Stolen Car Jumps Seattle Drawbridge To Evade Police

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Stolen Car Jumps Seattle Drawbridge To Evade Police

BY JUSTIN HUGHES SEPT. 19, 2025 5:05 PM EST



In a scene straight out of "The Blues Brothers," a stolen car busted through barricades and jumped across an open drawbridge, reports KIRO 7. Police in Seattle, Washington, had been tracking, but not pursuing, a white SUV. Road & Track identified it as an Audi Q5 that had been reported stolen. Police spotted the Audi stuck in traffic while the University Bridge spanning Portage Bay was open, deciding it was a good time to apprehend the suspect while avoiding a pursuit.

Unfortunately, the suspect had other ideas. The Audi pulled into the oncoming traffic lanes and accelerated toward the bridge. It didn't slow down for the barriers, broke through them, and then jumped across the gap in the bridge, risking a plunge of more than 40 feet to the water below. It stuck the landing and accelerated away. Police wisely chose not to pursue, which likely avoided a Blues Brothers-style police car crash.

The stolen car didn't evade capture for long. Police soon found the SUV abandoned at the intersection of 42nd Street and Pasadena Place Northeast. It was heavily damaged, and the driver, who remains at large, likely ditched it for that reason. The Audi had a broken windshield, probably from smashing through the gate, and the undercarriage was destroyed. The video shows the SUV landing at a significant nose-down angle from the jump, which likely caused the extensive front-end damage. Unlike some Audis, the Q5 is not a rally car and is not designed to take jumps and hard landings.

Just because you see it in a movie or TV show doesn't mean it'll work in real life. Whether it's the Blues Brothers jumping across a bridge, the Bandit jumping across where the Mulberry Bridge used to be, or any "Dukes of Hazzard" jump ever, the part they don't show is that every car is basically trashed when it lands. Only movie magic makes it look like it drives away unharmed. Unless you're like Travis Pastrana and have a landing ramp, you'll have to fix a lot more than the Bluesmobile's cigarette lighter afterward.

Details of video clip:

Stolen car jumps the University Bridge!

SeattleTrafficCams !
18.2K subscribers

127,393 views Sep 17, 2025
On September 17th, Seattle's traffic cameras captured a stolen car jumping the partially open University Bridge to escape pursuing police officers. The car was later found empty and abandoned a short distance away.

Almost exactly a year ago, another car crashed through the barriers of the lower Spokane Street Bridge - that footage, also included here, was originally featured in my Crashes #9 video: • Crashes caught on Seattle traffic cameras #9!

Clip listing:
0:00 - Intro and initial radio traffic
0:33 - Up and over!
1:14 - Zoomed in replay
1:27 - Spokane Street Bridge crash

[underpants]

1. First thought.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. Surprised The Cops...

...didn't request the bridge raised. With that bridge at 30 degrees, that jump would have been impossible without a rocket motor.
In that second incident, that car was driving with the passenger door open. A dangerous situation made more dangerous.

[doc03]

3. I have seen that stunt in many movies. nt

[Aristus]

4. I used to drive over that bridge every day on my way home from PA School at UW Med.

I read somewhere that the "The Dukes Of Hazzard" TV show went through several hundred '69 Dodge Chargers throughout the run of the show. Because IRL, real cars can't stand up to that kind of abuse.