One dead, two injured after police chase turned fatal on SR 7 in Spanaway
Nov 25, 2024, 8:00 AM
WSP esponding to a fatal crash from a police chase on State Route 7 in Spanaway. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
One person is dead and two people are in hospital after a police chase occurred on State Route 7 in Spanaway Saturday.
A state trooper spotted a speeding Lexus sedan on State Route 7 on Pacific Avenue South in Parkland late Saturday afternoon, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. The trooper caught up to the Lexus and activated lights and sirens as a signal for the driver to pull over. Instead, the driver took off.
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The chase ultimately led to a fatal crash involving the Lexus.
“Eventually, the suspect lost control, went into oncoming lanes, sliding sideways into the corner of an F-150 pickup truck,” Sgt. Darren Moss Jr., spokesperson for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, told KIRO 7. “The passenger who was in that suspect vehicle, which was a Lexus sedan, died there at the scene.”
Both drivers in the crash were seriously hurt as well. The driver of the F-150 truck, a 44-year-old man from Tacoma, was taken to the trauma unit at Saint Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and is currently in serious condition. The suspect, a 24-year-old man, remains hospitalized, too. He is expected to be booked into the Pierce County jail after he is discharged from the hospital.
The passenger who died is believed to be a 50-year-old man from Graham, but the relationship between him and the driver is unknown, as of this reporting.
“The next step in this investigation is waiting for the toxicology report to come in for the blood draw we did on the suspect driver,” Moss said.
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The suspect driver is facing charges that include second-degree murder, vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.
“It was quite a scene,” Jesse Hume, a neighbor who witnessed the crash, told KIRO 7. “I believe that the police have a reason to chase. But I think there’s certain reasons if you know that it’s going to turn into this, I think we should just stop.”
This is a developing story, check back for updates
Contributing: KIRO 7
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
