Man arrested in Thurston County after deadly crash in Burien sends 4-year-old to hospital

King County deputies said they found a stolen Ram 1500 pick-up truck parked in SeaTac Sunday at about 11:32 a.m.

The suspect drove off after deputies tried to contact him, they said.

Officials said the suspect sped off, however, deputies decided not to follow the suspect due to safety concerns, they added.

Several minutes later, the suspect crashed into a Jeep near the intersection of South 128th Street and 22nd Avenue South.

The suspect ran away from the scene.

The driver of the Jeep died, and a four-year-old child was sent to Harborview Medical Center initially with life-threatening injuries.

Officials told KIRO 7 News Monday that the child was last listed in serious condition inside the ICU.

KIRO 7 News asked the King County Sheriff’s Office for more details about the case, including the relationship between the man and the child, the suspect’s identity, etc.

A spokesperson did not provide details to those questions but shared a press release about the case.

ARREST:

According to a press release shared by the King County Sheriff’s Office, a Washington State trooper found the suspect sleeping inside a white Toyota Corolla at the Maytown rest area in Thurston County, off of southbound I-5.

Deputies did not identify the suspect.

He’s currently being held at the King County Jail for vehicular homicide.

King County deputies said troopers from Thurston and Lewis counties, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, and Centralia Police Department also helped with the investigation.

KIRO 7 News reached out to the King County Prosecutor’s Office to get more details about its review of the case, the suspect, and the suspect’s court hearing.

We’re still waiting to hear back.

NEIGHBORS:

KIRO 7 News spoke with nearby neighbors, who said they heard the crash and witnessed the aftermath.

“I knew it was bad and when I passed by the car. It was extremely shocking of how completely broken in it was,” said Isabel Thomas, a neighbor.

Thomas said she drove home after getting off work and saw several police vehicles parked near her house.

“It’s a lot, sorry. I have a three-year-old and it affects you a lot,” she responded after learning the child is four years old. “You don’t want that to happen to somebody, especially just seeing the horror. As a parent, you never want to ever see somebody go through that.”

Another neighbor, who did not want to share her identity, said she was home when she heard a loud boom.

She shared, “I thought it was thunder because it was raining.”

“It was actually really scary,” she said. “I peeked out of my living room and saw there was debris on the street and also saw smoke. So I ran out from my side door. Ran out and this truck was there.”

She sprang into action after she told KIRO 7 News that saw two dogs leave the stolen vehicle.

“As I was running out, these two dogs were coming out of the truck. And so I tried to secure them because I didn’t want them to run into the street,” she added. “It was me and another neighbor down the street were holding onto the dogs and some of the sheriffs came by and said the dog owners were here. And so they were down the street.”

Thomas stressed to KIRO 7 News, “Keeping the streets safe and our community safe is the biggest thing in the world for us.”

“One person’s decision for a second to just steal a car and look what happens,” Thomas continued to share.

Flowers and a candle were placed near the crash scene.

STOLEN VEHICLE:

KIRO 7 News tracked the stolen vehicle to the owner’s home, located on 148th Street in SeaTac.

We spoke with Leonard Piper, who said his next-door neighbor owns the stolen vehicle involved in the investigation.

The neighbor confirmed the owner’s name, which matched the same name that KIRO 7 News was able to find.

“He owned that silver truck. He actually bought it brand new. It was a Dodge Ram truck with nice wheels on it. It was a nice wheel. He has been since hospitalized and the truck has been sitting here,” Piper said.

Piper said the owner’s home, which was boarded up, had been empty for several months after squatters had lived in it for a period of time.

He showed KIRO 7 News his surveillance footage, which displayed a silver Ram truck in the driveway, matching the stolen vehicle.

We also saw shattered pieces of glass in the driveway.

Piper said people, who do not live on the owner’s property, have been looking into the owner’s truck a number of times.

“I’m not surprised because again, I called the police a couple of times on people who were out here fooling around with it (truck) and I come out and tell them, state your business. There’s not supposed to be on anyone on this property,” he shared.