'Belltown Hellcat' driver billed $83,000 for flaunting the law in Seattle
It is a dubious achievement at best: being acknowledged by a few on social media as a kind of cult celebrity for flaunting most of his neighborhood’s lawful conventions.
And now Miles Hudson, the so-called “Belltown Hellcat” of Seattle, may finally have to slow down and shut up. According to the Seattle Times, the Seattle city attorney last week filed a court order demanding that the driver of the souped up Dodge Charger SRT pay $83,619.97 in civil penalties and other fees after he failed to respond in time to a lawsuit filed against him last month.
“Hudson has cultivated online infamy by flagrantly breaking Seattle’s laws and waking his neighbors with excessive noise,” City Attorney Ann Davison said in a statement. “It’s time for him to face the consequences.” Hudson’s attorney, Sheley Anderson, said Friday that she and Hudson had no comment.
Noise in this case is the charge that hangs on Hudson, but residents of the upscale Belltown neighborhood are anxious about Hudson’s public display of his need for speed, and his apparent disregard for the lethal possibilities that can result from that. Earlier this year he posted a video (350,441 likes) showing his speedometer topping 100 miles per hour during a downtown outing.
Hudson also allegedly continued driving the Hellcat after a Seattle Municipal Court judge barred him from driving it in April, weeks after he was charged with two counts of reckless driving for “operating a motor vehicle with a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons and/or property.” He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He had also been stopped by police in January, and again in February, and in March he was cited for having a modified exhaust system that amplified noise. He later paid the $155 fine.
Those living in high-rise condos in Belltown said they could actually feel the windows vibrate when he cruised the street. “I’m on the 17th floor here. I would hear my windows rattle. It sounded like very loud backfiring,” Belltown resident Chris Allen told station King 5.
About a week ago, the Charger was reportedly towed from his parking garage after another resident noticed that it was parked in a handicapped sport. No news on where it later ended up.
As reported in the Times, attorney Davison filed a lawsuit against Hudson on May 7, ordering him to respond within 20 days and comply with requirements of various traffic and city citations he’d accrued over months.
Hudson did not respond by Thursday’s deadline, according to a copy of the motion for default judgment provided by the city to the newspaper.
Friday’s court filing requested that Hudson be ordered to pay the excessive noise violation’s $1,300 daily penalty multiplied by the 64 days he didn’t comply with the notice, totaling about $83,200 in penalties plus additional costs and city attorney fees. A court hearing is scheduled for June 18.
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