3 critically hurt in crash after refusing to stop for police
SEATTLE -- Four people were injured when a truck that police had been trying to stop slammed into an SUV in the city's Belltown neighborhood early Tuesday.
Officials said the the SUV was on Wall Street when the truck came speeding out of an alley near 3rd Avenue just before 6 a.m.
The impact sent the vehicles crashing up onto the sidewalk and into the wall of the nearby apartment building.
"I opened the door and saw car parts everywhere," said Ricky Walker who lives in the building.
Three people who were in the truck suffered critical injuries and had to be cut out of the mangled wreck. They were rushed to Harborview Medical Center.
The driver of the SUV was less seriously hurt.
Seattle police officials said an officer tried to pull the truck over prior to the crash, but the driver refused to stop. The officer followed the car, but turned off his lights and stopped following the truck about two minutes before the collision.
Officials said there was no pursuit under way at the time of the crash, and it was not immediately clear why the truck driver refused to stop for the officer.
However, late Tuesday, detectives said they learned the truck had been stolen. The truck's owner called police about an hour after the crash to report his truck had been stolen at some point overnight.
Officials said the the SUV was on Wall Street when the truck came speeding out of an alley near 3rd Avenue just before 6 a.m.
The impact sent the vehicles crashing up onto the sidewalk and into the wall of the nearby apartment building.
"I opened the door and saw car parts everywhere," said Ricky Walker who lives in the building.
Three people who were in the truck suffered critical injuries and had to be cut out of the mangled wreck. They were rushed to Harborview Medical Center.
The driver of the SUV was less seriously hurt.
Seattle police officials said an officer tried to pull the truck over prior to the crash, but the driver refused to stop. The officer followed the car, but turned off his lights and stopped following the truck about two minutes before the collision.
Officials said there was no pursuit under way at the time of the crash, and it was not immediately clear why the truck driver refused to stop for the officer.
However, late Tuesday, detectives said they learned the truck had been stolen. The truck's owner called police about an hour after the crash to report his truck had been stolen at some point overnight.
They will all plea bargain down to JayWalking4.....
i'm sure the dudes in the truck were outstanding citizens up early and in a hurry to get to work. AND they care a great deal about the environment so they were all carpooling.
@dorimonsonfan actually I would think if they really cared about the environment in downtown Seattle, they would have biked to work - the Mayor McSchwinn way
There's lots of criminal trash out there to take out.Â
of course. Â no ordinary man run (drive away) from police. Â well, i hope the owner of the truck gets money from his insurance company. Â i also hope for the suv driver's fast recovery.
The 3 that stole the truck deserved to get hurt. Jerks.
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I am glad the SUV driver wasn't hurt as bad. I hope they are able to recover quickly.
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Hopefully, the owner of the stolen truck has insurance.Â
"You know it's going to be a bad day when you wake up to see your vehicle stolen, then turn on the news & see it there, ionvolved in a police chase & crashed".
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I am thankful that the bad guys are the ones who were seriously injured, instead of the people they hit (as is usually the case)
According to KOMO radio the cop was trying to pull these clowns over for littering.
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good. Â I hate litterers.Â
What is with all the crap in the back of the truck? Does anyone clean their bed out anymore?
@Cougsfan34 My guess would be, since the truck was stolen, the items in the bed are items that were also stolen. Stuff taken in burglaries and car prowls. Or, not.
 @Cougsfan34 It looks like there was a canopy on the back.
 @Cougsfan34 It may be tools that they use for their job. I have a friend that keeps his tools in the back of his truck. Locked up and hidden of course.
 @Cougsfan34 Looks like there's a camper shell in the alley that got knocked off.  Maybe they use it for work or something.
The driver should be charged with the attempted murder of the occupant of the SUV, along with his fellow passengers, and sentenced to life without parole.
Thats my buddys truck,it was stolen this morning from his house, which is why the 3 idiots driving it didn't stop for the police!
 @plus11206 I feel for your friend, and the driver of the SUV.  Their cars are both completely demolished and they did nothing wrong and don't deserve that.
Obviously, some people couldn't wait for the weekend...
Zombies should NOT be allowed to drive.
 @TreeTopFlyer Zombies would be a step up from some of the idiots we've had to dodge on the roads...  :^D
Stupid is as stupid does...The idiocracy is developing nicely.
i ran this morning too, but it wasn't from the cops, it was just around discovery park. Â I guess not as sensational.
Belltown; the new Central District.Â
Unfortunately you are on target. I grew up near there and while it was never a paradise it has sure turned into the proverbial S*_T-H0LE these days. Even the CD wasn't as bad back then as Belltown has gotten to be, not nearly.
they stopped chasing just before the crash, i hear that often lately, CYA
Amazing a gun wasn't involved in this accident after all its Belltown..
I felt the collision from the other side of the building. Crazy!
 @kirbly We used to live in 433 (I think) on that side.  I got goosebumps, thinking about how many times I used that alley to go the other building.  Yikes - be careful.
 @Doxie  @kirbly I don't know the area, but if it's an alley, I'm inferring that there wouldn't be a whole lot of room for you to jump out of the way of some idiot like this.
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Be careful walking through there, and walk as quickly as you're physically able to without hurting yourself or risking a fall.Â
 @MargeGunderson  @kirbly Yes, it is an alley.  I don't live there now, but lots of people who live down there use the alleys to walk in or across to the next building.  We use the alley where we live now to potty the dogs,but it's not as close to the corner as this collision. You do always expect traffic because the alleys are where the garage entrances are.  What concerns me is that there's a restaurant on the other side of this alley (opposite of where the SUV landed) and the owner is constantly standing out in the alley, smoking!  I told him every day, 'You're going to get  hit!"  I hope Mr. Petra owner moves now, because anyone turning right into that alley for any reason could easily hit him.  He would have been killed if he was out there at 6 am smoking and in the middle of this incident.
Holy cow, that was our building! Â They had to be trucking to cause an accident like that. Â All avoidable.......
What a messed up way to start the morning. I'll bet there are warrants for one or more of the truck occupants, and there may also be illicit stuff in the vehicle. Jeez, before 6am and running from the cops?
@theToucan That type of swill usually don't sleep if they are meth heads.
 @theToucan Through the alley no less!  I lived in that building - it's very easy to just jump on 3rd, why on earth would they go hauling like that through an ALLEY?  Wall Street is very slow, only a block between lights, hard to believe some guy flying through the alley was going faster than some on a road.  It's so messed up.
Hmmm, someone not paying attention? Again?
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