It's significant because it explains why he was running from the cops. It's significant because the theory of the plaintiffs in the the pending civil suit is that the suspect couldn't identify the police as police officers and that he had no other reason to disobey a lawful order to stop.
I doubt that neither I, nor the reporter will be called as witnesses at the civil trial. Again, our opinions don’t matter.
It's significant sense a lot of people never go past the their first impressions from reading from a liberal rag. I would have liked to see what happens when the guy is portrayed as an innocent bystander mugged by ninja dressed thugs.
How would this go if the story went with a line on how this dude paid $60 to a buddy to drive him 70 miles to a dark alley in Seattle at 1 AM and then ran from the cops for 2 1/2 blocks, reaching into his pocket just as the cop was about to catch him. The cop didn't know whether it was a gun or drugs. No time to stop and think. Delay could mean a dead cop.