On August 30th, at approximately 2:00 AM, Seattle Police were notified that Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputies and the Washington State Patrol were involved in a pursuit of a stolen newspaper box van and were crossing 520 westbound entering the Seattle city limits. West Precinct officers began to deploy to various off-ramps from I-5 ready to assist if needed. No Seattle officers were directly involved in the pursuit. The pursuit continued southbound on I-5 to the Boeing Access Road where the stolen van got off the freeway. The van then crossed over the overpass and began to enter northbound I-5. At that time, Snohomish County deputies attempted to stop the van, but were unsuccessful. The pursuit continued. At approximately 2:20 AM, Seattle Police were advised that the suspect vehicle was now northbound on Highway 99 approaching the viaduct. Seattle officers set up along the off-ramps of Highway 99 northbound to assist if needed.
The suspect vehicle got off 99 at the Western Avenue exit. Seattle officers had deployed spike strips across the road to stop the vehicle, but the suspect drove around the spike strips, striking a traffic sign. The suspect vehicle then drove through the downtown with Washington State Patrol pursuing. At 2:24 AM, radio broadcast that WSP had lost sight of the stolen van and had discontinued their pursuit. Seattle Police officers who were in the area observed the van continue southbound on Airport Way South and advised radio.
At 2:31 AM South Precinct officers observed the suspect vehicle near Swift-Albro. At 2:32 AM an SPD lieutenant advised Seattle officers not to pursue the vehicle. At 2:34 AM the stolen van was involved in a head on collision with another car at Swift and Eddy. The 35 year old suspect ran from the crash but was caught by Seattle officers. The occupants of the other vehicle did not sustain any injuries, but were checked out at the scene by Seattle Fire. They were later transported home by SPD officers. The suspect was taken to Harborview Medical Center for a mandatory blood draw and was turned over to the Snohomish County deputies for booking. Seattle Police completed the collision investigation.