Belling the 'Belltown Hellcat': Seattle fines loud, fast driver $84,000

It is a dubious achievement at best: being acknowledged by a few on social media as a kind of cult celebrity for flouting most of his neighborhood's lawful conventions.

And now Miles Hudson, the so-called “Belltown Hellcat” of Seattle, may finally have to slow down and shut up. According to the Seattle Times, the Seattle city attorney last week filed a court order demanding that the driver of the souped up Dodge Charger SRT pay $83,619.97 in civil penalties and other fees after he failed to respond in time to a lawsuit filed against him last month.

“Hudson has cultivated online infamy by flagrantly breaking Seattle’s laws and waking his neighbors with excessive noise,” City Attorney Ann Davison said in a statement. “It’s time for him to face the consequences.” Hudson’s attorney, Sheley Anderson, said Friday that she and Hudson had no comment.

Noise in this case is the charge that hangs on Hudson, but residents of the upscale Belltown neighborhood are anxious about Hudson’s public display of his need for speed, and his apparent disregard for the lethal possibilities that can result from that. Earlier this year he posted a video (350,441 likes) showing his speedometer topping 100 miles per hour during a downtown outing.

Hudson also allegedly continued driving the Hellcat after a Seattle Municipal Court judge barred him from driving it in April, weeks after he was charged with two counts of reckless driving for “operating a motor vehicle with a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons and/or property.” He pleaded not guilty to the charges.