North Sound News

High-speed chase ends with crash in Shoreline

SHORELINE, Wash. — A KIRO 7 crew witnessed a high speed pursuit down Highway 99 that spanned two cities and ended in a crash and manhunt.
 
Reporter Joanna Small and photographer Jim Waltz were heading north on Aurora Avenue near Edmonds around 11:20 Wednesday morning when they spotted a Prius heading the other direction, swerving into the middle lane and going fast -- and two Edmonds police officers were right behind him.
 
Seconds later, Edmonds police deemed the chase too dangerous and aborted it.

A KIRO 7 News crew drove by the chase when it was happening. Joanna Small is gathering details for a report at 5 p.m. Watch on-air or online here.

"We don't engage in a lot of pursuits anymore. We have a pretty restrictive policy for that," explained Sgt. Shane Hawley afterwards.
 
By the time our crew turned around, the Prius had crashed in Shoreline, the driver had fled and a manhunt was underway.
 
"He kept coming out [of his hiding places], looking at officers and then running again," Hawley told us.
 
While the police searched for the suspect — who they said was driving a vehicle stolen in King County — we talked to the driver he hit.
 
"I was sitting at a stoplight and my back end was full of materials and all of a sudden I shot forward. Somebody smashed into me from behind," explained Lacy Wilkinson, who fortunately drives a large pickup designed to hold up in a collision.
 
 Wilkinson watched the other driver bolt, but he didn't get far.

“I saw two policemen pulling him out of the bushes,” said Wilkinson.

While the stolen Prius was towed away, our camera captured police and medics checking out the driver. A source told us he may have swallowed drugs to avoid additional charges, but that’s preliminary.

As a witness to the chase, our reporter and photographer wrote down what they knew for certain in the police report. Edmonds police tell us it’s standard procedure that a suspect who's in an accident is taken to the hospital before jail.

They believe in this case the man’s injuries are minor.