On July 8th at approximately 6:04 p.m. officers responded to a 911 call of a strong-arm robbery of an elderly woman that occurred in a parking lot at Rainier Avenue South and South College Street. Preliminary investigation indicates that two suspects drove up to the victim in a red and gray Chevy van. Suspect #1, a female in her 20’s, exited the van and grabbed the victim’s purse as the victim was at her car. The suspect struck the victim and knocked her to the ground. The suspect then jumped back into the van’s front passenger seat and the van sped away.
Witnesses called 911 and gave a description of the van and the suspects. A responding officer spotted the suspects near Beacon Avenue South and South Ferdinand Street and began following them. Additional officers converged on the suspects and a traffic stop was initiated at MLK Jr. Way South and South Juneau Street. Suspect #2, a female in her 40’s and the driver of the van, was taken into custody without incident.
Suspect #1 then jumped into the driver’s seat of the van and sped off southbound on MLK Jr. Way South. Officers gave chase. While failing to pull over for officers, suspect #1 drove onto the curb, struck a tree and ran several red lights at a high rate of speed.
Suspect #1 attempted (unsuccessfully) to ram a marked patrol car near MLK Jr. Way South and South Graham Street. Suspect #1 then continued on at a high rate of speed and collided with four occupied civilian vehicles at MLK Jr. Way South and South Othello Street. Following those collisions, officers took suspect #1 into custody and recovered the victim’s stolen purse.
The victim who was robbed and assaulted at the beginning of this incident is a female in her 80’s. She sustained minor injuries, was treated at the scene by SFD Medics and released (she declined to be transported). The occupants of the four vehicles struck by the suspects’ van sustained minor injuries and were also treated and released at the scene by SFD Medics.
While this investigation remains active and on-going, officers will be booking suspect #1 into the King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery, Investigation of Vehicular Assault, and Investigation of Eluding Police Officers. Suspect #2 was interviewed and released.