A dramatic high speed chase along I-5 last night was captured on video. The chase ended in a PIT maneuver and left a Mukilteo couple's vehicle a total loss.
The chase occurred after a woman allegedly stole a vehicle in a parking lot across from Bellevue Square. It finally ended several hours later on I-5 near Marysville.
The lives of Kathryn Gimburik and Jash Ringener have been turned upside down by a high speed chase involving their vehicle after it was stolen from a parking lot in Bellevue. The car had been left running.
"You've gotten essentially everything you have taken from you," said Kathryn Gimburik. "It's pretty intense."
"Yeah, so that's my mistake," said Ringener. "I left the keys in the ignition. You know, it's 4:30, broad daylight, you know, a nicer area where you wouldn't think that would happen."
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Washington State patrol was able to use LoJack to track down the vehicle. The driver gave chase for 44 long miles.
"I mean she was going 120 miles-an-hour," said Gimburik.
Troopers used a PIT maneuver to finally get her to stop on I-5 near Marysville. Then they took her into custody.
"She struck several motor vehicles, while she was escaping the police," a King County deputy prosecutor said in District Court, as the driver made a first appearance.
The driver has been identified as 24-year-old Ciara Glidden-DeLeon. The judge would not allow pictures of her. The deputy prosecutor recited a litany of reasons why bail should be set, including that she has had 40 arrest warrants since 2016.
"More concerning to the state is that she has 21 traffic violations or convictions on her history," she added.
"I feel very victimized," said Gimburik. "We feel like we've been targeted."
The couple says several money orders for their rent and other bills were inside the vehicle. And they haven't been able to get any of it back. The worst news, however, is about their car.
"It does not look good," said Ringener.
"It's completely totaled," added Gimburik.
They have car insurance so they should eventually be made whole. But they both say, lesson learned. They will never leave their car running again, even for "a few minutes."