Has Seattle’s ‘Belltown Hellcat’ Lost Its Fearsome Roar?

A modified Dodge Charger that blasted neighbors out of their sleep appears to have gone quiet, at least downtown, as its owner deals with legal problems.

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.

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.

Mr. Hudson, who did not respond to requests for an interview, has been contained not so much because of the city’s efforts to quiet his car but because of other troubling criminal cases lodged against him.

He was arrested in October for failing to appear for a court hearing revisiting the terms of past domestic violence cases involving him and his mother. In one of those cases, documents show, he was accused of damaging an armoire when she was late to pick him up for a haircut. In another, he was accused of pulling over the chair she was sitting in when she refused to make him coffee.

Mr. Hudson had pleaded guilty to an assault charge, avoiding a prolonged jail sentence as long as he met conditions that included no more criminal violations. But this year, he was charged with reckless driving. In another case, he was charged with stalking and with disclosing intimate images after an ex-girlfriend reported that he showed up at her workplace and home and sent explicit videos to someone else.

To some residents, including Mr. Allen, the Hellcat case was a lesson in the importance of enforcing laws. The city had grown too lax, he said. He said he understood the importance of policies that seek to avoid saddling people with criminal records that could hamper their ability to get housing or jobs, but he felt leniency could create other problems.

“I think it just went too far, and now they are reeling it back in,” Mr. Allen said.

City prosecutors are preparing for a January trial, where they hope to convict Mr. Hudson of reckless driving.

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