Seattle Police responded to a 911 call made by a man fearful his business would be targeted when he saw three males wearing ski masks outside his store in the Roxhill neighborhood Wednesday evening.
Officers arrived just after 09:00 p.m. in the 8800 block of 35th Avenue Southwest and spoke with the 25-year-old employee who informed officers he locked the doors to his business. Then the car with the suspicious masked men left, heading northbound on 35th Avenue Southwest.
SPD officers later located the vehicle, which had previously been stolen at gunpoint during a carjacking and attempted to detain it but the suspect drove away. After receiving authorization to pursue, police followed the suspect vehicle briefly until it collided with a fence, which caused it to fall down an embankment, and strike an exterior wall of an apartment building.
Seattle Fire Department personnel responded and provided medical care at the scene for the non-life-threatening injuries sustained during the collision.
Police contacted the registered owner of the stolen car who reported Tuesday evening that his car and phone were taken at gunpoint in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. The 25-year-old male victim told officers he was in his driver seat when an unknown man armed with a gun approached his vehicle. Two other male suspects then seated themselves in the victim’s car, a white 2010 Toyota Corolla with a missing lower front grill and drove off in an unknown direction. The armed suspect drove off with a fourth male suspect in a black sport utility vehicle.
It is unknown if the suspects in the Beacon Hill carjacking were involved in the Wednesday night collision. However, all three male suspects found within the stolen vehicle were taken into custody. Officers recovered a realistic-looking BB gun in the car.
The 15-year-old male suspect was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and eluding. He was later booked into the King County Youth Services Center after being medically cleared at Harborview Medical Center. The other two male suspects, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old, were released from police custody to their legal guardians.