UPDATE: ‘Automobile rescue’ response on Alki

9:10 PM: Thanks to Cami for the tip: All those sirens are for an “automobile rescue” response in the 2300 block of Alki, which is blocked at Bonair. More to come.

9:14 PM: Cami also sent the photo added above. Two-car crash.

9:28 PM: And Cami reports a third damaged car. Meantime, SFD has closed the call, meaning all its units have left the scene.

6:57 AM: See comments for discussion and witness reports. The DUI arrest is confirmed via Tweets by Beat. We’re following up this morning for reports from SPD and SFD.

9:25 AM: Continuing to procure followup information this morning – SFD confirms that no one was taken to the hospital. Spokesperson Lt. Harold Webb says three people were evaluated, including the male driver and female passenger in the original car (who declined further medical attention), and a passenger in one car that was apparently “sideswiped” (the only two cars described as occupied, in the SFD report).

10:07 AM: Just talked to SPD spokesperson Det. Mark Jamieson. He says the final tally of vehicles involved was six, including the one whose 27-year-old driver was cited. That car (described in the police report as a 2015 Toyota Scion) hit a parked Camry “at a high rate of speed” northbound on Alki, so fast that the Camry was flipped, and it in turn, police say, hit the other cars. The driver was not booked into jail; the citation, according to Seattle Municipal Court, is for a misdemeanor violation logged as “person under the influence of intoxicants/drugs.”

43 Replies to "UPDATE: 'Automobile rescue' response on Alki"

  • Beto April 4, 2017 (9:38 pm)

    I thnk we in West Seattle could be easily on the Guiness Book of Records for the most crazy accidents where cars end up upside down.

    • Chuck April 4, 2017 (10:40 pm)

      It sure does seem that way! Hope everyone is okay. And sorry, but speeding (at least) has to be a factor in this one. 

  • shauna April 4, 2017 (9:45 pm)

    does anyone know how it happened or how bad are injuries?

  • Steph April 4, 2017 (10:20 pm)

    KOMO reporting 7 cars involved!

  • kaxelb April 4, 2017 (10:43 pm)

    I didn’t really want to respond but it’s tough not to after
    reading the poor reporting of this accident. Excessive speed, rain, darkness,
    bad decision making and it sounds like, impaired judgement were the causes of
    this accident. Thankfully the girl in the car traveling the opposite direction
    was uninjured. Supposedly the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident
    was also uninjured. The vehicles pictured were just parked along the street.
    You can see the left rear tire of the upside down SUV is missing or pushed severely
    forward. There is also damage to the black SUV; this was all imposed by a completely
    separate vehicle that was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed and
    initially hit the left rear of the upside SUV, causing it to flip. Not pictured
    is the suspect’s vehicle, which had the right front of it completely ripped
    off, nor the poor girl’s vehicle which the suspect ricocheted into. There were
    probably about 5 cars involved in total and only two of them had occupants.

    Hopefully this is an isolated incident, however, I have a
    feeling that it’s going to be a long and dangerous summer down on Alki.

    • WSB April 4, 2017 (10:55 pm)

      Thanks, Kaxelb. I apologize for the “poor reporting” but once in a rare while we can’t get to a scene, and in this case we are very grateful to longtime reader Cami for providing photos and some information beyond the basics we could glean otherwise, which was that SFD sent a big response but closed it out before too long. For the hundreds of incidents each year we *do* get a crew to, information early on is usually fairly sketchy anyway and the main purpose of our reports are to say “something serious happened/here’s what all the sirens are for, avoid the area for a while.” We’ll be checking with SPD and SFD for the reports in the morning as this appears, per your contribution, to be particularly unusual circumstances and total damage – TR

      • Xana April 4, 2017 (11:12 pm)

        You guys do a great job! No one would know anything going on in WS if it was not for you 

        Xana @ xanaland.com 

        • WSB April 4, 2017 (11:25 pm)

          Thanks, we hate to ever fall short, but we do appreciate the added info, as WSB has always been community-collaborative … Did you upload your video anywhere we could link to when we get followup information on all this?

    • Alan April 5, 2017 (12:04 am)

      Kaxelb, I just do not understand your need to snark on this. I do not see any of the implications made here that you suggest, other than in the comments.

      On the bright side, it was helpful to hear your observations at the scene. 

  • Pelicans April 4, 2017 (11:06 pm)

    Dear kaxelb,

    WSB’s reporting is always superior, and more in depth, with more follow-ups, on WS news, than any other news source in the city. Just because you don’t see it right away doesn’t mean they aren’t pursuing the story. You will find on the Blog not only a deliberate ferreting out of the available facts, but a timely relaying of all available info from local authorities. If there seems to be a lack of info posted on the Blog, versus the info from the comments section, it’s because the editors are pursuing and verifying the facts before they publish them.

    • WSB April 4, 2017 (11:10 pm)

      In the meantime, it appears this was enough to draw TV and KING is usually trustworthy. Here’s what they have.

  • Xana April 4, 2017 (11:10 pm)

    I just left the scene. Driver was drunk and went to jail. No one seriously hurt. I took some video of the aftermath. I live at 53rd & Bonair. Glad no one was hurt. Wonder if he was over- served at any of the closr by bars….which yes will contribute to a interesting summer at the beach. 

  • Lauren Summers April 4, 2017 (11:26 pm)

    Offenders car was a blue Toyota Scion. 

    • WSB April 4, 2017 (11:40 pm)

      Thank you for the photo.

    • Alan April 4, 2017 (11:48 pm)

      It is actually a Toyota FRS. A Subaru BRZ was involved in an accident on the 31st on West Marginal. They are the same car (with finish and suspension differences) and are not that common, so it seems strange to have two accidents involving them within a week. There was no indication of fault on the 31st.

      • Alan April 5, 2017 (12:14 am)

        Oops. It is likely a Scion FRS. For 2017 the model became a Toyota 86 as Toyota is eliminating Scion.

  • Knowitsome April 5, 2017 (1:26 am)

    Kaxelb- Thankfully you were not knocked off your high horse, during this incident. Brill coverage on your part, explaining that the parked cars did not collide with themselves- (that would have been an implosion, perhaps..). No, it was indeed a COMPLETELY SEPARATE CAR, that careened into the parked cars, and IMPOSED DAMAGE. 

    • Cami April 5, 2017 (8:00 am)

      HAHAHA!  Seriously, you made my day. Signed, not a real reporter.  Just an Alki resident with a phone and a love for the WSB.

  • dsa April 5, 2017 (1:49 am)

    What?  The upside down car was parked?  Did I read that correctly? 

  • West Seattle Hipster April 5, 2017 (6:22 am)

    Drunk driving should be punished more severely in this state.  Automatic license revocation would be a good start.

    • Neighbor April 5, 2017 (7:49 am)

      Absolutely agreed that permanent  license revocation should be done for drunken driving. Just imagine how much traffic might be improved by this. 

  • skoobywrx April 5, 2017 (6:46 am)

    Car is a Subaru BRZ, that color is WRB (or what was the World Rally Blue), and is only for Subaru.  Toyota/Scion has a darker blue

  • Big C. April 5, 2017 (7:13 am)

    I’m the owner of the black SUV next to the flipped car. Kaxelb is pretty accurate in regards to how the accident happened (except flipped car is not an SUV) The driver of the Toyota FRS was charged with a DUI. I was there when he told police that he had a couple of “shots.” He and his female passenger was coming from El Chupacabra. Excessive speeds over 60-70 mph when it is raining. The driver lost control and hit the parked cars causing it to flip and hit my black SUV. It ricochetted and hit a car coming from the opposite direction. The Toyota FRS slid a good 25-30 yards… hitting other parked vehicles.

  • WSB April 5, 2017 (9:33 am)

    And if you’re just checking the comments, note that we’re adding followup information above as we get it this morning. Most recently: Confirmation from SFD that nobody was hospitalized. – TR

  • shauna April 5, 2017 (9:37 am)

    I appreciate everyone’s input- communicating and caring is what makes this community so special. Since I couldn’t take my usual way home to go up 53rd last night and saw the cars, I really wanted to know what happened. For me, this is one of those “too close to home”….I easily could have been driving there at that moment or parked there…..speedbumps anyone?

  • Alki resident April 5, 2017 (9:46 am)

    It’s time for speed bumps on Alki. I’m seeing 70mph all the time down here now. 

    Can someone tell me why beach drive has them and we don’t ?????

    • WSB April 5, 2017 (10:07 am)

      And one more round of updating about to be added above, as I’ve just talked to SPD.

  • Sunuva April 5, 2017 (10:31 am)

    And the summer has not even begun. We were at Whale Tail park on Monday around 6 pm and witnessed several unsafe behaviors while only there for a short while. I saw teenagers drinking what appeared to be alcoholic beverages in the back of a truck, I saw a sedan charge down the road right next to the park at probably 40-45 miles an hour, I saw a crazy u-turn that almost hit another vehicle. It is downright dangerous around there these days! (No police presence to speak of either)

    • sadbuttrue April 5, 2017 (4:29 pm)

      Hi Sunuva,

      I also frequent WT with my son often. Do you ever report this to the police? Here is the SW Precinct contact.  If they are aware they may patrol more often. I have also seen cars speed by WT, which is worrisome, given there is no fence or barrier.

      Jennifer.Burbridge@seattle.gov

      Thanks

      • WSB April 5, 2017 (4:46 pm)

        Thanks, SBT – please note, Jennifer is the new Crime Prevention Coordinator and that is an educational role, not a law enforcement role. When something’s happening, please call 911. Otherwise it’s more of a Community Police Team issue and we always advise coming to the meetings at the precinct – West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, for example, 3rd Tuesdays at 7 pm (you’ll probably meet Jennifer there too, as well as the precinct commander and operations lieutenant).

      • Sunuva April 5, 2017 (9:30 pm)

        I haven’t reported these types of things to the police.. yet. However, it has become clear that it is not a rare occurrence and should not be ignored. Thanks for the contact info, I’ll keep that handy next time we’re there.

        It shouldn’t be too much to ask to be able to take my daughter to the playground and feel safe there. The lack of any sort of barrier between the park and that road is a terrible accident waiting to happen with the careless driving behavior, etc, going on there.

  • Rick April 5, 2017 (10:47 am)

    From Tracy’s update at 10:07 this morning, I believe that something is WRONG with our DUI laws.  A first offense should result in arrest, no release unless significant bail is set and paid.  

  • newnative April 5, 2017 (11:22 am)

    I had no idea first offense is a gross misdemeanor.  He can still get jail time.  

  • dsa April 5, 2017 (11:48 am)

    They used to through people in the slammer for this.   I wonder why not in this case.

  • Mary P April 5, 2017 (11:49 am)

      

       This accident is terrible but was predictable. Alki has become a straightaway for racing cars and all manner of vehicular irresponsibility. Safety should be a priority but all too often is ignored.

  • Kevin April 5, 2017 (1:18 pm)

    I agree Speed bumps are needed on Harbor Ave, Don Armeni Park and Alki  Ave…..Will it take someone else to be killed or severely injured.

  • A.C.A. April 5, 2017 (1:41 pm)

    Will the name and age of the charged driver be reported by WSB?  I would assume he’s a younger millennial.  I could maybe understand just being cited if all he did was knock over a mailbox but this was potentially fatal!  The guy shoulda gone to jail.  @Sunuva I’ve seen more reckless driving around there, too.  Maybe these reckless folks are shaking off cabin fever from this very long and extremely wet winter, however, it’s no excuse for that behavior.

    • WSB April 5, 2017 (1:58 pm)

      His age is in the story already, 27. But intoxicated driving can happen, unfortunately, at any age. While I was watching the jail roster early today, not knowing this suspect hadn’t been booked, I was making note of those who had … one was a woman just under 50. As for the suspect’s name, it depends on what the court website says about the case status, which I’ll be checking before day’s end to see what info has turned up.

  • Momosmom April 5, 2017 (3:48 pm)

    Sorry to say that being thrown in jail and or having your license taken away is not going to stop these people from driving, and I think even killing someone won’t stop them. The only way drunk driving is going to stop is for “that” person wanting it to, it’s sad but true.

  • sadbuttrue April 5, 2017 (4:25 pm)

    The guy was drunk. He hit another car at high speed. Glad I wasn’t out for a jog tonight or walking with my son along that way. What am I missing? Its pathetic to be so apathetic. 

  • shauna April 5, 2017 (8:36 pm)

    WSB-  thanks for link….if we aren’t eligible for Speed BUMPS, what about these…..Speed Cushions –  Similar to speed humps, speed cushions  are divided into sections so that wide wheelbase vehicles can straddle them.  As such, they can more easily accommodate transit, fire engines, and other emergency response vehicles.

  • Sabre Truth Tiger April 6, 2017 (5:33 pm)

    As the owner of the home where the upended vehicle came to rest, I’m pretty well done with miscreants racing up and down Alki.  This also includes motorcycles doing “wheelies” and otherwise revving their engines up to no effect other than to make noise and be the object of attention they seek in their lives. Their noise sets off car alarms and the din continues long after the knuckleheads have left the area. The community was lucky in this instance-no bystanders were injured, but for those familiar with accidents on Alki over recent years, this will most certainly happen again-only with tragic outcomes. The SW Precinct of the SPD shows little interest in addressing the problem. Officers on bicycles is an absurd idea, as was the mobile command post. What is needed on good weather days is a plainclothes officer walking the beat, backed up with discreetly pre-positioned motorcycle or patrol cruisers on the side streets,  far removed from view. When the knuckleheads make their appearance (it won’t take long), the street is road-blocked and the offenders arrested. Their machines will be confiscated after the owners have been publicly flogged. Won’t take long to clean things up, but we lack the will to do so.

Sorry, comment time is over.