UPDATE: Another suspicious crash on SW Alaska

10:52 PM: For the fourth time in less than two weeks, someone has crashed a suspected stolen car on SW Alaska west of The Junction and fled the scene. This time, the driver hit a utility pole and then got into what’s described as a white Hyundai Elantra to leave the scene. The crashed car is reported to be a Hyundai Sonata with Oregon plates and ignition damage. Officers are telling dispatch that the pole is in danger of falling so the car can’t be removed until City Light can come deal with it. At least one sign was reportedly taken out by the impact too.

11:15 PM: Thanks to the two readers who sent photos, added above. One texted that they talked to police – “there are four of them out here, none of them had any idea this has been happening.” The most recent one was last Wednesday morning.

12:19 AM: One of the area residents says the car’s been towed and its removal shows the pole damage:

ADDED 3:47 PM: A commenter says community members are gathering at Ercolini Park at 6 pm to talk about all this. Meantime, dozens of homes in the area were without power for several hours today as a result of the pole damage done by the crash:

Power has just been restored.

CarDriver May 25, 2025 (11:01 pm)

Interesting question for SPD. Are the car thieves communicating amongst themselves? Is this the new “fun place” to dump stolen cars?

Alki resident May 26, 2025 (12:00 am)

Four police officers that weren’t briefed about this reoccurring event. Unreal. Someone needs to close the sidewalks on both sides of the street until arrests are made. It’s obviously going to happen again so maybe neighbors can take shifts looking and waiting. They’re obviously not reading the blog or they would’ve relocated their drama.

Neighbor May 26, 2025 (12:17 am)

I live across the street. 4 cops on the scene, not a single one had any clue this has been happening. I asked if they can take finger prints of the crashed car, they shrugged. I asked if they can put an officer at the top of the hill, they said they’re short staffed. I asked if they could just park a cop car at the top of the hill to perhaps act as a deterrent, they told me the kids would probably just use that in their next video. I asked if they could install a camera at the top of the hill or work with any of the businesses up there that may have one, they shrugged. I asked who manages the trends and patterns of crime since this is the 4th time and none of them were aware, they said no one. They literally told me “there is nothing we can do, but if someone got killed, then we’d get involved.”Do any neighbors have any other idea of what can be done? I’ve reached out to Saka… I’ll try asking businesses at the top of the hill if they have any cameras. Feeling totally helpless and terrified one of these cars will hit a person or a home.

WSB May 26, 2025 (12:31 am)

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Last answer is entirely false; SPD, the mayor, etc., go on endlessly about “data-driven policing” and in fact are launching a “real=time crime center” supposedly to track it even more closely, any day now. I’ll be following up too. One challenge here is the whack-a-mole syndrome … it’s the first weekend they’re devoting extra resources to Alki, so the disorder goes elsewhere …
- Brian May 26, 2025 (6:18 am)
  
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  The mayor and the city can claim that they’re using data to drive policy but if the working police on the street have zero idea it’s happening I’d believe them.
Bill#1 May 26, 2025 (7:13 am)

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What have you been asking the politicians?
Anne May 26, 2025 (7:21 am)

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Do you really think posting a car at the top of the hill wouldn’t just cause these nitwits to choose another hill-especially if they’re recording it as another commenter said? Whack-a-Mole indeed.
Lauren May 26, 2025 (7:47 am)

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And people think the police are going to solve all our problems.
- WAzombie May 26, 2025 (10:36 am)
  
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  Nobody is asking police to “solve the problem”. The problem with Hyundais and Kias being stolen so frequently started with TikTok. What people are asking people for is to help DETER the problem.
  
  If these are all happening in the same area, I’m guessing the car thieves live near walking distance or short bus ride from there. They probably steal the car for a night of joy riding or crime spree, then dump it on the curb like a Lime bike.
  
  The best thing owners of those cars can do aside from a kill switch and alarm is to leave as little gas in it as possible. At least if it gets stolen, you know they won’t make it far since they’re unlikely to actually pay for gas.
WSmom May 26, 2025 (9:21 am)

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I forget the exact title but does the precinct have a community liaison anymore? It’s an officer who does things like come to neighborhood watch meetings and pays attention to things that are trends that might be too minor as an individual incident. That would be one place to start. Also talk to whoever is in charge of the precinct.
- WSB May 26, 2025 (11:06 am)
  
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  Yes, Officer German Barreto has been at almost every community meeting we’ve covered for many months. There’s Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite, too.
  - Neighbor May 26, 2025 (2:17 pm)
    
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    Thanks for sharing those names, I reached out to both of them.
Question Authority May 26, 2025 (9:32 am)

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Sounds like you should be proactive and install that camera to help solve this crime spree outside your house.
- Other Neighbor May 26, 2025 (3:37 pm)
  
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  We have a doorbell camera. It caught the whole wreck. An unoccupied stolen Hyundai sped through an intersection, severed a telephone pole, and was immediately followed by another presumably stolen Hyundai with someone hanging out the rear drivers side window filming the whole thing. It doesn’t help catch anybody to see the aftermath at the bottom of the hill. Thanks for the suggestion though. We’ll keep watching this useless video and pray it’s not our living room that the car ends up in next. The doorbell camera will surely prevent this.
  
  What might be helpful is if there was any more information about what is transpiring at the top of the hill. Presumably these people need to get out of the car and push. This is just a few blocks from the Alaska junction and there are cars and houses and apartments everywhere up there. Surely somebody has seen something, or could perhaps keep an eye or camera on the intersections at the top of the hill, so that the next time this happens we’ll be able to collect more information and help the police and city recognize the extent of the problem and the danger it presents.
  - Bob May 27, 2025 (8:29 am)
    
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    Can you provide the camera footage to WSB? Any leads help.
Mel May 26, 2025 (9:49 am)

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Do you understand how small of a problem this is in the grand scheme of everything else going on in the city? I understand your concern because it’s in your neighborhood but you have to be realistic. Everyone wants more patrols in their neighborhood. Talk to the politicians that continue to get elected to see what they’re doing. Including our governor who’s not sticking to his word on hiring more officers immediately.
- Amy May 26, 2025 (11:16 am)
  
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  Does the governor have any authority to hire more SPD officers?
  - Mel May 26, 2025 (11:55 am)
    
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    Um yes. He promised $100M for the state for hiring of more officers.
  - Mike May 26, 2025 (1:27 pm)
    
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    Yes, actually.
  - ltmmgm May 26, 2025 (3:11 pm)
    
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    Re: Governor – Well while he was running for Gov he did say he would spend $1 mil for hiring more police officers but now he says… 🤔 Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson had pledged to spend $100 million to hire new police officers as part of his first budget, but it didn’t happen.On Monday, Ferguson signed HB 2015 that creates a system to spend that amount on public safety but allows agencies and municipalities to use the funding on other programs, and create a sales tax to pay for it all.Ferguson acknowledged the changes when signing his budget bills on Tuesday, telling KOMO News, “Is it perfect? Of course not. Is it exactly the way I would have written it? Of course not. But I believe it’s a significant step forward. It’ll make a big difference, and we have a lot of work to do.”
N May 26, 2025 (2:39 pm)

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Leadership needs to prioritize law & order. Vote for people & policies that support public safety & the police.

They're Recording It May 26, 2025 (12:55 am)

Multiple neighbors who were outside immediately after hearing the accident confirm at least two individuals in that White Hyundai had cell phones out and recording before they turned and sped up 49th and towards Oregon. They are posting that video somewhere. Police seem to think the individuals are young and in the area. These videos over the last two weeks are circulating, somewhere. What is the name of this tiktok trend? Police stated they have worked with tiktok and others to pull up IP addresses of the posting accounts, if we can find these posts and submit it as digital evidence.It shouldn’t be on the community to play the detective, but here we are.

Cardriver May 26, 2025 (1:14 am)

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Should be plenty of techie sleuths here that can find those videos. Probably a good chance either police or citizens will recognize and identify the criminals.
- Tesla / EV drivers May 26, 2025 (10:09 am)
  
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  The hit happened at 10:25 pm and the driver went up 49th, there are only so many directions you can go. Please folks check your cameras and any Tesla parked on the street and on sentry mode or similar. If you do happen to have useful video footage and want to share with spd, this is the incident number: 25-141860
  - Westsideforlife May 27, 2025 (3:21 am)
    
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    Tesla cameras are terrible at night and you can not see a pic place or persons face etc- I have one and have looked at alerts received at night.
- Jeanne May 26, 2025 (11:50 am)
  
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  Check out the Tic-Toc site? This has been going on for, at least, three yrs. It is likely a part of the ‘Tic-Toc Challenge’ trend? The SPD must have heard re this challenge ‘game’, so to speak? I do not wish to sign up w/ tictoc as don’t want the site in my life. :\Thanks.:)
t May 26, 2025 (8:04 pm)

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I live nearby – it is happening between 1am and 4:30am as I have talked to neighbors. I think they are launching the cars between 45th and 46th to see if they get air off the hill. 2 signs, 4 trees. a jeep cherokee and a light pole have been damaged or totaled so far. I have been spreading the word among the neighbors and someone told me they think it is called “ghost-rider”. But the police probably know that. I am hoping they are caught soon.

Alaska St Neighbor May 26, 2025 (2:04 am)

Not sure if it’s trend or coincidence, but the crashes have been Sunday night and Tuesday night in the past two weeks. Should we expect another one Tuesday night at this point? Also, the bus stop pole taken out is directly across from Ercolini Park. We know the police aren’t going to do anything, but perhaps the fact that this is happening quite literally feet from a park where children play would matter to someone with the authority to do something?

Derp May 26, 2025 (10:14 am)

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And all of these are happening at night. So why would kids be at the park on the dark
- t May 26, 2025 (8:08 pm)
  
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  Yes, but anyone walking on a sidewalk or riding their bike could get hit and killed. Or a car could go into the side of a house and kill someone sleeping. Cars are thousands of pounds.

Why do state reps get a free pass? May 26, 2025 (8:41 am)

So every time there is a meeting with city officials or SPD folks, they talkk about how the biggest challenge is the laws themselves. This suggests that it’s time that we start inviting the state legislators to these meetings and demanding to know why they are supporting laws that enable these kinds of criminals, while making it harder for them to be punished.

Lauren May 26, 2025 (9:00 am)

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“It’s not our fault it’s the laws” sounds like passing the buck to me
Marcus May 26, 2025 (9:14 am)

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Brilliant!! This is the most progressive idea I have heard in years. And yes to the preceding thread, the criminals are using social media and cell phones to organize and plan their “events”. Criminals use the most advanced and simple forms of technology, so our laws need to recognize this aspect and evolve accordingly.
WSPK May 26, 2025 (10:12 am)

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What laws are enabling this behavior?
- k May 26, 2025 (2:00 pm)
  
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  Yeah, I’m curious about that as well. It’s illegal to steal cars. If it gets pleaded to a lesser charge so that they don’t do much time, that’s a prosecutor decision. Do the cops think prosecutors should no longer have any discretion in cases? So confused here.
  - WSB May 26, 2025 (3:20 pm)
    
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    Regarding car-theft-related charges, this is what I’ve learned after reporting on many of them. Just because you’re found driving a stolen car does not mean they can prove you stole the car. Therefore, there are several different charges – possession of stolen vehicle (which requires proving that you knew the car was stolen), taking a motor vehicle without permission – lower-level than felony vehicle theft … TR

Charlston May 26, 2025 (9:54 am)

Let’s hope these kids don’t discover Charleston hill.

WSCurmudgeon May 26, 2025 (5:15 pm)

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You must be new to these parts. It’s Charlestown Hill, from SW C~ Sreet.

Marty2 May 26, 2025 (10:07 am)

If I lived in this area, I’d get with the block watch representatives and ask neighbors to setup cameras on this section of roadway to help identify the people involved.

Community Meeting May 26, 2025 (10:25 am)

For anyone interested, the neighbors around SW Alaska are holding a Community Meeting TONIGHT (5/26) at 6:00 @ Ercolini Park (Alaska and 48th Ave SW).Let’s talk about how we can respond and prevent future incidents. Hope to see you there!

Neighbor May 26, 2025 (2:19 pm)

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Thank you for organizing! We will be there.
Kristin May 26, 2025 (9:28 pm)

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I missed this – any summary of the discussion?
- WSB May 26, 2025 (9:36 pm)
  
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  Commenters might beat me to it but I was there and will be writing a story in the next hour, barring breaking news- TR

Richard Gave May 26, 2025 (11:53 am)

At precisely 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 22, an alarming incident occurred on SW Genesee Street between Avalon Way and 26th Avenue SW. A truck — barreling eastbound down the notoriously steep 20% grade at what I estimate to be no less than 70 miles per hour — swerving into the westbound lane and lost control and collided with a neighbor’s mailbox on the Northside of the street. The vehicle’s momentum was ultimately halted, fortunately, by a substantial tree in the boulevard, narrowly preventing what could have been a catastrophic collision with the residence itself.The driver, showing no intention of accountability, fled the scene immediately following the crash. The police were contacted without delay and arrived to document the matter.This brazen act occurred in broad daylight, on a residential street frequently used by pedestrians, families, and young skateboarders — not to mention its close proximity to the bustling Delridge Playfield. Frankly, it is nothing short of a miracle that no one was injured or worse.I understand this was reported to the West Seattle Blog by a neighbor (including video footage of the incident), yet as of date, no coverage of this incident has appeared. One cannot help but notice that such incidents seem to garner swifter attention when they transpire in more affluent enclaves such as Admiral, rather than in working-class neighborhoods like North Delridge. It is deeply troubling.This is not just a road — it is a community. And it deserves to be treated with the same seriousness and visibility as any other.

WSB May 26, 2025 (3:17 pm)

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The difference between that incident and this one is that it didn’t result in a crash, no evidence that it involved a stolen vehicle (or that it didn’t), and I couldn’t find anything further. The video was not clear. We do our best but yes, we do get some things that we aren’t able to write about, and I apologize for that, but there’s only one of me (some help but not with breaking news). Nothing to do with where it happens, if that’s what you are suggesting – we cover incidents in every neighborhood, and have, for 17+ years. – TR

alkiannie May 26, 2025 (4:32 pm)

Dear car crashers, I know this seems fun now but every crash like this is messing with your spine. You are young now but as you age you will have neck and back pain from doing this. It’ll pop up when it’s cold or when you happen to twist to reach for something in your 40s. Don’t mess with your body.

AN May 26, 2025 (5:55 pm)

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The crashed cars don’t have drivers. They’re pushing them down the hill without anyone in them. Other cars follow and record. Truly diabolical.
- alkiannie May 26, 2025 (9:23 pm)
  
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  Oh heavens. Thanks for the education. Wow, this is really serious. Literally a 1-2 ton projectile sailing though a neighborhood.
Alki resident May 26, 2025 (6:04 pm)

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You’re also messing with someone’s financial status and insurance rates. Their body is the last concern I have for a criminal.
- WS Res May 27, 2025 (12:29 am)
  
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  There’s your answer to who might be responsive to requests for help: the insurance companies. They’re the ones who finally put pressure on Kia and Hyundai (by raising rates on their easily-stolen cars) and the police to do something about the USB thefts. Get some of the big insurers notified and connected to wherever the videos are being posted.
ltmmgm May 26, 2025 (6:16 pm)

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Didn’t some of the witnesses say these cars were empty/driver-less? And as for hurting later well… but it’ll hurt “us” all soon as our auto insurance rates increase.
Brian May 26, 2025 (6:38 pm)

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They aren’t in the cars when it crashes. They just let it go solo and see what happens.