Felony charges ahead for erratic I-5 driver

The man, 24, was arrested after he allegedly struck at least five vehicles headed north on the interstate.

LYNNWOOD — The Bothell man seemed confused.

By turns, he reportedly described himself as a time traveler, the son of God and a lion among sheep, according to documents filed last week in Snohomish County Superior Court.

He even is said to have offered up a lesson in alternative arithmetic.

“Zero trumps one every time. That’s lion math,” he’s quoted as saying.

The man, 24, was arrested along the northbound lanes of I-5 in May 2017 after driving erratically. He allegedly struck at least five vehicles headed north from King County toward Lynnwood.

Near the interchange with I-405, a Washington State Patrol trooper tried to pull him over, his emergency lights flashing. The trooper chased him for about a mile, and saw him smack into the rear of one vehicle. The pursuit ended when the trooper was able to bump the man’s car from behind, forcing it to spin out and stall.

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It was a passenger in the suspect’s car who had sounded the alarm. He discreetly contacted 911 after the driver crashed into other cars on the freeway without stopping. He reported the man had “vaped” something a few minutes before and began talking about time travel, the cycles of death and rebirth, and how he is a lion and that everyone else is a monkey.

Once in custody, the driver told the trooper he didn’t remember much about what had happened, according to a police report filed with the court.

He said he was the son of God and thought he was dead.

“He told me he is really lazy and smokes weed all day,” the trooper wrote. He reportedly made other references to using drugs.

The ramblings continued after the man was taken to a local hospital for a checkup and to have his blood drawn for testing after a judge approved a search warrant.

“He told me that he is a lion and that lions kill sheep,” the trooper reported. The man suggested they may be in heaven.

At one point the man said he’d killed his mom, but that didn’t have a basis in reality, either. She called the State Patrol a short time later, asking about her son, court papers said.

He’s now facing three felonies: attempting to elude police, and two counts of hit-and-run.

Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews.

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