Bomb scare shuts down I-90 on Mercer Island

Interstate 90 was blocked for several hours Saturday afternoon when a low-speed police chase through Bellevue toward Mercer Island ended with a driver being tackled while trying to light an explosive on the freeway, authorities said.

Nobody was seriously hurt.

All traffic was blocked, in both directions, from 12:45 p.m. to 1:40 p.m., when eastbound lanes reopened. Traffic in both directions fully reopened around 3 p.m.

Officers had responded to a call about two people sleeping in an idling black Mercedes sedan around 10:30 a.m. Saturday near Enatai Beach Park. Officers saw drugs in the car, police said, and suspected a DUI. When they woke the driver, he drove off. The car had previously been reported stolen, police said.

Officers threw spike strips, puncturing all four tires, but the Mercedes continued at about 5 mph, police said. The driver drove under I-90, weaving through neighborhood streets, before merging onto westbound I-90 toward Mercer Island and Seattle.

The Washington State Patrol then joined the chase. The passenger jumped out of the slow-moving car on I-90, police said, and was quickly caught.

State troopers tried to stop the car using a maneuver where they bump it from behind, police said. Speeds at the time were roughly 3 mph, police said. The driver then ran out of the car, heading toward the Mercer Island overpass.

A State Patrol photo from the scene showed a crashed dark car — with its tires flattened and all its doors open — pinned along the freeway shoulder by a state trooper’s cruiser and an unmarked SUV.

When officers chased, the driver turned toward them and tried to light an explosive device with a blowtorch, police said. Officers tackled him, took him into custody and closed the interstate.

Bomb squads from several law enforcement agencies were called to the scene and reportedly found two more explosive devices in the car.

The driver was arrested for investigation of possession of an explosive device, multiple counts of assault, driving under the influence, possession of stolen vehicle and eluding law enforcement. The passenger was arrested on active warrants, police said.

One officer suffered minor injuries and was treated and released on the scene, police said.

Both the driver and passenger were described as middle-aged men, according to Bellevue police.

Meanwhile, traffic backed up for miles in both directions, from Lake Sammamish to Seattle. The blocked freeway affected all traffic across Lake Washington, as the 520 bridge was closed all weekend for construction.