An 18-year-old man is in custody after he fought with an officer and then fled in a stolen car, later crashing it and tossing a handgun as he fled from the scene.
The whole incident began around 2:00 pm Friday afternoon in the 5700 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. Employees of a business called 911 because of suspicious activity inside their store. One suspect was inside while another waited outside in a parked red Nissan. Officers arrived and attempted to contact the man waiting in the parked car. The plate on the Nissan came back as a reported stolen vehicle. The suspect began to fight with officers and then sped off in the stolen Nissan. Additional officers responded to the scene to assist in locating the suspect vehicle. A short time later an officer in the East Precinct spotted the stolen vehicle and attempted to stop it. The Nissan failed to stop and sped off. The Nissan collided with at least one other vehicle at 23rd Avenue and Rainier Avenue South.
The driver fled the collision and tossed a handgun as he attempted to run away. The suspect was taken into custody by officers and the handgun was recovered. Detectives from the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) responded to handle the collision investigation. There were no serious injuries as a result of the collision. Detectives will process the scene, collect the evidence, and recover the stolen vehicle. This remains an active and on-going investigation.