On October 2nd at approximately 12:36 a.m. officers responded to a report of a hit and run vehicle/pedestrian collision in the 1600 block of 15th Avenue West. Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect was driving northbound on 15th Avenue West. At West Garfield Street the suspect failed to yield the right of way to the male victim, who was crossing the street in his motorized wheelchair. The suspect collided into the victim, throwing the victim clear of his wheelchair. The suspect continued northbound from the scene, failing to stop.
A witness followed the suspect for a distance reporting the suspect’s vehicle description and license plate to Seattle Police dispatch. The witness lost sight of the suspect but a North Precinct patrol officer located the suspect driving northbound on 15th Avenue NW near NW 59th Street.
The suspect pulled into an unknown person’s driveway in an apparent attempt to throw off the police car following him. It didn’t work. The officer contacted the suspect and placed him under arrest.
SFD medics responded to the collision scene and transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) detectives responded to both the collision scene and the scene of the arrest to inspect the suspect’s vehicle and impound it for further processing. TCIS detectives were at the site of the collision investigating and processing the scene for several hours.
The adult male suspect was booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Vehicular Assault, a felony.
This remains an active and on-going TCIS investigation.
