Driver ran red lights, hit triple digits in Bellingham car chase. Here’s how it ended
A Bellingham man was arrested early Monday morning after he allegedly led Bellingham police on a high-speed car chase.
Manjinder Rasode, 24, was arrested April 5 on suspicion of attempting to elude a police vehicle and reckless driving. Rasode was released the same day on $500 cash bail, according to Whatcom County Jail records.
Formal charges have not yet been filed in Whatcom County Superior Court. Rasode’s arraignment is scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 26, according to court records.
Minutes after 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, April 4, Bellingham police stopped and used a spotlight to illuminate a vehicle parked in a pull out in the 100 block of Baker Street, according to court records. The officer saw a man, who was later determined to be Rasode, standing near the passenger’s side of the car. The officer also saw a woman in the back passenger’s seat, according to court records.
Rasode then allegedly got into the driver’s side of the car, backed out of the pull out and drove towards the police car, the court records state. The officer turned on their emergency lights for Rasode to stop, but Rasode allegedly drove partially off the roadway and into the grass and mud in an attempt to avoid hitting the police vehicle and continued on Baker Street at a high rate of speed, the records show.
Another Bellingham police officer who was in the area approached Rasode on Baker Street, but Rasode allegedly drove off the roadway again to avoid hitting the second officer, the court records state.
Rasode allegedly stopped to let the woman out of his car near Meridian Street, then turned northbound, ran a red light and eventually made his way onto Interstate 5 driving at a high rate of speed, according to court records.
Rasode allegedly exited the freeway near Sunset Avenue and ran three red lights before making his way onto Squalicum Parkway, where he was allegedly driving more than 50 mph in a 25 mph zone, the court records show.
Rasode made his way back onto Meridian Street where he allegedly accelerated to speeds of more than 110 mph in both 35 mph and 50 mph zones, according to court records.
Officers soon ended the pursuit, which lasted just short of six miles, according to Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy.
Rasode’s parents called 911 after he returned home saying police officers were trying to kill him while he was driving his parent’s vehicle, according to court records. Police contacted Rasode at his parent’s home and he allegedly told police he fled “because he was anxious,” the court records show.
Rasode was previously charged with felony harassment (domestic violence), fourth-degree assault (domestic violence), interfering with reporting domestic violence, and attempting to elude pursuing law enforcement in April 2020, but his case was dismissed in July 2020 after he entered the county’s mental health court program, according to court records.
