Update – 11:45 AM: Officer have recovered a man’s body from the water near where police last saw the suspected car thief. The King County Medical Examiner will take custody of the body as police continue to investigate the incident.
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Police divers are working to recover the body of a suspected car thief, now presumed drowned after he drove into the Ship Canal late Wednesday night.
Around 11:30 PM, police received reports that a Nissan Sentra had driven off a pier near the 1000 block of West Ewing Street.
Officers and rescue teams from the Seattle Fire Department arrived at the Nickerson Street Marina and spotted a man in the water, calling for help.
Officers in SPD’s Harbor Unit attempted to throw a rope to the man four times, but he refused to grab the rope and pushed away from an officer, who tried to grab him out of the water. The man then went under the water.
Officers and Seattle Fire Department divers searched the canal for more than an hour, but were unable to find the man.
Police believe the man was driving a stolen car—reportedly taken from the Phinney Ridge neighborhood Monday afternoon—when he drove through a gate and off of a dock on the canal.
SPD is still investigating this incident and we’ll provide updates as more information becomes available.