A Seattle police officer driving to an armed robbery hits a pedestrian crossing the street. The victim was in stable condition at Harborview Medical Center, according to the Seattle Fire Department. The police cruiser was pulling out of a driveway onto Rainier Avenue South when they struck the man.
Police said the officer activated the cruiser’s lights and siren and left the parking lot when the vehicle struck the pedestrian while he was crossing the street near Rainier Avenue S. and S. McClellan Street. The police said the pedestrian was not crossing in a marked crosswalk.
This is a developing story. It is not to be confused with another story where charges filed against another cop in a crash that killed a pedestrian in Seattle’s Interbay neighborhood. In that case the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed charges a couple of weeks ago against Michael Smith, the off-duty Auburn police officer who was arrested.
Officer Smith was charged with vehicular homicide, reckless driving, and hit and run-attended vehicle for the crash in which he struck and killed a 65-year-old man on April 23. According to charging documents, Smith was driving his 2016 Mercedes northbound on Alaskan Way in downtown Seattle around 10:30 p.m. with his girlfriend in the front passenger seat.
The Seattle Police Department’s Traffic Collision Investigation Squad is investigating the incident that happened on Rainier Avenue South. As by protocol, all lanes of Rainier Avenue South were blocked the evening of the crash while police and firefighters responded to the collision.
