FIFE, Wash. — A 50-year-old man was taken to the hospital after a fiery crash near Interstate 5 in Fife early Wednesday morning. Police said someone in a stolen BMW fired shots at the man’s vehicle on Wapato Way East after an altercation at a stoplight and then ran the vehicle off the road.
The BMW, which police said was stolen out of Bellevue, was found about a mile from the crash on Pacific Highway East fully engulfed in flames.
According to Fife Police Department Sergeant Tom Thompson, police were alerted about the incident around 3 a.m. after receiving a report of a vehicle off the roadway near the Wapato Way overpass.
Police said the incident started as some type of altercation at a stoplight. Witnesses told police they saw the victim’s vehicle traveling along 70th Avenue East being chased by the driver of the stolen BMW. Thompson said a suspect in the stolen BMW fired at least two shots at the victim’s vehicle and then ran it off the road.
The victim’s vehicle hit a guardrail on the side of the road and knocked over a streetlight before going down the embankment and catching fire.
“At some point, that suspect vehicle began shooting at our victim’s vehicle and then rammed the victim’s vehicle, forcing it off the roadway and then down the embankment,” Thompson said.
The 50-year-old driver was able to crawl out of the vehicle and was in the bushes when officers arrived. Thompson said a woman who was in the victim’s car at the time of the crash was able to get out of the vehicle but was not at the scene when officers arrived.
The 50-year-old man was taken to Tacoma General Hospital with unknown injuries.
Shortly after police arrived at the scene, a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle was found about a mile away on Pacific Highway East near Porter Way fully engulfed in flames. Police believe the stolen BMW may have been intentionally set on fire to destroy evidence.
“There’s no reason that that vehicle caught on fire other than it appears it was probably intentionally set,” Thompson said.
The 50-year-old man told police he did not know who the person was in the stolen vehicle.
No suspect description has been released at this time. Anyone with information or who may have witnessed the incident is asked to contact Fife police.