2 dead, 2 injured after being hit by car on Aurora Avenue
Nov 29, 2019, 2:32 PM | Updated: Nov 30, 2019, 6:49 pm
(KIRO 7 image)
(KIRO 7 image)
A speeding car lost control on Aurora Ave North and North 39th Street Friday afternoon, hitting a group of pedestrians walking on the sidewalk. Two were killed and two others were hurt.
“I just heard a loud impact, boom!” said Lamini Amara who was riding the bus south on Aurora. He said he saw two of the pedestrians go airborne.
The impact of the crash flipped the suspect’s car, leaving it completely mangled and sending the engine into someone’s yard across the street.
Amara said he saw the suspect crawling out the passenger window trying to leave the scene.
“I bang on the door, ‘Bus driver let me out!’ I see a lady climbing out the door trying to run away that hit them people. I said, ‘Let me out, let me out, she just hit those people,'” Amara said.
He hopped the median barrier that divides Aurora and ran after the woman.
“I chased her all the way up the hill, I waited until police got there. She was hiding in the bushes, so I just pointed her out,” Amara said.
Seattle police say after the witness pointed out her hiding spot, they arrested her.
“Our drug recognition experts are speaking with her to find out if she’s impaired,” said Detective Patrick Michaud of the Seattle Police Department.
Investigators say the suspect was speeding northbound on Aurora, tried to turn on North 39th Street, and that’s when she crashed.
“Failed to navigate that, loses control of the vehicle, clips multiple poles, rolls the vehicle. Strikes the people that were walking on the sidewalk, killing one of them, injuring three more,” Michaud said.
“It’s right after Thanksgiving, that’s sad. It’s real sad,” Amara said.
A Seattle Fire Department spokesperson said a 35-year-old man was in critical condition. A 63-year-old man and a 25-year-old man were in stable condition. All three were taken to Harborview Medical Center.
One of the patients who was taken to Harborview Medical Center later died, KIRO 7 discovered when a second charge was added in King County District Court.
A witness said the person who died was a young woman, but police did not confirm that.
The crash took out a power pole, fire hydrant, a speed radar sign, a stop sign, a street sign, and a steel utility pole, among other damage. Seattle City Light was working to install a new power pole Friday night.
Written by Deedee Sun
