(Added: WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 5:50 PM: Just a quick mention while we’re gathering details – two incidents involving police right now in south West Seattle, don’t know yet if they are at all related. There is a crash at 35th and Barton and a foot chase near the 8800 block of Delridge. More details as we get them. Both are likely to be affecting traffic on those major arterials.

(WSB photo by Tracy Record)
6:12 PM: The crash, involving police, is at 35th/Barton, and 35th is blocked north of the intersection. No injuries, we are told at scene. Meantime, a reportedly carjacked vehicle was abandoned in South Delridge, and that’s what the search is about.

6:47 PM: Back from both scenes.
Medics have now been called to 35th/Barton to check out an 11-year-old girl who was in the civilian car that collided with a police vehicle – she is reported to have neck pain.

(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
That car (above) is currently in the parking lot of Tony’s Market; 35th remains closed at that spot, just north of Barton.

(WSB photo by Tracy Record)
The stolen car (above) was abandoned blocks away in an alley. No arrest yet. Police told WSB’s Christopher Boffoli that it was stolen outside West Seattle.

7:09 PM: SPD has just confirmed that the officer involved in 35th/Barton collision was indeed headed to carjacker search, and that the 11-year-old has been taken to the hospital.

8:25 PM: Our partners at The Seattle Times have a bit more detail on exactly how the collision happened – quoting police as saying the officer was headed south in case the suspect being tracked on Delridge headed west, but then got word of a direction change, so was U-turning at 35th/Barton when the collision happened.

9 PM: 35th is still closed north of Barton while investigators work.

11:07 PM: Thanks to commenter “Hosedown” for the update that 35th is open again. Meantime, SPD Blotter has just published the full summary of how this happened, including details of the carjacking incident that started it all, and news that the driver who hit the SPD car at 35th/Barton is suspected of DUI:

A woman called 911 to report two men stole her car while she left it running in the 2700 block of 4th Ave. South.

Plainclothes officers in the area quickly located the car and requested marked patrol units to stop the car. When officers tried to pull the car over at 21st Ave. SW and SW Henderson St. the occupants jumped out and ran away on foot. Officers flooded the area, but were unable to capture either suspect.

An officer responding to the call for help made a U-turn at 35 Ave. SW and SW Barton St. using his lights and sirens stopping all traffic. The officer had completed his turn when a vehicle broadsided the police car on the passenger side.

Seattle Fire Department medics responded and evaluated the officer, other driver, and her 11-year-old female passenger. The girl complained of a headache and nausea and was transported to Harborview Medical Center via ambulance. The officer was uninjured in the collision.

A Drug Recognition Expert was called to the scene to evaluate the driver, who was eventually arrested for driving under the influence.

Officers continue to search for the original carjacking suspects. They are described as a mid 30’s white male, 6 foot, 180 pounds and unshaven. The second suspect is described as a 30-year-old black male, 6 foot and 180 pounds.

Detectives are asking anyone with information to please call 911 and speak with officers.

Remember Nicholas Broughton, who crashed a stolen car through a fence near a relative’s home in The Junction back in January? Just days after he struck a plea bargain in that case and an earlier identity-theft case, it’s confirmed that he is the man police were looking for last night in the 35th/Myrtle area. Washington’s Most Wanted reports that Broughton, 33, and girlfriend Jennifer Lasky were the targets of the search. She was arrested and is in jail in connection with a $3,000 Pierce County warrant (for failure to appear in court in connection with a driving-with-suspended-license charge). He is still on the run.

Online records show Broughton was in court just last week to plead guilty to reduced charges in the two cases facing him. The first case involves that January night when he drove an SUV, stolen from Tacoma, through a fence near a relative’s home southwest of The Junction. The vehicle had come to police’s attention because it was equipped with LoJack. When charges were filed, Broughton was described as “an 11-time felon.”

Two weeks later, a judge let him out on bail; just weeks after that, Broughton was charged in a separate case, accused of identity theft related to credit/debit cards stolen in multiple car prowls, with at least one West Seattle victim.

After a failure to appear in court, a warrant was issued for him, and Broughton was re-arrested. He was in jail until mid-July, and was scheduled to go on trial this week, but the trial was canceled when he struck a plea bargain involving both aforementioned cases, and a reduction of charges. Documents show he was in court last Friday related to that, pleading guilty to the reduced charges – two counts of second-degree identity theft, one each of hit-and-run and possession of a stolen vehicle (a lesser charge than auto theft). The plea bargain also included a charge of criminal trespass, but documents say that is to be dismissed at his sentencing, which is scheduled for September 26th. It’s too soon to say how/whether this latest skirmish with police will affect that case. Meantime, WMW says there’s a reward out for him, and you can call 911 or 800-222-TIPS if you have information.