Pursuit through streets of SeaTac ends with multi-car crash
SEATAC, Wash. - A man on the run from sheriff's deputies rammed a patrol car and crashed his car into at least three other vehicles Sunday afternoon during a wild chase through the streets of SeaTac, officials said.
The man was later arrested after he jumped from his wrecked vehicle and tried to run from the crash scene, at the intersection of South 154th Street and 42nd Avenue.
Among the vehicles damaged in the crash was a car containing a harp worth $30,000. That car, driven by professional harpist Juliette Stratton, was hit in the side with such force that it was knocked completely over onto its top.
"He pushed me for a while and flipped my car over, and so I'm hearing glass crashing, and I thought it was the end," says Stratton, who has played the harp since 1985. "I thought, 'I'm not going to make it out of this.'"
Then, just as Stratton's car stopped sliding across the street on its roof, a patrol car chasing the suspect's car hit an oil patch and slammed into Stratton's car, too.
Finally Stratton was able to crawl out of the car on her own. She was uninjured except for a scratch on her hand. But her greatest worry is not for herself or her car but her harp. She won't know whether it was damaged until police clear the scene and her car is towed away.
King County sheriff's officials say the incident began at around 3:45 p.m. when King County sheriff's deputies received a 911 call about a suspicious person prowling cars at the parking lot of Highline High School.
When an officer arrived, the suspect was in his car. He rammed the deputy's patrol car then took off, with the deputy chasing after him.
The chase continued through the streets of SeaTac as the suspect crashed into one car after another. Finally, after crashing into Stratton's car, his own vehicle was too damaged to keep going.
The man then jumped out of his car and tried to flee from the scene on foot, but deputies quickly captured him, cuffed him and placed him under arrest.
The suspect now faces several potential charges. He told deputies he had two previous DUIs, and officers plan to obtain a search warrant to see if there are any stolen valuables in his wrecked car.
The man was later arrested after he jumped from his wrecked vehicle and tried to run from the crash scene, at the intersection of South 154th Street and 42nd Avenue.
Among the vehicles damaged in the crash was a car containing a harp worth $30,000. That car, driven by professional harpist Juliette Stratton, was hit in the side with such force that it was knocked completely over onto its top.
"He pushed me for a while and flipped my car over, and so I'm hearing glass crashing, and I thought it was the end," says Stratton, who has played the harp since 1985. "I thought, 'I'm not going to make it out of this.'"
Then, just as Stratton's car stopped sliding across the street on its roof, a patrol car chasing the suspect's car hit an oil patch and slammed into Stratton's car, too.
Finally Stratton was able to crawl out of the car on her own. She was uninjured except for a scratch on her hand. But her greatest worry is not for herself or her car but her harp. She won't know whether it was damaged until police clear the scene and her car is towed away.
King County sheriff's officials say the incident began at around 3:45 p.m. when King County sheriff's deputies received a 911 call about a suspicious person prowling cars at the parking lot of Highline High School.
When an officer arrived, the suspect was in his car. He rammed the deputy's patrol car then took off, with the deputy chasing after him.
The chase continued through the streets of SeaTac as the suspect crashed into one car after another. Finally, after crashing into Stratton's car, his own vehicle was too damaged to keep going.
The man then jumped out of his car and tried to flee from the scene on foot, but deputies quickly captured him, cuffed him and placed him under arrest.
The suspect now faces several potential charges. He told deputies he had two previous DUIs, and officers plan to obtain a search warrant to see if there are any stolen valuables in his wrecked car.
was the harp okay?! please get an update for this story!
"...a patrol car chasing the suspect's car hit an oil patch and slammed into Stratton's car, too." Gotta love how the media just loves parroting excuses for cops. If I hit an oil patch and ram someone, I don't get to blame the oil patch. It's my fault, and this was the officer's fault. If the officer had killed someone doing this, KOMO would be blaming everyone but the officer. We don't need cops that think risking someone's life in such a reckless manner is an appropriate response to property crime.
 @Doc possibly an oil patch that was created during the pursuit, you never know
SeaTac is super ghetto. I wouldn't be surprised if this car prowler who has 'two DUI's' has a much longer rap sheet than that.
I dont get why they were chasing him. High speed chases are too dangerous for just a car prowler. Maybe only if he just shot somebody.....?
I used to live on that street. I'm so glad I got my harp out of that neighborhood.BTW Century City Harps has awesome titanium harp cases for,like 6 or 7 thousand dollars.They are totally worth the money if you really care about your harp. Most Seattle area residents are very cavalier with regard to basic harp care and maintenance.The school system needs to focus more on music and less on math and such.
 @Korvin Snerf LOL...OKkkkkk
In this wonderful society we live in, human life worth less and less each day
 @Larry*X*K ...people like this guy are sure making a great case for it!
This is one situation where I would condone SPD brutality of the suspect - he needs a serious a$$beating.
That poor woman was minding her business and gets broadsided by the creep. If it was me, I would have asked the cops to hold him down and let me have just one shot at him...LOL
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When a scumbag runs amok through the streets and causes personal injury, property or vehicle damage, who pays for it?
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I doubt that the criminal has insurance so does that mean that the city or the victims absorb the cost?Â
I'm thinking that even if a judge rules that the criminal pay restitution, that could take forever and the victim is not actually compensated.
 @Smokin Bear Those are all good points, except the incitement to police brutality. The police should not administer extralegal punishment to offenders, no matter what the crime.
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You may be sure that if this guy repents and serves his time etc. that he will get his driver's license back. Protecting the public from dangerous drivers is secondary to the goals of collecting license fees and traffic fines and making money for insurance companies.
@Wastrel LOL! That is hilarious! No one could be dumb enough to think that I was condoning police brutality - Good one! LOL.
 @Wastrel  @Smokin Bear How about the max sentence plus 10yrs.? No possibility of early release in addition.
Burien...so freaking ghetto there.
Sorry to keep harping on this subject but you should never try to outrun the police. Hearing that the bad guy is sweet music to me though.
 @lakeunion 'Hearing that the bad guy is sweet music to me though.'
WTF does this supposed to mean?
 @Larry*X*K LOL..........
 @Larry*X*K  @lakeunion pretty sure he _____ a word.
gee, there's been a lot of scumbags ramming into Seatac patrol cars lately.Â
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 @northwestsurfer I liked your comment for the statement regarding the reporting. It does seem like they did not emphasize much about the threat to humans involved. I liked OC's reply because his/her point is valid too- an instrument like that is priceless to it's owner, but I did not think you had actually insulted the woman who owned the harp.
@two loons @northwestsurfer Sounds reasonable, and thank you for being opinionated without being condescending. Btw, my original post was deleted; I wonder why? I didnt write anything offensive.
 @northwestsurfer "Is a $30,000 harp in one of the damaged vehicles worthy of being a keynote in this story?"
More evidence of the lack of sophistication in this society...an instrument like that harp may be valued at $30K, but the true value of such an instrument is priceless. She has played it for 27 years, knows it's every nuance and how to bring the best sound out of it. Would you belittle a person who owned and lavished care on one of these rare muscle cars?
http://forum.mustangministries.net/index.php?topic=545.15
@OrcasThunder I actually wondered if you were going to come along and try and pick this one apart. 1) If you do want to quote me to add context to your arguement, make sure you quote everything I said. You left out the important part, about how I mentioned human life over material possessions (the harp).
2)Â "More evidence of the lack of sophistication in this society..." You dont even know anything about me; you dont know if I play any instruments or not, or even what I studied in school, so if you want to preach about lack of sophistication, consider yourself part of that focus group, chief.
3) One of my favorite videos on youtube is by a brazillian guy who dominates on the harp, particularly 80s metal songs. No, before you make another wild assumption, I'm not a buttrocker, but I appreciate a lot of different things; case in point, link at the bottom.
4) Back to my original point; had nothing to do with lack of sophistication, my point was about the harp, being the most important part of the story, or placement of that fact. Human life or injury seemed most important. Nothing wrong with arguing my point, but if you want to be some condescending jerk about it, I'll debate you all day. "Would you belittle a person who owned and lavished care on one of these rare muscle cars?" How would you like your steak cooked, mr thunder?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_vbdxwI5Ck
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 @northwestsurfer  @OrcasThunder "I actually wondered if you were going to come along and try and pick this one apart"
Interesting - you present a fairly detailed response, daring me to "explain" my words, and then the post of yours I was responding to is deleted...and I don't remember anything in the post that would have violated the rules...
The effect, regardless of who deleted it, I can't see the words I was responding to, which make sit hard for me to see if I misspoke or not.
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Anyway, I will say this...IF I misunderstood your words, and gave them the wrong bent, I apologize for that. I will say, however, in my defense that I read your words perhaps tainted by the other disingenuous remarks about the harp (or perhaps I should amend that to specify that the "other" only applies IF your remark was indeed disingenuous..?) - perhaps not all that fair, but life is like that sometimes...
I will, however, take exception to your "condescending" remark about the website I used to show what I would have assumed was on a level that a lot of car affectionados would refer to as classic cars - a passion I do not share but certainly respect - my intent was to provide an example they could relate to and understand the feelings that she has for her harp.
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As to the link you offered, not bad - I've rarely heard the harp played with such exuberance, but the rendition was quite enjoyable.
I will say that my harp preferences lean more towards http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFlKx3YPL5I, but it's a big world and plenty of room for all manner of players.
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I will also admit that I find my own pleasures in strong music...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AboqJLGuHY
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A harp? Really?
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What is this......a scene out of 7 psychopaths?
 @Vince LOL.......
Hey as long as they catch the criminal so they can release him in three weeks who cares how much damage is done and how many innocent people are killed? I mean we got the tweaker in the stolen $3000 Honda so it's a WIN!
I used to live on this street. So glad I got out of there.
I bet that $30,000 dollar harp might need a little tuning..
My question is that if I'm driving, and a guy tries to kill me with his car running from police, can I legally shoot this assassin? And yes, just trying to outrun cops on our streets is attempting to kill.
 @Eichler4 it's attempting to get away not to kill... there is a difference between the intention and being grossly negligent and reckless.
Thank GOD the harp wa s saved.....we ALL know how valued and loved harp "music " is....sheesh, my harp music collection is worth ...well a fraction of her harps worth, but dangit its so soothing
 @kingkurtis there is harp in pretty much every orchestra, so yes, sheesh... don't be so ignorant of culture
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 @n9078jk4 yeah, tweakers would have to steal horses and run us down that way.
 @n9078jk4 the ultimate driving machine
I live right by here. I had to detour in order to get home.
note: stay out of the way of Pontiacs.
I agree with Whobeke, this is attempted vehicular assault, manslaughter and most likely, Grand Theft Auto with Felony attempting to elude. Throw the book at this loser, including a revoked driver license for life, should he ever be free from prison.
@Suspishissofu ..sadly, this zombie will be out wayyyy too soon.
These sorts of things really should be prosecuted as attempted murder. If you are driving so recklessly that other cars get damaged, then obviously, you are - in effect - trying to kill anyone in your path.
 @Whobeke so we apply your rule to a 16 year old honor student who panics over a traffic stop? Oh I agree it's highly dangerous, and needs to be prosecuted...  Just curious if you are thinking the whole "attempted murder" rap through.Â
@TruthinAdverts @Whobeke Absolutely. Honor student, thug, average joe, it doesn't matter. Attempted murder is the only way to prevent this. People understand that if they get caught in a high speed chase, they have options. Put out an attempts murder charge, and you will never see these car chases.
 @Eichler4  @TruthinAdverts  @Whobeke Ah well... so long as we are all on board... let's throw the book at everyone... For example... people smoking too close to public areas... endangering our health? Attempted murder! Perhaps we can start lopping the hands off shoplifters as well?
@TruthinAdverts @Whobeke and why would the honor student panic? they got a big bag of weed or a few kilos of Coke?
 @TruthinAdvertsÂ
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If your hypothetical honor student ends up causing injuries, then yes, it should be prosecuted as attempted murder.
This suspect owes somebody a harp. I have a hard time imagining insurance would cover it. Sure is a lot of desperate people out there.
Well, the crash is awful. Please tell me, though...HOW is a harp worth 30,000$?! I wanna see this harp...is it gold-plated?
 @SouthofSeattle You mean you DON'T own a $30k harp? Poor piece of crap *cartman*
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Glad the musician is okay. Being hit, flipped-over, hit again and not ending up in the ER has got to be some kind of minor miracle.Â
@SouthofSeattle or like one of my relitives who plays the Violin has one that cost 15,000 dollars for his Violin. an Harp can cost a lot
 @wynooheeman  @SouthofSeattle Just so I can put all of this discussion to rest, I was the harpist who was involved in the accident.  My instrument is insured for full replacement value at $30,000.  It was purchased/financed over a long 4 year period back in the 80s by blood, sweat and tears. This harp is not just a piece of furniture, it is my livelihood,  I make my living as a professional freelance musician and harp instructor.  I have been studying and performing music for nearly 40 years, including a Masters degree.  It is my whole life! Â
The finish on the harp was badly damaged and will devalue the instrument considerably. Â I did sustain injuries, and will have major medical bills, and the emotional and financial turmoil that this accident caused is devastating. Â Worst of all my car was completely totaled, and the insurance payout (State Farm) was only about $2000, which is not enough to get anything drivable. Â In essence, I now have no way to make a living! Â I have not been able to sleep since this accident occurred and the worry and stress this is causing me is unbearable! Â
I thank those of you who have expressed concern over this incident.
 @SouthofSeattle I'm also a harpist, and a $30,000 harp is not considered expensive for the type of harp that she has.  http://www.lyonhealy.com/prices.htm