Update 7PM Wednesday

Pedro Garcia, 32, of Burien was charged by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Tuesday, Feb. 27, in connection with a fatal collision that occurred on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024.

Update 7 PM Tuesday

The suspect in the traffic incident in Burien that resulted in the death of a man and injured his son, waived his right to appear and is being held on $500,000 bail at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. He may be charged with vehicular homicide.

Update Monday 

On 2/26/2024 at just before 5 AM, Washington State Patrol/WSP Communications advised Washington State Patrol Troopers KCSO was tracking the suspect in Thurston County along I-5 in Tumwater.

Washington State Patrol Troopers from Thurston and Lewis counties were given the description and license plate of the white Toyota Corolla driven by the suspect. A Lewis County trooper located the vehicle parked in the southbound I-5 Maytown Rest Area with the suspect inside sleeping.  A coordinated effort between WSP, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, and Centralia PD (including Centralia K9), resulted in the suspect being taken into custody without incident.  KCSO detectives later arrived on scene and took custody of the suspect and later booked into King County Jail for Vehicular Homicide.  WSDOT briefly shut down the rest area during the incident.

The King County Sheriff’s Office is thankful for the coordinated effort, and for the strong partnerships amongst all our LE Partners around the state to includeThe Washington State Patrol, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, and Centralia PD.

The King County Sheriff’s Office is proud of the hard work from our detectives, in tracking this suspect which ultimately led to him being taken into custody.

Information from King County Sheriff

At approximately 11:32am today (02/25/2024) King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) deputies observed a stolen Ram 1500 pick-up truck parked in the City of SeaTac. As deputies were making plans to contact the driver, the vehicle drove off.

Deputies followed continuing to gather resources and plan a traffic stop on the stolen vehicle. The driver of the truck seemingly observed the police cars behind him and opted to drive off at a high rate of speed.

Deputies weighed the totality of the situation and chose not to initiate a vehicle pursuit of the truck. The truck drove off without KCSO deputies ever attempting a traffic stop.

Several minutes later the KCSO Communication Center received at least one 911 call reporting a serious two-car traffic accident at S 128th St and 22 Ave S. This is a border street between Seatac and Burien. KCSO deputies also came across the accident scene at about the same time.

     KCSO Deputies found that the stolen Ram pick-up truck had struck a Jeep in this intersection. Both vehicles were significantly damaged or destroyed. The driver of the stolen Ram truck fled on foot. The occupants of the Jeep had significant injuries and were immediately attended to by deputies and medical personnel. 

     KCSO deputies (with support from all surrounding agencies) searched for the driver of the stolen truck in the surrounding neighborhoods for several hours. As of 8:30pm, the suspect remains at large as efforts continue to identify and apprehend him. A tentative description of the stolen truck’s driver is of a white or Hispanic male around 5’ 9” inches tall and something under 200lbs.

     Unfortunately, the male driver of the Jeep was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. His family has been notified and have been offered all available support. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office will release additional details about this individual per their protocols. A small child was also in the Jeep at the time of the collision. The child was transported to Harborview Medical Center where medical attention is on-going.