(SCROLL DOWN for latest update – adding the first car reported to have been hit by the stolen truck)
10:37 AM: A Seattle Police car was hit and seriously damaged in the Morgan Junction area – and police are looking for the pickup truck driver who did it – he might be on the run in Gatewood. The truck is described as a ’98 gray Chevy pickup with landscaping equipment. According to scanner traffic, the officer driving the damaged car is not hurt. More to come.
(Added photo – tweeted by Robert)
10:45 AM: Co-publisher Patrick Sand was in the area when this happened. Police at the scene tell him that an officer checked the plate on the truck as it headed westbound on Fauntleroy and discovered it was stolen. They tried to pull it over and that’s when it hit the patrol car and took off, headed eventually into Gatewood, where they are still searching. The truck itself has been found.
10:49 AM: Suspect is in custody in Gatewood. Just added our photo of damaged SPD car in Morgan Junction. Engine 37 has been dispatched because the suspect, described as 23 years old, is complaining of an injury.
11:04 AM: At least one TV helicopter is in the area trying to get some visuals on this.
11:18 AM: Traffic is blocked southbound on California at the crash scene south of Fauntleroy until the damaged police car is towed. The suspect is reported to be facing potential charges of assaulting an officer as well as hit-run. We also confirmed directly with police at the arrest scene that, as we’d heard via radio communication earlier, the officer whose car was hit was not hurt.
11:35 AM: We’ve learned the truck was reported stolen from the Admiral/Alki area and apparently hit a car there before continuing on to the Morgan Junction area where the incident with police happened.
11:43 AM: SPD Blotter has just posted its summary, saying the car hit in Upper Alki contained someone who had reported the theft to 911.
12:26 PM: That’s the car hit in Upper Alki. We talked with its owner and the owner of the stolen truck. They told us that the truck’s owner was doing work at Cactus on Alki, packing up to leave, stepped away from the truck for just a moment – and that’s when the thief jumped in and took off. The Audi’s driver was a Cactus employee who saw it happen and followed the truck while calling 911; he says the thief noticed he was being followed and pulled the same maneuver that was used to hit the SPD car later – put the truck into reverse and deliberately back into the vehicle behind him.
| 39 COMMENTS