The residents of downtown Seattle are sleepless night after night, terrorized by the sounds of a speeding influencer, racing on by in his muscle car – determined to make as much noise as possible.
The alleged culprit is Myles Hudson, a 20-year-old influencer, addicted to the need for speed.
Hudson is fast becoming a victim of his own success, with nearly 800,000 followers on Instagram who love seeing his videos of him revving his Dodge Charger Hellcat, then flooring it through downtown Seattle at speeds up to and over 100mph.
There’s nothing subtle about Hudson’s style who wears an outfit decked out in flames to signify his speed while his vehicle is also eye-catching, wrapped in a tiger stripe livery.
Driver Miles Hudson has been the focus of numerous complaints from residents
Hudson has been pulled over by the police a few times, and the city is now suing him over the noise he is creating
He’s been driving his Dodge Charger Hellcat speeding through Seattle at speeds of up to 107mph
Known as the Belltown Hellcat, Hudson has drawn the ire of people living in the area including the Seattle Police who have rarely managed to pull him over.
But Hudson’s online success is now fueling his dangerous habit, as he continues to produce more extreme videos of himself, tearing through the downtown cityscape.
And it seems that Hudson does not intend to slow down.
The issue appears to have reared its head at the start of this year when Hudson was pulled over by police just before 2 am one January night.
On that occasion, the officer gave him a verbal warning and noted that the car was ‘exceedingly loud, equivalent to the decibels of gunshots or fireworks.’
In March, Hudson was charged with two counts of reckless driving.
Hudson has been driving his Dodge Charger Hellcat speeding through Seattle
Hudson has now managed to rack up almost 800,000 followers through his speeding videos
He wasn’t pulled over on that occasion, but video posted to his Instagram shows him racing another Dodge Charger, this time at speeds of up to 107mph in an area where the speed limit is 25mph.
‘The car is loud, whether I’m going 10 miles an hour or 200. It’s a muscle car, it’s going to be loud regardless,’ Hudson said to the Seattle Times.
The city is now getting serious and has filed a lawsuit against Hudson, which would see him subject to $83,200 in penalties.
Hudson has been ordered by the court to stop driving the Charger after he was issued a notice violation for the excessive noise and an order to remove the car’s illegal exhaust system.
Hudson believes he is being targeted because of his race.
‘There are way bigger issues than a black man with a nice car who makes noise occasionally,’ he said.
The city attorney alleges how Hudson ‘flaunts’ his Charger’s excessive noise on his Instagram as he sets out to deliberately keep people awake.
Known as the Belltown Hellcat, Hudson has drawn the ire of people living in the area including the Seattle Police who have rarely managed to pull him over
Hudson’s online success is now fueling his need for speed as he continues to produce more extreme videos of himself, tearing through the downtown cityscape
Occasionally, Seattle Police have managed to pull Hudson over. Pictured here in March 2024
‘Mr. Hudson has cultivated online infamy by flagrantly breaking Seattle’s laws and waking his neighbors with excessive noise. It’s time for him to face the consequences of his actions. That’s why I have requested that the court find Mr. Hudson in default and award the City all applicable penalties,’ City attorney Ann Davison wrote in a statement.
Court filings show that Hudson was supposed to submit proof that he had fixed his car’s exhaust system so that it did not make the same level of noise. He is subject to $1,300 in fines for every day his car is not fixed.
‘In the two months since that notice of violation, Mr. Hudson has failed to remove the illegal modifications or address the excessive noise,’ the city attorney’s statement says.
Aside from speeding, Seattle police also issued Hudson with four infractions and note how there have been multiple noise and speed complaints from fed-up locals kept up each night by Hudson’s antics.
A Seattle police officer, who also has expertise as a car mechanic, said the exhaust of the Charger had illegally been modified to deliberately backfire, creating an ‘exceedingly loud’ noise.
The Charger has a hemi engine, which ‘which has a unique exhaust note,’ the lawsuit says.
‘When the mufflers are modified or removed, the noise is increased, and the ‘Hemi’ exhaust note changes. The engine also has a control module for which the software code can be re-written to create a series of backfires when the throttle is transitioned.’
Hudson presents an intimidating figure as he drives around at high speeds hidden in a face mask
Hudson poses in some of the designer clothing he’s been able to buy with his fame
The officer with specialist vehicle knowledge wrote: ‘This audible disturbance made it self-evident that the vehicle was under wide open throttle, with the driver utilizing the maximum performance of the engine in the downtown corridor. The noise would continue to grow louder as the vehicle approached my location(s). Eventually, the same Charger would appear, driving at extremely high speeds, running traffic lights, and making unsafe lane changes as it drove by,’ the officer detailed in his report.
‘A citizen approached me and informed me that he was a nearby resident, and asked if I could hear ‘the hellcat’ referring to the edition type of Hudson’s Charger. I affirmed that I did hear the vehicle. He went on to explain that the owner of the vehicle was doing this on a regular basis, and that he, and other residents were ‘absolutely sick of it’. He described Hudson’s vehicle and its unique features saying that officers needed to ‘do something’.’
When police finally pulled him over and had a conversation with him, it was clear Hudson had no intention of stopping.
‘I ended up having a prolonged conversation with him that I captured on my bodyworn video. I asked Hudson why he didn’t just go to a racetrack to utilize his vehicle there. He stated that he had “almost 700,000 followers” on his social media, and that the amount of money he makes on filming his videos of him in his vehicle on the street has paid for the car,’ the police officer explained.
In one video, the lights of Fourth Avenue in Seattle all turn to green encouraging Hudson to put his pedal to the metal reaching triple-digit speeds
‘I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. I’m going to make a career out of this’. Hudson said to the officer. ‘No disrespect, but I feel like I’m doing my thing,’ he said. ‘I’ve turned it into a career, and the car has paid for itself. 650,000 followers.’
But residents are furious and want Seattle Police to take a tougher approach.
‘If he’s driving 107 miles an hour in downtown, that is putting peoples’ lives at risk. What are we waiting for? For him to kill someone?’ Chris Allen told KOMO. ‘I have actually woken up in the middle of night thinking it’s gunshots, but it’s just Miles Hudson going by in his Charger.
‘But it’s still up and running, he’s still making money off this. He’s affecting thousands of people down here,’ Allen added.
Online, followers are increasingly fed up with his behavior.
‘Miles is the true definition of a sociopath with extreme narcissism. He has a mental illness that shows no concern for others, much like a serial killer or career criminal. It’s disturbing that any person has such low integrity to cause others so much discomfort and lack all empathy,’ wrote one user.
‘If i lived in Seattle, your tires would be knifed all the time,’ said another Instagram follower.
‘Heh mom’s car not even your own. Such a kid who can’t even take responsibility for himself and own his own life or vehicles. Grow up little kid,’ wrote another.
Hudson is scheduled to appear in court on reckless driving charges on June 12.
A hearing in the city’s lawsuit against him is set for June 18.