UPDATED: Redmond Police Stop Fleeing Suspect on SR 520 Using Spike Strips

Editor's note: This story was update at 2:30 p.m. to include additional details provided by police spokesman Jim Bove.

Redmond police officers used spike strips, a tire deflating device, to stop a fleeing suspect on State Route 520 early Tuesday morning, the department announced in a news release.

Police said the incident began when officers attempted to pull over the suspect, a 51-year-old man from Colorado, after they observed him driving erratically on 176th Avenue NE at about 1:20 a.m. He fled onto SR 520 westbound, but rather than chase the suspect, the officers radioed his location to other police personnel.

After another officer spotted the suspect vehicle just east of the I-405 interchange, the officer deployed the spike strips on SR 520.

Department spokesman Jim Bove said the spikes, which every officer carries in his or her patrol car, are designed to slow a vehicle down gradually.

“It just deflates the tire; it doesn’t pop them,” he said.

Police took the suspect into custody without incident and discovered he had an arrest warrant for driving with a suspended license, Bove said. He will also face charges for failing to obey law enforcement and a second charge of driving with a suspended license.

SR 520 was re-opened to regular traffic within a half-hour, according to the news release.

Bove said it is not very common for Redmond Police officers to use their spike strips. The latest incident he said he could recall occurred about one year ago when a suspect fled from law enforcement officials in unincorporated King County into the city of Redmond.