Police: Hit-and-run car thief crashes into house near West Seattle high school

Police looking for hit-and-run car theft suspect in West Seattle

Seattle Police are looking for a suspect accused of stealing a car and crashing it into a house in West Seattle, nearly hitting a child getting ready for school.

SEATTLE - Seattle Police are searching for a hit-and-run car thief they say crashed a stolen vehicle into a house, nearly striking a child who was getting ready for school.

There were so many ways this truck could have hurt someone. The crash happened close by Chief Sealth International High School in West Seattle, where kids were still arriving for class. Additionally, four other adults were also inside the home. They were too shaken to speak on camera, but allowed FOX 13 News to see the damage inside.

"I was driving down Thistle towards Delridge and when I was driving up, I just saw like a plume of dust and the fence (house hit) had fallen," said Kelly.

Kelly was one of several people who saw the accident as it happened, not realizing that vehicle had been stolen until she saw the driver run from the scene. She actually thought to help him in case he was hurt.

"I saw a guy running up Thistle towards Delridge, and I was driving up Thistle towards Delridge, so I was driving sort of next to him to see if he needed help," said Kelly. "He was a white man, probably six feet tall, he had a hood up over his head, but I could see he had brown beard, he was thin, he was wearing jeans."

Kelly said she saw the suspect hop into a getaway vehicle, which took off onto Delridge Street.

Back inside the house, it was chaos. The whole frame shook when the truck hit, it took two tow trucks to pull it out of the pile of debris. Meantime, pipes had burst on impact, flooding some of the home and causing even more damage.

Kelly said car theft is not uncommon in the area.

"It’s not surprising, there’s been a lot of car thefts—to see that there’s another car theft, I feel terrible that it hit the house and they have so much destruction," said Kelly. "I mean, I can probably name five car thefts in our neighborhood in the past month."

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Seattle Police are checking neighbors' security cameras for more video of the crash and escape in hopes of getting a clear picture of the suspect that they can use in their investigation.

West Seattle Crime and Public Safety