On January 30th at approximately 1:45 a.m. an officer on patrol witnessed a hit-and-run collision near 23rd Avenue East and East Aloha Street. A 31-year-old male suspect rear-ended a 27-year-old female victim and immediately fled the scene in his white 1998 VW Jetta. The officer briefly pursued him but discontinued the pursuit when the suspect began driving at excessively high speeds. Meanwhile, another officer was in the area of Mountlake and State Route 520 when the call came out. He saw the suspect running on foot in the area and called for additional units. Responding officers arrived in the area and took the suspect into custody.
Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a light pole near Montlake Place East and East Roanoke Street after officers had discontinued the pursuit. After that collision the suspect exited his vehicle and began running from the crash scene. A short time later he was spotted by an officer on patrol and was taken into custody.
Fortunately the female victim was not injured. The suspect was evaluated by SFD medics and transported to Harborview Medical Center for further examination.
The suspect was subsequently booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Eluding, a felony.