West Seattle Crime Watch: Trail of damage in early-morning crash

Reported by a resident southwest of The Junction, who also shared the photo:

We had a drunk driver wreak havoc on our street last night-on 49th between Alaska and Dawson at about 2 AM. The person hit 5 cars – our neighbor’s car got the worst of it but we lost a bumper and have some major scrapes and damage on the side of our car. The man was arrested. Thankfully only cars were damaged. … We had an officer stop and talk to us this morning, which was greatly appreciated.

SFD’s 911 log verifies a crash call in that area at 2:47 am. SPD had some computer trouble overnight so its call map isn’t caught up yet.

TLR July 5, 2012 (1:03 pm)

….There was also a bad hit and run crash on fauntleroy…

Chuck and Sally's Van Man July 5, 2012 (1:50 pm)

TLR–was it a black 4Runner that was hit? Just noticed that a few minutes ago. Seems that “S” curve always draws the drunks.

ws suzanne July 5, 2012 (2:54 pm)

The driver was underage — 19 I think he said. Really unfortunate for him to start his young adult years with this as part of his history.

There were about eight of us neighbors shot out our sleep last night. We stayed with the driver to make sure he was okay and took stock of the damage. All of us felt badly for him. He made a really bad decision last night to drive drunk, and will pay for it for a very long time.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. The white truck in the photo may have kept the driver’s vehicle from slamming into the green house.

We are all grateful that only cars and our peace of mind were destroyed last night.

pam July 5, 2012 (4:49 pm)

So many people only have liability insurance – I hope the driver was insured so all the victims arent left high and dry.

TLR July 5, 2012 (6:06 pm)

Yes, a 4-runner. ;/ My friends rig. So unfair. True it’s veeeery good no people were physically hurt. But this still hurts financially and robs time away.

DelridgeResident July 5, 2012 (9:28 pm)

Now that I park on the street I would never consider only having liability. I feel like I see parked hit-and-runs at least once a week. I always feel like those where the person is caught are “lucky” compared to those left in a situation like the 4-runner.
Thank goodness no one was hurt in either incident!

beardo July 6, 2012 (2:08 am)

TLR any idea if they got the driver of that dodge that wrecked last night?

TLR July 6, 2012 (12:42 pm)

there is a case # for the hit & run on Fauntleroy. The case numbers got mixed up as well so as far as last night,… they are still working on this case. … ;/

Lura Ercolano July 6, 2012 (7:20 pm)

I drove on 49th a few minutes ago, and I am very surprised and somewhat alarmed that the damaged white pick-up truck is still parked on the street.
.
I’ve had parked cars struck by drunk drivers, and we always were told to leave the car right where it was until the insurance adjuster could examine the damage, and that makes sense. But in this case, that metal sticking out into the street looks like it is sharp enough to take a cyclist’s leg off or something.

ws_suzanne July 7, 2012 (12:40 pm)

Lura — I can’t speak for my neighbor but can tell you that they just moved into that house last week. I’ve spoken with them a couple of times and they are scrambling to take care of everything going on, including dealing with their insurance company. They mentioned that the truck might need to remain where it is until next week because of the insurance process.

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