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Two arrested after carjackings lead to wild police chase in South King County

KENT, Wash. — Two people are in custody after leading Kent Police, along with the King County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, Guardian 1, on a wild chase throughout the area Tuesday afternoon.

Police say it all started when Kent officers were responding to a report of a stolen white Cadillac Escalade off of 110th Avenue Southeast. The Escalade left the scene and officers could not pursue the vehicle due to legislative restrictions.

Guardian 1 was able to monitor the Escalade and at one point, reported that the stolen SUV hit another vehicle and then continued to flee the area. Police say the two people inside the Escalade, a 26-year-old man and 24-year-old woman from Kent, carjacked a red Ford Explorer off of 124th Avenue Southeast.

Michelle Zumwalt says not only was the man frantic, but very aggressive.

“He raised it up and said get the **** out or die,” Zumwalt said. “I went to step out and he grabbed my arm and threw me on the ground.”

Police say after the man crashed the Explorer, he carjacked a blue SUV and continued to flee. He was caught in Maple Valley off of Petrovitsky Road after crashing into another vehicle.

The woman took control of the original stolen white Escalade after the first carjacking and led officers on another chase. She crashed the Escalade off of 148th Avenue Southeast, then fled the scene. She was spotted by the King County Sheriff’s Office not far from the crash site and refused to turn herself in, but was

She was detained shortly after by Kent Police officers.

Both suspects were taken to nearby hospitals and police believe the two could face a slew of charges, including several felony offenses.

Zumwalt says she is happy police were able to recover her car, but she says the damage is so bad that they may not be able to afford to fix it.

“We were here trying to get help. Now, we have worse situation than we did before,” Zumwalt said.