The man accused of hitting nine cars while driving the wrong way down Interstate 5 Wednesday allegedly told police that he “thought he was part of ‘Fast and Furious’ ” and “had set the record for the farthest distance and most damage for the game.”
The man accused of driving the wrong way down Interstate 5 in Seattle on Wednesday evening, hitting nine cars, told state troopers that he had smoked methamphetamine and “thought he was part of ‘Fast and Furious,’ ” according to court documents.
Stephen Thrash Brant, 22, of Greenbank, Island County, made his first court appearance Friday, at which a King County judge found probable cause to keep him in custody based on statements from the Washington State Patrol.
“The defendant stated that he had smoked meth and thought that he was part of ‘Fast and Furious,’ ” a state trooper wrote in court documents, apparently referring to the septet of street-racing movies and their associated video games. “He told me that he had set the record for the farthest distance and most damage for the game.”
Brant was ordered held in lieu of $1 million bail for investigation of attempted robbery, driving under the influence, trespassing, resisting arrest and nine counts of hit-and-run.
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No one was injured Wednesday when Brant allegedly drove a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria the wrong way down I-5 near Georgetown, careening off vehicles before driving the wrong way off an exit ramp. He then, according to authorities, abandoned his car, jumped on the hoods of two other cars, entered one of the cars and wrestled the driver in an apparent attempt to steal the car.
After a struggle, the other driver fled the car, taking the keys with him, the State Patrol said. When Seattle police arrived, Brant was in the driver’s seat attempting to drive that car, police said.
Officers got Brant on the ground, where he “was yelling that he wanted his dad to help him,” police said in court documents.
He displayed drastic mood swings, was sweating profusely and was talking extremely fast and repetitively, police said.
He allegedly told police that he had not slept in three days and that he regularly uses heroin, meth, ecstasy and cocaine and has been a “dope fiend” since age 15, the documents say. After he was arrested, authorities took him to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries.
“The defendant stated multiple times that I was going to kill him and he also stated that he had two bullet holes in his head,” a trooper said.
Brant had also been arrested on Tuesday in Oak Harbor on suspicion of driving while high on meth, police said.