On December 16th at approximately 11:30 a.m. officers responded to a vehicle/pedestrian collision on Stewart Street just west of 1st Avenue. Preliminary investigation indicates that a 39-year-old male suspect was driving westbound on Stewart Street from 2nd Avenue in his 1997 Subaru station wagon. Near the corner of 2nd Avenue and Stewart Street the suspect side-swiped a parked car. The suspect failed to stop and continued westbound.
Just west of the intersection of Stewart Street and 1st Avenue, for reasons yet to be determined, the driver drove onto the south side sidewalk of Stewart Street, struck three adult pedestrians, and collided into a delivery truck parked in the alley. The impact of the suspect’s vehicle into the delivery truck spun the delivery truck partially counter-clockwise and pushed the truck into a Honda Accord parked on the south side of Stewart Street. The impact with the Honda forced it into a Nissan parked behind it. The two parked cars that were damaged were unoccupied.
A 54-year-old female pedestrian was grazed by the suspect’s vehicle. A second female pedestrian, 25-years-old, was pinned in between the suspect’s car and the delivery truck parked in the alley. A third pedestrian, a 57-year-old male, was thrown from the hood of the suspect’s vehicle and landed on the street.
All three pedestrians were transported to Harborview Medical Center. The female who was grazed by the suspect’s vehicle and the male pedestrian both sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The female pedestrian who was pinned by the suspect’s vehicle sustained life-threatening injuries. The driver of the delivery truck was inside his vehicle at the time of the collision but was not injured.
The suspect was evaluated for signs of being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. The suspect did display signs of impairment. He was subsequently booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Vehicular Assault, a felony.
Traffic Collision Investigation Squad detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate.