SEATTLE — An 18-year-old from Fall City narrowly escaped harm Saturday after a dramatic confrontation with the driver of a stolen vehicle in Ballard.
Slater Paoletti said he first noticed a man, wearing a ski mask, driving a blue Hyundai Sonata slowly through a neighborhood. The car was later confirmed stolen from Bellevue a day earlier, according to the Seattle Police Department.
Paoletti tried to photograph the car’s license plate to report it, but in the process, the driver started speeding toward Paoletti’s vehicle and attempted to ram it.
“He’s yelling at me to get out of the car over and over again,” Paoletti said. The driver then demanded that he get out of his vehicle. “I told him, ‘No.’ I think that shocked him a little bit, and then he fired a shot at me before driving away.”
A neighbor captured video of the incident that included the sound of a single gunshot. Moments later, police arrived at the scene and inspected Paoletti’s car, discovering a bullet lodged in the door.
“It hit right behind my handle,” Paoletti said. “It’s probably a piece of metal about an inch thick that saved me.”
The suspect and the vehicle remain at large. Seattle Police said the case has been assigned to the department’s Gun Violence Reduction Unit. Paoletti said he had no intention of confronting the man but felt he had to take action. His photograph of the license plate helped authorities confirm the car was stolen.
“It was scary,” he said. “I was afraid, but I’m happy to be alive.”
No arrests have been made as of Sunday evening.