New West Seattle firefighter helps catch drunk-driving suspect after hit-run crash outside Station 32

| Crime | Triangle | West Seattle news

A new firefighter at Seattle Fire Station 32 in The Triangle helped police catch a suspected drunk driver after a hit-run crash in front of the station. It happened around 5:20 pm Tuesday; a 34-year-old woman was in the crosswalk with her dog when a pickup-truck driver hit her. As we learned from a tipster later – confirmed today by SFD – firefighter Felton Tate got a description of the truck and driver and provided it to police. With that information, SPD found the 26-year-old suspect at his home a few blocks away. The report says the suspect acknowledged to the officer that he had been involved in the collision. The report says police found “what appeared to be an empty case of beer in the passenger seat of the vehicle.” The driver, police say, showed signs of intoxication, so he was arrested. The report says he refused a breath test until more than three hours after the crash – police were by then pursuing a warrant to draw blood – and at that time, the report says, his breath tests came in at .12. He was booked into jail, where the register shows he is still in custody, in lieu of $5,000 bail. The victim, meantime, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Wsresident August 29, 2018 (2:24 pm)

Nice work people! Poor lady walking her dog, how terrible! Hope this guy gets some help and cleans up his act. Nothing is worth dying or killing another person over, not even the next drink.

M August 29, 2018 (2:53 pm)

I hope the lady’s dog is OK as well. If it were today, it could have happened to me as I am getting ready to walk across the street to Lien with my dogs. Glad the lady is OK.

KM August 29, 2018 (3:46 pm)

When will we get serious about drunk driving? How many of us know people with multiple DUIs who still drive, or those who have been killed by people driving drunk? It is an absolute disgrace. I hope this woman and her dog has a successful and swift recovery and the driver’s case is handled with the gravity it deserves by our justice system.

Mike August 29, 2018 (4:32 pm)

Eastbound Alaska St between Fauntleroy and 35th is a speedway, especially between 37th and 35th. Very dangerous, especially during late afternoon and early evening.

Lisa August 29, 2018 (5:31 pm)

Smart on the drunk’s part. There’s no way to prove he didn’t get drunk at his home and that it was “only” a hit and run (minus the drunk driving). I had a colleague who beat a drunk driving charge this way.

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