He has been arrested and fined and ordered to modify his raucous vehicle. Now those legal troubles are compounding for Miles Hudson, better known in Seattle as the city’s infamous “Belltown Hellcat.”
But, the city can’t help but wonder, are the Hellcat days really over?
Mr. Hudson became the talk of the city earlier this year — and of interest to many around the country — as he spent many nights roaring through Seattle’s streets, his modified Dodge Charger backfiring so loudly that the residents he jolted awake flooded the city with complaints. Mr. Hudson at times relished in the infamy, comparing himself to a Batman villain on the Instagram feed where he was finding glory among hundreds of thousands of followers who tracked his driving antics.
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Police bodycam footage released by the Seattle City Attorney’s Office showed an officer urging the driver, Miles Hudson, to take his modified Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to a racetrack.
“If it’s essentially wildly outside of factory, it’s an issue. What’s that?” “Do you know the factory setting?” “Yeah, I’m an ASE certified master technician as well as a cop, believe it or not. I have a car that would smoke yours.” [laughing] “I mean —” “You just got to keep it on — dude, why don’t you go to Pacific Raceways?” I don’t, I don’t race. I do this. I do this on social media.” “I know. But you know how much more popular it would be if you were doing it on a track?” “I mean, I got almost 700,000 followers.” “What’s that? “I’ve got almost 700,000 followers.” “Seven-hundred thousand what?” “Almost 700,000 followers.” “Yeah?” “Yeah.” “What do you mean? I’m just saying, like —” “I’m not, no disrespect, but I feel like I’m doing my thing.” “I know, you’re doing your thing. But, but —” “[unclear], and the car is paying for itself — 650,000 followers.” “I got you, dude. But doing it, but doing it legit and not on the street is going to be safer. Like, remember when we talked last time? Do you remember — the last time you got pulled over in Seattle?” “I’ve been pulled over a lot.” “You only got pulled over once up in the North Precinct since I pulled you over.” “Well, I didn’t —” “For S.P.D.” “No, I got pulled over, pulled over in Kirkland, but that wasn’t —” “OK, so you live in Seattle, right? You’ve been pulled over three times in Seattle. Once was an officer in the North Precinct. Once was me in January and now it’s me again.” “No, it’s been more than, I mean, maybe those are the only times I got tickets I’ve been pulled over —” “No, no, I didn’t ticket you last time, I told you you car was cool, and I told you you needed to slow down.”
At one point, responding to the pleas of a local police officer to take his vehicle to a racetrack instead, Mr. Hudson noted his social media success as a reason he would not be heeding their advice. To some city residents, the aggravating escapades became a symbol of selfishness in the social media era. To others, they were evidence that Seattle’s government was incapable of restoring order.
But now Mr. Hudson’s main social media account has gone silent — and people in downtown Seattle report that his car has, too. Chris Allen, a downtown resident who said the explosive noise of Mr. Hudson’s backfiring vehicle overpowered his nighttime white-noise machine, said he had not heard or seen Mr. Hudson’s vehicle since the summer. He said he felt a growing confidence that the Hellcat saga may be in the past.
“People are pretty happy that we are not having to deal with him anymore,” Mr. Allen said.