A drunk driver careened through downtown Seattle late Friday, colliding head-on with a valet in an Audi and then a bus, before his stolen Mustang sputtered to a halt across from Seattle Police Department headquarters.
The suspect’s spree began just before 6:30 PM after he sped the wrong way down one-way 2nd Avenue, where he collided head-on with an Audi, driven by a valet.
Rather than stopping and exchanging information with the valet—who was not seriously injured—the suspect tossed a bottle of whiskey out the Mustang’s window and drove away.
The suspect then made his way through a red light at 5th and Cherry Street, and once again took part in a head-on collision, this time with a bus.
The driver of the bus was not injured. However, the collision gnarled the bus’s bike carrier and severely damaged the Mustang, which finally came to a halt at 5th Avenue and James Street, right across from Seattle Police headquarters.
As it so happened, SPD Public Affairs Sergeant Sean Whitcomb—who had just walked out of the office after a long day of answering reporters’ questions and breaking news on the SPD Blotter—saw the damaged Mustang driving down* 5th Avenue and stopped to do a bit of real police work.
Sgt. Whitcomb, who was in plainclothes at the time, contacted the driver, courteously advised the suspect that he was a police officer, and ordered him to remain at the scene.
Patrol officers quickly arrived and arrested the suspect—who admitted he had consumed “eight shots” of whiskey—for hit and run, DUI and investigation of auto theft.
Sgt. Whitcomb declined to comment, only saying “please don’t post this” and “get back to work.”
*Updated to reflect the driver was, in fact, headed the correct direction down 5th Avenue in a dented, stolen Mustang.