A 31-year-old Seattle man is facing five felony charges after police say he led officers on a chase that topped 100 mph through residential streets, past a school zone and through a construction site where workers had to jump out of the vehicle's path. Andrew James Essad was booked into King County Jail on Oct. 26, and prosecutors have asked a judge to set his bail at $200,000.
Chase Reached Over 100 MPH Near School, Work Zone
Essad faces three counts of attempting to elude police, second-degree burglary and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to KING5.com. Prosecutors allege he drove faster than 100 mph near a school zone and through a construction site, where workers had to move out of the SUV’s path. Police said the Mazda also exceeded 100 mph on Greenwood Avenue North and traveled through residential areas near pedestrians and cyclists.
During the October 26 arrest encounter, the Mazda pushed against patrol vehicles blocking its way. Police spotted the Mazda at Carkeek Park before its driver refused to stop, and officers later lost sight of it in Shoreline. During a separate October 24 escape in a Ford Explorer at Golden Gardens Park, Essad reversed over boulders and continued across grass and through traffic. Officers ended that pursuit because of the danger posed by his driving.
Officers arrested Essad on Oct. 26 after finding him in a Mazda CX-5 near an apartment building on Queen Anne Avenue North, KING5 reports. Two days earlier, investigators had found him asleep in a Ford Explorer at Golden Gardens Park. A search of the Explorer turned up a loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun on the floor behind the passenger seat, within his reach, according to the police report.
Investigators Say Evidence Links Essad to Earlier Burglary
Court documents describe investigators comparing surveillance footage, vehicle records and cellphone data as they connected Essad to the chase and earlier investigations. They linked a Mazda SUV to a Sept. 20 Shoreline burglary in which two men allegedly broke a business’s glass doors and stole a coin machine.
The business owner estimated the coin machine was worth about $1,500 and the damage to the entrance at a couple thousand dollars, court documents state. That same burglary allegation concerns a Sept. 20 break-in at a business on 15th Avenue Northeast in Shoreline. The documents also describe a Seattle homeowner’s report that a bedroom window was broken and a surveillance camera damaged on Paisley Drive Northeast on Sept. 3.
Gun, Shell Casings and a Homeowner Confrontation
Court documents also describe a homeowner’s report of a confrontation after a man put a bread bag in the homeowner’s recycling bin. The homeowner said one of two men pointed a gun at him before they left in a dark blue Mazda, and that he heard gunshots shortly afterward. Separately, Seattle police responding to a reported drive-by shooting near North 143rd Street and Palatine Avenue North on Sept. 24 found several .40-caliber shell casings.
That day, Edmonds police recovered a .40-caliber Glock inside a plaid shirt left at a Panera Bread on Lake Ballinger Way. A search of the Mazda also turned up a loaded 9mm handgun and six rounds of matching ammunition in a jacket pocket; Essad identified the jacket as his, according to the report. Investigators said surveillance footage showed a suspect leaving the items; a search of the Mazda also turned up additional license plates, including plates linked to two earlier burglaries.
Investigators traced a phone number to Essad after he provided it during a July transaction at a Seattle gold-buying business. They said video from the business showed a man matching the suspect in other recordings, and that location data placed a device near the Shoreline burglary, the Sept. 24 shooting and the later pursuit. Essad was not charged with a shooting-related offense in the Oct. 30 filing, four days after his booking.
Prior Convictions and Outstanding Warrants
Prosecutors said Essad was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a prior third-degree domestic violence assault felony conviction, and they cited additional prior convictions for possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting arrest, assault and violating protection orders. Court documents list 12 Washington warrants issued since 2021 for failures to appear in court, and prosecutors said Essad twice refused to appear in court on a separate residential burglary and identity theft investigation. Three warrants were active at the time of the filing.
Under Washington law, a driver who fails to stop after receiving a visual or audible signal from a police vehicle can be charged with a class C felony, according to RCW 46.61.024. Essad has an arraignment scheduled for Nov. 4; King County Superior Court says its criminal calendars for Seattle and Kent are updated by 3 p.m. each day for the following court day, according to the King County Superior Court.
Seattle's oversight bodies have raised broader concerns about high-speed pursuits in populated areas in the past. A 2021 memo from the Seattle Office of Inspector General warned that without clear pursuit criteria, officers may not be weighing whether the risk to the public outweighs the need to pursue, including during a high-speed chase through a heavily populated area. That guidance does not speak to the specifics of this case, but it reflects the kind of scrutiny chases like the one described in Essad's filing tend to draw.
Seattle’s pursuit rules and collision record
Seattle Police Department policy 13.031, revised effective Oct. 15, 2024, requires officers to terminate a pursuit when the threat of death or serious physical injury to public safety outweighs the inherent risk of pursuit driving, according to the Seattle Police Department. The policy sets a general standard; it does not determine whether officers’ decisions in this case complied with it.
A Seattle Office of Inspector General audit covered vehicle pursuits from February 2021 through July 2024, according to the audit. The audit discusses collisions involving SPD vehicles; its figures do not establish a trend or describe this case.
