Man tackles driver who tried running away after almost hitting kids

Residents said 27-year-old Miguel Mendoza-Avalos was speeding down Holly Drive and couldn’t make a left turn, which caused his car to slam into a tree.

When he started running away from his car, Russell Carchia ran after him.

“[I just] went [as fast as I could] to cut him off,” said Carchia, an Everett resident. “[I just] sprinted through [and] just kind of tackled him, [and then] put him in a quick chokehold. You know, I didn’t choke him but I let him know, ‘You’re not going nowhere.’ I held him there until the next guy came. He [the driver] just kind of put his hands behind his back and [we] just walked him back. It was kind of crazy.”

“[That driver] almost hit three kids in the third house [who were outside],” said Ted Welch, a longtime Everett resident. “The car ended up in the second house [and] knocked the tree down.”

When the Everett Police Department arrived, they found the driver's BMW on top of that tree, which is about 40 yards away from where the kids were playing in a front yard.

Police also found the man who tried running away.

“He was arrested and he was booked for a DUI and several other charges as well,” said Aaron Snell, a public information officer with the Everett Police Department. “There was no major injuries to anybody in this case, but it could have been a lot worse.”

Welch said street racing is a growing problem.

And he’s not alone.

A KIRO 7 viewer sent us a message on Facebook saying that people in this neighborhood are tired of it.

“It’s all of the time,” Welch said. “Every day of the week. This happened to be on Sunday night when everything was warm and people are out. We haven’t had anybody hit yet in this area, but it’s just a matter of time.”

Now, residents want speed bumps to protect the kids in their community.

“Slow down. You know, what can you say? They’re [the street racers] not going to listen anyhow. Not until they [police] do something [about this problem],” Welch said.

The driver was at Everett Municipal Court on Monday.

He’s being held in jail on $500,000 bail.