Proxy bidding would have saved this person.

Speeding driver tells State Patrol he was rushing to bid on eBay

By Sara Jean Green

Seattle Times staff reporter

So maybe it's not an exact case of life imitating art, but a Fall City man may have been channeling the character played by Steve Carrell in the 2005 film, "The 40 Year Old Virgin."

In the film, Carrell plays a socially-challenged, middle-aged man who falls in love with a woman who makes a mint selling his collection of action figures on eBay.

According to the State patrol, action figures and eBay also figure in the arrest of James Garrett Monday night on suspicion of reckless driving.

Just after 9 p.m., a State Patrol trooper patrolling Interstate 90 saw a speeding 2004 Volkswagen R32 passing other vehicles in the express lane in the Mount Baker Tunnel. As the Volkswagen came out of the tunnel, the trooper clocked it going 110 mph as it continued across the floating bridge. With the trooper behind him, the driver eventually pulled over on Mercer Island.

The driver, who was identified as Garrett, told the trooper he had to get home to Fall City because he was late bidding on a coveted item and eBay was about to close the auction, said Trooper Dan McDonald, a spokesman for the State Patrol in Bellevue.

According to McDonald, Garrett "didn't say what he was bidding on but the trooper said his car was filled with Star Wars stuff."

Garett's car was impounded — with all his Star Wars collectibles inside — and Garrett was booked into the King County Jail on suspicion of reckless driving.