Hit-run crash in Upper Fauntleroy; police find suspect

News just down the block from WSB HQ right now. Somebody made a deafening racket crashing a VW Jetta through the DO NOT ENTER sign at California/Thistle (map), heading southbound on California (the dead-end direction in which you’re not supposed to enter), and ending up against the front steps of a house at California/Sullivan. Nobody hurt, but the driver, according to neighbors, took off, apparently northbound on California; the only description is male, in a white shirt. Police have been called. The car is still there in the stairs, DO NOT ENTER sign against its hood, smoking; chunks of debris, including the concrete that held the sign, litter the street. 3:48 AM NOTE: An officer arrived within minutes of a neighbor’s call; another one headed out in search of the runaway driver. First question some (including us) had – was it a stolen car? Responding officer checked and says it’s not reported as such.

4:51 AM UPDATE: Police found the suspect, brought him back to the scene for witness ID (we weren’t the witnesses, we only heard the crash; the driver had bolted before we went out to see what had happened), and took him away. The car’s being towed, and SDOT has arrived to clean up the street debris and mark the suddenly signless “wrong way” street end; the car pushed/dragged the DO NOT ENTER sign more than 100 feet.

14 Replies to "Hit-run crash in Upper Fauntleroy; police find suspect"

  • JanS October 16, 2010 (3:47 am)

    nice…I bet that woke up the neighborhood. How much you wanna bet alcohol might have been a factor? :->

  • JanS October 16, 2010 (3:48 am)

    Yes, insomnia…darned meds that I take :(

  • newnative October 16, 2010 (7:33 am)

    Do Not Enter sign left on the hood, well, that’s driving the message home.

  • nulu October 16, 2010 (7:42 am)

    I could never understand why that the street is closed off?
    It does not meet criteria and was never a short cut.
    Someone must have had some pull to get their street closed by a do not enter sign.

    • WSB October 16, 2010 (10:01 am)

      It was that way before we moved here in 1993. And nobody powerful or famous anywhere nearby that I know of, at least in those 17 years. Most exciting nearby resident when we bought our bungalow was a Seafair Pirate (who has long since moved to Alki). The road is very narrow at that spot and it may be that there is not considered to be enough room for 2-way traffic.

  • austin October 16, 2010 (8:49 am)

    Way to ring in the weekend. Keep em coming drivers.

  • 56bricks October 16, 2010 (10:01 am)

    I remember the taxi that blew thru that street years ago and ended up sitting down in the ravine for quite awhile way before it was closed.

  • nulu October 16, 2010 (10:42 am)

    King County and Seattle records show that California Ave. before, at and just west of Thistle to be the same width.
    The road was “narrowed ” by the encroachment of neighbors’ “yards”.
    Other roads in West Seattle are this reduced width without being closed.
    King County Archives have a photo dated 1971 showing the California and Thistle intersection open with a stop sign.
    Apparently, between 1971 and 1993 someone managed to get the road closed by the city and let the street decay to where it is now.

  • JanS October 16, 2010 (11:06 am)

    so…if the car wasn’t stolen, I’m thinking maybe that the culprit is about to be caught, since they know who the car is registered to. Oh, the luck !

  • Tinged October 16, 2010 (11:21 am)

    The suspect in the Seward Park attack the other night was thought to be associated with a dark blue Jetta. Probably a lot of police interest in Jettas right now.

    • WSB October 16, 2010 (12:08 pm)

      I saw the suspect who was brought here to the scene and he didn’t look anything like the sketch, fwiw, which may or may not mean anything, but good point for context. We did publish the story about the Seward Park attack, sketch, and Jetta, by the way, the other day.

  • Kayzel October 16, 2010 (11:25 am)

    An email from the West Precinct yesterday said the suspect in a Seward Park attack Monday night may have been associated with a newer model shiny blue Jetta . . .

  • Silly Goose October 17, 2010 (9:24 am)

    I too first thougth of the Jetta involved in the Seward park attack, and does anyone else think the sketch looks like a woman or is it just me?

    • WSB October 17, 2010 (10:14 am)

      Not just you, SG, it looked somewhat feminine to me too, on first glimpse. I think we were just a little too shook up at the moment to even THINK of the Jetta connection and that potentially explaining fast police response (though nights get quieter when it’s cold and I don’t recall any other major incidents that night – I had just turned off the scanner minutes earlier). For anyone who drives south on Cali and turns east on Thistle, the mangled DO NOT ENTER sign is currently resting next to a temporary one, on its side, bent in a bizarre sort of arch …

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