights - zipped onto 244th Avenue Southeast, a move that police said was a reckless traffic crossing.

At one point, the rider nearly lost control of his Honda motorcycle while going through a ditch along the side of the road. But he managed to maintain control and continued south on 244th Avenue Southeast.

The chase ended in the driveway of a house on 244th Avenue Southeast. The man dismounted from the motorcycle, turned toward the deputy and raised his hands.

The deputy ordered the rider to the ground. But the man continued to move forward, Sammamish police reported. With weapon drawn, the deputy gave the order a second time for the man to lie on the ground. 

The man finally did so.

As the deputy was placing handcuffs on the man, the 28-year-old revealed some information: He was carrying a weapon. The deputy searched the rider and found a pocketknife in his front pocket and a semi-automatic handgun in his belt.

Also found during the search: A small bag containing two glass smoking pipes with a small amount of vegetable matter that tests later confirmed to be marijuana, according to a police report.

The man was read his Miranda rights and placed into the patrol car. When asked why he had attempted to flee from the police, he replied that he had caught his girlfriend with another man earlier and was upset.

Given that the man was carrying a handgun, the deputy immediately feared for the girl's safety. The deputy asked how he could get in touch with her. The man gave her contact information to the deputy, who called and asked whether she was safe.

She was.

The 28-year-old man was booked into King County Jail.

Editor's note: Sammamish receives its police protection under a contract with the King County Sheriff's Office. Aug. 2 also was , which Sammamish police and residents celebrated.