The Brief
- Sokphana Soeung, 42, was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for possessing a “tennis ball bomb” during a slow-speed chase on I-90.
- The incident, which occurred Oct. 12, 2024, shut down the interstate for hours as the bomb squad investigated the device and a second explosive made of sparklers.
- Soeung was high on fentanyl and driving a stolen car when he led police on a pursuit that ended with him trying to light the device on foot.
SEATTLE – A King County man will spend 1.5 years in prison after he shut down Interstate 90 during a confrontation with police involving a homemade explosive device.
Sentencing for ‘alarming’ interstate shutdown
Sokphana Soeung was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on Monday. The sentence follows an incident in October 2024 where Soeung pulled out a tennis ball filled with explosive powder and a lighter while fleeing law enforcement on Mercer Island.
The backstory:
The pursuit began at Enatai Beach Park when Bellevue police found Soeung and another man passed out in a running, stolen Mercedes. After waking up, Soeung drove over spike strips that punctured all four of his tires. Despite this, he continued to flee at speeds of roughly 10 mph onto westbound I-90.
After a state trooper performed a PIT maneuver to stop the car, Soeung jumped out holding a homemade “tennis ball bomb” and a lighter.…