Harger: Bail for ‘the most dangerous driver in WA’ isn’t justice, it’s gambling with lives
Sep 4, 2025, 6:42 AM | Updated: 3:08 pm
Saturday morning, just after midnight, a guy in a BMW SUV decided to turn I-5 into his personal NASCAR track. Except he was going the wrong direction at 120 miles per hour. Against traffic. In the dark.
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders, who briefly chased this driver himself, called him “likely the most dangerous driver in the state.” And when you hear what comes next, you’ll understand why.
This was arrest number 29. Not a typo. 29. He has fourteen felony convictions, including vehicular assault, auto theft, and attempting to elude police. And yet, there he was Saturday night, allegedly high on meth and fentanyl, one head-on collision away from turning someone’s drive home into a tragedy.
Earlier this year, he was convicted of felony DUI. He served less than a month and was released on probation in February. He never checked in with his probation officer and had an outstanding warrant when this chase happened.
After all this, a judge just set his bail at $100,000. That means $10,000 to a bail bondsman, and he’s potentially back on the streets.
Oh, but don’t worry. The judge told him he can’t drive if he posts bail. He was driving on a suspended license in a stolen car with an active warrant. But I’m sure THIS time, when he pinky-swears not to drive, he will really mean it.
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Bail is for manageable risk. This isn’t that.
This is the revolving door of justice. Arrest No. 29. Pay your $10,000, promise to be good, and out you go until arrest No. 30.
I keep asking myself, what exactly does it take? We all believe in second chances. But what about chance No. 29? At what point does compassion for the offender become recklessness toward everyone else?
Sheriff Sanders said it’s “nothing short of a miracle” that this man didn’t kill someone Saturday night. As he put it, “When you’re going 60 mph and somebody hits you at 120 mph? Everyone dies in that.”
Somewhere out there is a family that doesn’t even know how close they came to being Sunday morning’s lead story. They got their miracle. But depending on miracles is not a public safety strategy. It’s hope dressed up as policy.
When someone has demonstrated repeatedly and violently that they cannot stop endangering others, isn’t it time to prioritize the people just trying to get home safely?
Judges need the authority, and the courage, to protect the community. And if the legislature has tied their hands, then it’s time for Olympia to untie them, because next time we might not get a miracle.
Maybe I’m wrong. But when a 14-time felon is driving backwards at twice the speed limit on the freeway, and the system’s answer is a wag of the finger, we are no longer debating justice reform. We are just negotiating the number of victims.
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.
