Puyallup, Wash. — At least five people were taken to the hospital on Sunday after a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of 31st Ave SW and SR 512 in Puyallup.
According to the Puyallup Police Department, at around 10 a.m. on Sunday, an officer tried to contact a man in a suspicious vehicle in a business parking lot along 31st Avenue Southeast.
Police say the driver sped out of the parking lot, and the officer did not follow.
Just minutes later, officers were dispatched to a serious injury collision at the intersection of 31st Avenue Southwest and the SR 512 eastbound on-ramp.
Officers arrived to discover that the vehicle the officer had attempted to stop had caused a collision in the intersection.
The driver, a 21-year-old man from Graham, reportedly entered the intersection against a red traffic signal and hit another vehicle turning left onto the SR 512 eastbound on-ramp.
The vehicle that was hit was carrying a family of four.
All four were taken to local hospitals, including a 4-year-old in critical condition.
The driver of the causing vehicle was taken hospital as well and is under investigation for Vehicular Assault.
According to Central Pierce Fire & Rescue, one of the five people hospitalized needed to be extricated by firefighters.
The overpass to SR 512 was closed until around 1:40 p.m.
The Metro Cities Major Collision Response Team is at the scene to conduct the investigation.