June 14, 2024
King County: At approximately 4:00am on June 2, 2024, Washington State Patrol (WSP) communications received a 9-1-1 call from an individual stating that her friend was struck by a vehicle SB I-5 near the West Seattle Bridge.
Once troopers arrived the investigation revealed the following sequence of events: A green 1996 Toyota Corolla was traveling down the ramp from the West Seattle Bridge to SB I-5 when it went out of control and struck the barrier. The Toyota ended up in lane 1 SB I-5. The four occupants of the vehicle exited to get to a safer location. A motorhome was traveling SB I-5 in lane 2 and was unable to move over and as it passed the Toyota, the passenger side mirror struck one of the occupants of the vehicle in the head causing her to end up in lane 2. One of the other passengers pulled her out of lane two and in front of the Toyota in lane 1.
An AMR Ford F-150 happened upon the scene and the driver placed the vehicle behind the Toyota and activated the emergency lights. The AMR employee began to render aid to the person that was struck by the motorhome and while doing this noticed a vehicle heading straight toward them at freeway speeds. He along with the other passengers of the Toyota were able to jump out of the way as the vehicle struck the AMR vehicle. The AMR vehicle was pushed into the Toyota which subsequently ended up trapping the injured pedestrian underneath it.
The Seattle Fire Department arrived and unfortunately declared the injured pedestrian deceased. The driver that struck the AMR vehicle was showing signs of impairment and was placed into custody for investigation of DUI.
It was determined through interviewing the other passengers of the Toyota that the driver of that vehicle had left the scene prior to troopers arriving. They only knew this person as “Tae” and had no idea where she had gone.
WSP detectives are seeking anyone with information on the identity and location of “Tae.” Please email Detective Sergeev at Ivan.Sergeev@wsp.wa.gov.
UPDATE: Yesterday afternoon, June 13, 2024, Keoni Williams, 26 years old, was arrested by WSP detectives. Through the investigation and using video footage from a gas station near the collision scene it was determined that “Tae” did not exist and that there were only three occupants in the Toyota and that Williams was the driver. The suspect was arrested for investigation of Felony Hit and Run and providing false statements to law enforcement. The suspect was subsequently booked into the King County Jail.
###