Seattle lesson: Don’t pick up strangers off the street
Apr 25, 2016, 5:30 PM | Updated: 5:34 pm
File photo. (Tony Webster, Flickr)
(Tony Webster, Flickr)
A Seattle man learned the hard way you shouldn’t blindly trust people you don’t know…and maybe also, don’t try to pick up strangers off the street.
At about 5:30 p.m. on Sunday April 24 a man reported that a woman he just met, took the truck he was driving without permission from the 9700 block of Holman Road NW. According to Detective Mark Jameson: “He saw her walking down the street and just offered her a ride.”
“A man called 911 to report that a women he just met took off in the truck he had been driving,” Jameson said.
But that wasn’t the only report. Others started pouring in to dispatch.
“There were reports of this swath of destruction from north Seattle down to where it ended at 15th (Avenue) and Armory (Way). We had reports of minor damage to various things like light poles along the path,” Jameson said.
The woman somehow gained control of the truck and sped off driving recklessly until she collided into a building.
“She proceeded to then crash into a building at 92nd and Holman, and she was able to drive away from that scene and continued to drive erratically, weaving in and out of traffic,” Jameson said.
At that point she crossed the Ballard Bridge and collided with three other vehicles at 15th Avenue West and Armory Way.
“Seattle Fire transported at least three people with serious injuries to Harborview Medical Center,” Jameson said.
The intersection was closed for hours as detectives from the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) responded and processed the scene. The female suspect, 30, was also transported to the hospital but was soon released. She was then booked into the King County Jail for vehicular assault and felony hit and run. Jameson said it is likely the woman was impaired when she took the car for a ride. The victims remain hospitalized with serious injuries.
