DUI suspect killed after jumping off 520 Bridge while handcuffed
Aug 17, 2018, 5:32 AM | Updated: 5:32 am
Emergency crews respond to the SR 520 Bridge early Aug. 17, 2018 after a suspected DUI driver jumped into Lake Washington while handcuffed. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
The Washington State Patrol says a DUI suspect was killed in Seattle early Friday morning when he jumped into Lake Washington from the SR 520 Bridge while handcuffed.
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WSP District 2 Commander Ron Mead said a trooper pulled over a driver on eastbound SR 520 at the west high rise at 1:37 a.m. for suspicion of DUI. The driver was handcuffed and placed into custody.
As the trooper was putting the man into the patrol car, the suspect ran and jumped off the bridge into the lake at 1:54 a.m. Mead said the trooper tried to hold onto the suspect’s leg, but the momentum was too great and the man plunged 55 to 70 feet into the lake.
The man was retrieved by the Seattle Police Harbor Patrol at 2:36 a.m. and he was transported to Harborview Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at about 3:30 a.m.
The man, who was 31, was from Kirkland.
The Seattle Police Department is investigating the incident.
