Woman rams 2 teens with car after fight in West Seattle
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SEATTLE -- A 37-year-old woman is sought by police after intentionally ramming two teen girls with her car after a fight in West Seattle.
The incident happened just after 10 a.m. Wednesday in the 2600 block of SW Thistle Street, which is near Chief Sealth High School.
"All of a sudden you hear, 'Boom! Boom!' " said witness Thomas Terry. "And I see two bodies just fly up in the air; the car just drove off like they didn't even care. It had to be going at least 60, 65 (mph)."
The victims, 18-year-old Cassandra Goodwin and her 17-year-old friend, were taken to Harborview Medical Center. Goodwin was originally listed in critical condition but was upgraded to serious condition later Wednesday. The 17-year-old was expected to be released Wednesday evening.
"(Goodwin) couldn't move and she couldn't breathe," said her sister Amelia Pryer. "And from what the doctors say she has internal bleeding in her head."
Police and witnesses say it started with an argument over the driver's dog.
"The dog jumped on Cassandra, Cassandra hit the dog," said family friend Chelsea White.
Witnesses say the woman became angry when she thought Cassandra hit her dog, who'd gotten loose from her home across the street from the school.
"(Goodwin) apologized after she hit the dog," White said.
The woman and the girls argued, and witnesses say the woman then upped the ante.
"She brought out a Taser chased us with a Taser," White said.
The victims' friends say the girls ran towards the high school.
"(The driver) came around the corner -- she purposely drove her car a certain way so she could hit Cassandra," White said.
Police are still searching for the driver, who drove away after the crash in a black Honda.
Later in the afternoon, Seattle police said the driver called 911 to say she would surrender at 4 p.m., but the time passed with no surrender and she remains at large.
Anyone with information about her location is asked to call 911.
The incident happened just after 10 a.m. Wednesday in the 2600 block of SW Thistle Street, which is near Chief Sealth High School.
"All of a sudden you hear, 'Boom! Boom!' " said witness Thomas Terry. "And I see two bodies just fly up in the air; the car just drove off like they didn't even care. It had to be going at least 60, 65 (mph)."
The victims, 18-year-old Cassandra Goodwin and her 17-year-old friend, were taken to Harborview Medical Center. Goodwin was originally listed in critical condition but was upgraded to serious condition later Wednesday. The 17-year-old was expected to be released Wednesday evening.
"(Goodwin) couldn't move and she couldn't breathe," said her sister Amelia Pryer. "And from what the doctors say she has internal bleeding in her head."
Police and witnesses say it started with an argument over the driver's dog.
"The dog jumped on Cassandra, Cassandra hit the dog," said family friend Chelsea White.
Witnesses say the woman became angry when she thought Cassandra hit her dog, who'd gotten loose from her home across the street from the school.
"(Goodwin) apologized after she hit the dog," White said.
The woman and the girls argued, and witnesses say the woman then upped the ante.
"She brought out a Taser chased us with a Taser," White said.
The victims' friends say the girls ran towards the high school.
"(The driver) came around the corner -- she purposely drove her car a certain way so she could hit Cassandra," White said.
Police are still searching for the driver, who drove away after the crash in a black Honda.
Later in the afternoon, Seattle police said the driver called 911 to say she would surrender at 4 p.m., but the time passed with no surrender and she remains at large.
Anyone with information about her location is asked to call 911.
"Anyone with information about her location is asked to call 911". It would help to have a photo of the "Woman" and license plate of the car.
 @J LAKE she looks like a woman
The woman is psycho. I have 5 dogs and if one frightened you and you hit it off you, I am not going to freak out. The only time i will ever come after someone is if they harm my dogs.Â
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The is woman has anger issues. Her dog got loose, jumped on Cassandra and she simply knocked it off her. Since the dog did not attack her, the woman should have just came over and got the dog AN APOLOGIZED to the girls for her dog being loose.Â
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I hope the both make a speedy recovery and the woman is convicted on assault charges.Â
This is definitely attempted murder. I hope this is the charge and it sticks and this woman is given the maximum sentence. If her victim dies the only justice in this is a conviction for vehicular homicide with the maximum sentence. If the victim does not recover fully the woman should be be given the maximum sentence plus never being able to drive or have a pet again and must pay for all the girl's expenses. No minimum time in prison, no time off for any reason. It's time to get tough on people who deliberate harm to others. In fact, execution is appropriate for this woman not only if the girl dies but if she is disabled for life.
 @SeaUrchin79 No it's not, vehicular assault at best, reckless driving if she gets a good lawyer
Sounds like attempted murder by intentionally ramming her vehicle into those girls.
If police have the drivers age and know where she lives than they obviously know who this woman is. If you want the publics help in finding this whacko it might help if you provide a name and a description.
Cassandra Goodwin Is My Friend. Love You Cassandra :)
I hope they pick this nutjob up and quick!
The female psycho sounds like one of those irresponsible dog owners. I'll enjoy your time in prison. Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!
haha! i already hate this woman... actually, i despise all the jerks, who think their pets are more important than their neighbors...
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well, ma'am, you should have done two things:  one, you should have kept that thing in the leash in the first place. two, you should have kept your anger in check. why did you run over those girls? Did the lives of other human beings mean so little to you that you decided to kill them?
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anyway, i'll pray for the victims' speedy recoveries as well as your attempted murder conviction...  ciao!Â
 @CIAassassin My animals are more important than anyone I do NOT know. I despise anyone who tho thinks they above all other life on the planet.Â
What ever butt hurt dweller.
That's seriously messed up. Â No excuse.
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@NoCoothJoe What?! They were running from a lady with a taser.
The proper charge is attempted murder....
You're kidding me, right? Really? Because your dog was out of your house, a child (yes she's still a child) pushed your dog off of her, your dog that was out. So now you're going to chase them with a taser and run over them with a car?
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I have a dog. If my dog is out of my house she's on a leash. Even if I put her in a car, I'm not leaving her there by herself. I have control of my dog. So if my dog was pushed by someone, I'm finding out why my dog got out of where she was supposed to be.
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I hope they catch this looney really quick and give her some really harsh penalties. It's not right what she did and she need to pay, heftily.
Simply a despicable mess what goes on in some sub-humans minds these days. A disaster of a society we currently live in.
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:-/
I can't believe that some people seem to think it's okay to hit someone with your car because they hit your dog. Besides the fact that other news sources are reporting the girl only pushed the dog away, no hit it. Still, if she hit it, I don't blame her a bit. I am terrified of dogs and any time I'm out walking and one comes near me my heart starts to beat a million miles an hour and I try to turn down a different street or at least cross to the other side. If a strange dog (of ANY breed) came up and started jumping on me I would definitely hit and push at it! Also, we actually have a dog (my husband's - I have nothing to do with it) and if he ran out of our yard and started jumping on someone my husband would complete understand them hitting the dog and would be apologizing to them for the dog's behavior. It is NOT okay to run people down in your car... no matter what they've done!
 @justathought You have a dog and you're afraid of them? Terrified of your own dog? That poor dog is going to have more issues than you.Â
 @justathought I agree. To intentionally run a person down with your car is the same as shooting them with a firearm -- assault with a deadly weapon.Â
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If the events are true as reported then lock the crazy woman up and toss the key for a decade or more. Those who attempt murder have no place in civilized society.Â
On another station's broadcast, one of the kids said the pitbull jumped on one of the victims as they were walking to school, and she pushed it off. Â She stressed the girl did not hit nor kick the dog, just pushed it off of her. Â This woman is nuts; she will be caught and fingers crossed that the charges are hefty.
 @Doxie Another news story says one of the girls hit, which could have been more shoving, the dog away, because she was scared.
 @queenofthenight Regardless of what really happened, the responsibility falls on the perp for failing to control/confine her dog.  Those kids were just minding their own business.  I was talking to a guy yesterday and said I can't stand when people have their dogs off leash (this dog apparently escaped) and he said "Even if they're well behaved?"  No, not even if they are well behaved!  My dog is a psycho and the leash is for everyone's protection.
 @queenofthenight  @Northend Ours extends that behavior to anything and everything that moves faster than him, which is pretty much everything, including blowing leaves, the garbage truck, kid on skateboard, birds, you name it.  But we love them, don't we?  Have a good day!
 @Doxie  @Northend We were very fortunate that his behavior didn't extend to humans and was very friendly with people.
 @queenofthenight  @Northend Oh my gosh, we are living parallel lives, those are my exact words.  How about the people who keep approaching your 'cute' little Napolean despite the fact that you tell them he is not friendly!  I got bitten by my own dog, getting between him and an unleashed puppy he was about to latch on to.  Amazing how many people do not get it.
 @Northend  @Doxie Northend, I agree. We had to keep our dog leashed because he bit other dogs. I can't tell you how many times I've had to yell at owners that I don't care if their dog is friendly, mine is not. He had Napoleon Complex.
 @Doxie I agree completely. There is never a reason to run down someone and if you are mad enough to where you want to, then you need to go back inside and calm down.
When I read that the girl might have been scared I just picked my son who is afraid of dogs. Off leash dogs are the reason why he's so scared and he's had several rush up to him. Some friendly, some not.
 @Doxie  @queenofthenight I agree although sometimes dogs get out. Mine rarely do, and even when walking them in my neighborhood there are often loose dogs around. The last thing I want is a loose dog who threatens my large dogs because that's vet bills I don't need.  The leash is for everyone's protection! I wish more people understood that.Â
Her "locaton" should be real close to the home where the dog got loose. Something tells me it won't be too long before she shows up around there.
 @johnbe "Cassandra hit her dog, who'd gotten loose from her home across the street from the school. "
I was responding to the last sentence of the article. No need to wonder about her location because being the owner of the dog, she can probably be found at the same place the dog lives- across the street from the school.
I can't believe all the ignorant people posting comments. (you know who you are) It's not about age or anyone lying. NO ONE should be run over no matter what the circumstance is. Even my 8 year old knows better. Please stop accusing the victims. There is NO excuse for this to be o.k.. My prayers go out to the family and frinds of all involved even the woman. Obviously her family will be effected by this ass well.
Your last sentence ends with one too many words.
"[The driver] came around the corner -- she purposely drove her car a certain way so she could hit Cassandra," White said.
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Why were they still in the street after the initial fight if their friends claim that they were running away? Did the driver drive her car up onto the sidewalk or something?Â
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"[Goodwin] apologized after she hit the dog," White said.
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My gut tells me otherwise, but I think she had every right to defend herself from a loose dog jumping on her.Â
Something stinks here. The lady in the car is a nut, no doubt. We have those all over. But the whole story doesn't make sense. A bunch of high school aged kids hanging out in a nearby neighborhood during school hours. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that they were just petting a dog and some lady went nuts. Okay, so then comes the fist fight. Why don't the teens leave the area after the fist fight? Who would stick around after being attacked by some nut? Did any of these kids call the cops at this point? Did it really take this crazy lady chasing these kids with a taser to get them to leave the area? I see lots of bad decisions leading up to this outcome. There is this old saying, "Pray to God, but swim for shore."
 @Exedore They were walking to school and the dog (a pitbull, which may have frightened them) escaped and jumped on one of the kids.  The King5 broadcast told a lot more and stressed the girl did not hit the dog, just pushed it off her.  They didn't get very far before this woman came barreling toward them with her car.
 @Doxie Even if the girl DID hit the dog, at no time did I justify the nut job lady's behavior. I just questioned the teens' behavior mostly based on what another person was posting because "her daughter was there." That lady had time to leave, get a taser, chase the kids, leave again and get her car. My question stands. Did any of those kids call the cops? I am pretty sure they all had cell phones.
 @Exedore I didn't think you were implying it was OK at all, I was just addressing the part of your post wondering why they were around the neighborhood at that time.
@Doxie Yet a lady on here that claims her child was there says that the kids were petting the dog. Hopefully the real facts come out and the driver is arrested because whether or not the dog jumped on the girls or they were petting it, that isn't justification to run someone over.
 @Exedore  So if one of your kids happens to skip school (Even good students do this), and then gets chased with a taser and run over by a car, are you going to blame your kid and tell her "well, you shouldn't have skipped school"?
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I don't understand the mentality of people who make posts like yours.
 @TheCommentAboveMeIsProbablyMoronic  @Exedore Where did I blame the kids for what the lady did? I believe I referenced her as a nut. But I teach my kids to make good decisions, not hang around an area where a nut is attacking them. I don't understand the victim mentality... people who don't even TRY to remove themselves from a bad situation will eventually succumb to nut jobs. You cannot control ANYONE else's behavior... just your own. No matter how crazy anyone else behaves, you can still make good choices. Prepare your child for the road, not the road for your child.
 @Exedore  @TheCommentAboveMeIsProbablyMoronic Glad you are teaching your kids common sense. It seems to be lacking nowadays.
am i the only one wondering what the heck a group of kids is doing out of class at 10:00?  way too early for lunch. was it a late start?? just wondering here. really hope the girls will be ok!!!
 @Erica Does that really matter? Two people were hit by a car.Â
@Erica These girls were pretty old... probably seniors... could be that they already have almost enough credits to graduate and aren't taking classes until later in the day. I know when I was in high school (33 years ago!) you had to go all day, even if you already had enough credits. If that was the case, you just took electives. But when my kids were in high school by the time they got to be seniors they only had to take those classes for which they still needed credit. And my younger two who did Running Start (Community College classes) could either take only those classes they still needed or could take additional courses. Anyway, like you said, the whole school might have had a late start or these girls just had later classes. (Also, where I live there is a whole group of students who go over to the Mormon Church for some kind of class at one point during the day and then return to the high school.)
Hmm... The update, so the girl hit the dog............ I do not see how that justify running over the girls. My favorite part was the women called 911 and said she will turn herself in. Â Can't the police track the phone that she called from to catch her?Â
 @Just my say Not if the phone is off.
 @dedanann Oh I did not know that. Well, that sucks for the officers.